Italian Study Abroad Programs
All current information on cost, dates, deadlines and applications for the programs below are available at the Office of International Affairs.
Italian Study Abroad Programs
This program satisfies the GE Diversity: Global Studies and GE: Cultures and Ideas. It is taught in English and there are no prerequisites.
Over the four weeks of this immersive course in Bologna, Italy, students learn how Italian cities acted as crucibles for the production of economic and intellectual exchange, political and artistic experimentation, scientific breakthroughs, and richly layered forms of cultural identity.
The site of the oldest European university, and one of the oldest laws abolishing slavery, Bologna's medieval past is made palpable with every portico yet it also houses a bustling 21st-century economy, with vivid traces of all the epochs in between. We will then see how Bologna relates to this larger story by studying a few exemplary Bolognese people (both native-born and transplants) and exploring the city together. Students will study texts and films that strongly engage with urban spaces and themes (short stories, plays, movies, detective novels) to consolidate our understanding of the Italian city and ask new questions about the relationship between city and cultural identity. We will conclude each of the first three weeks with day trips to other cities.
Deadlines
Application: January 9, 2024
Decision date: January 16, 2024
When
Summer Semester, 4-week session 1: May 5, 2024-June 1, 2024
Credit
Italian 3798 (GE Diversity: Global Studies and GE: Cultures and Ideas)
Contacts
globaledspecialist@osu.edu or Jonathan Combs-Schilling
Students at the elementary level (1103 and above) can obtain up to 6 credit hours in the Summer at the Scuola di Italiano per Stranieri in the city of Lecce, in the southern region of Puglia. Students have the option to stay in apartments or with Italian families.
Prerequisites
- a minimum 2.7 cumulative GPA,
- a minimum 2.7 GPA in Italian,
- successful completion of Italian 1101 or higher
Summer program options
4 week
May / June or July (two options) – 4 OSU credit hours (1 course)
6 week
July / August - 6 OSU credit hours (2 courses)
OSU Credit for Language Courses
Students who have taken 1101
4 week program: 1102
6 week program: 5101 (1101-1103 equivalent), 5797
Students who have taken 1102
4 week program: 1103
6 week program: 1103, 5797
Students who have taken 1103
4 and 6 week program: 2102 and/or 5797
Students who have taken 2102 & up
4 and 6 week program: 5797 and/or a 4000-level OSU Italian course
Additional Information
ALL Lecce credits above 1103 count toward a minor/major. You must apply first at Office of International Affairs and then on the school’s website.
Contacts
globaledspecialist@osu.edu / April Weintritt
Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, near the Amalfi Coast and Naples, is open to ALL OSU students. Sant’Anna offers courses and internships in Italian and in English, in a variety of fields and organizations, during Fall and Spring (early Jan – end of April) semesters as well as a 4-week Session 1 and 5 and 10-week summer terms. Students may stay in a dormitory, apartment, or participate in a homestay.
All students are required to take one Italian language course whether studying during the summer or for a semester. Students may earn between 6-15 credit hours.
Prerequisites
- A minimum of 2.8 cumulative GPA,
- A minimum of 3.0 Italian GPA
For a current list of course offerings and internship possibilities, including service learning, please visit the Sant’Anna website. All courses are subject to demand and adequate enrollment, so it is important to get additional alternate courses approved. Placements in Italian or English internships are hand selected based on each student’s application, interview, and first or secondary field of interest. Other placement possibilities may be available upon request.
Additional Information
All Sant’Anna credits above 1103 can be applied toward a major or a minor. You must apply first at Office of International Affairs and then on the school’s website.
If you are majoring or minoring in Italian/Italian Studies/Romance Studies you are advised to attend the Sant’Anna Institute after completion of Italian2101 (or higher) because you are then eligible for an internship in Italian.
Italian majors and Romance Studies majors
Italian and Romance Studies majors are required to complete their internships in Italian to obtain credit toward the major. Students will be placed with organizations where they will speak Italian in a professional setting, increasing their general fluency, acquiring specialized vocabulary appropriate to their work experience, and increasing their cultural competency. In addition, Italian and Romance Studies majors should enroll in at least one language or culture course taught in Italian (that is, 1 internship in Italian, 1 language/culture course in Italian).
Italian Studies majors
Italian Studies majors may choose to complete an internship in Italian or English. Internships conducted in English only count toward the Italian Studies major (not the Italian major). Additionally, Italian Studies majors must enroll in at least one language or culture course taught in Italian.
Italian minors
Italian minors may complete an internship in Italian or in English. Internships conducted in Italian count as one of the three courses at the 3000-level or above which satisfy the minor requirements. Internships in English may also count toward the minor. However, an internship in English would be the only course in English that may be counted toward the minor. Additionally, Italian minors must enroll in at least one language or culture course taught in Italian.
Contacts
Rebecca McMunn, April Weintritt, or globaledspecialist@osu.edu
For advanced beginner or intermediate level students (1102 and above) who would like a full-immersion experience in Italy, and Italian MAJORS and MINORS, we suggest the Siena Italian Studies program. Students stay with host families and participate in a service learning program.
Prerequisites
- a minimum 2.8 cumulative GPA,
- a minimum 2.8 GPA in Italian,
- successful completion of Italian 1102 or higher.
Summer Program Options
4 week
June-July (Palio season) - 7 OSU credit hours
6 week
June-July (Palio season) - 10 OSU credit hours
*A 4 or 6-week program includes 1 intermediate or advanced language course, 1 content course, and service learning.
8 week
End of May-July (Palio season) - 13 OSU credit hours
*An 8-week program includes 1 2-week intensive language course, 1 intermediate or advanced language course, 2 content courses, and service learning.
Semester Program Options
Fall semester: End of August – early-December AND/OR Spring semester: mid-January – early-May
Up to 19 OSU credit hours can be earned per semester. A semester features a full immersion four-month experience, intermediate or advanced language courses, 3 content courses, and service learning.
Multi-Destination Semester Programs
Siena Italian Studies also offers multi-destination programs hosted in Siena, Italy and Brussels, Belgium OR Siena, Italy and Yaoundè, Cameroon. Students spend 6 weeks in Siena and 6 weeks in Brussels or Yaoundè, studying Italian, French, and intercultural competence in English.
Examples of content classes available in Siena
Sociolinguistics, History of Italian emigration, History of European immigration, Art history, Italian cinema, Italian Literature.
Examples of Service Learning
Working in the organic garden, ambulance assistance, kids’ sports camp, nursing home assistance, restoring city walls.
See the Siena Italian Studies website for more information and photos!
Additional Information
All Siena credits above 1103 can be applied toward a major or a minor (Siena’s service learning program transfers as IT 2194). You must apply first at Office of International Affairs and then on the school’s website.
Contacts
Rebecca McMunn, April Weintritt, or globaledspecialist@osu.edu
The semester-long Internship program combines workplace learning with classroom-based studying. Students are placed in different fields, including international embassies, cultural institutes, charitable associations and fashion companies, and attend intensive language classes. Students can earn 12 OSU credit hours.
Prerequisites
- a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA,
- a minimum 3.0 GPA in Italian,
- successful completion of Italian 2102 or higher.
Additional Information
All credits count toward the major/minor, including Italian 4191.
For students who would like to take courses in English in Italy, we strongly recommend taking courses at Sant’Anna. OIA also has information about programs offered during the academic year that are administered in collaboration with Arcadia. If you plan to attend Arcadia, please contact the Study Abroad Advisor April Weintritt to determine whether language courses can be transferred for OSU credit.
Contact
Landscape Stories: Art and Ecology in Siena is a unique interdisciplinary four-week long program organized by the Department of Art and the Department of Italian at OSU and hosted by the Siena Art Institute (SART) in Tuscany! It taught in English and there are no prerequisites. Summer Term I in May 2026.
This course provides students opportunities to refine artistic, sustainable, and intercultural skills in exploring the cityscapes and cultural heritage narratives of innovation in Siena. A Tuscan hill town that flourished during the Middle Ages, Siena is home to the Sienese School of Painting and medieval traditions of performances, cultural diversity, and rituals that constantly redefine local landscapes, such as the Palio, a horse race still run each year. Students have access to a variety of museums, churches, collections, and archives through partnering with the Siena Art Institute which offers studio art spaces for collaborative and immersive technical and conceptual training. We will discuss about Siena’s socio-ecological efforts in promoting agro-sustainability and land heritage through eco-artistic discourses.
Students will actively engage in the life of the city through walking, mapping, cultivating (as a cultural act and in the garden) and experiencing the relations between human development, art, and nature in Siena. The city was on a pilgrimage route or francigena during the Middle Ages and has a walking tradition.
Deadlines
Application: January 15, 2025
When
Summer Semester, 4-week session 1: May 11, 2026-June 4, 2026
Credit
Art/Italian 4799. OPEN to students from ALL majors. Preference given to undergraduate and graduate art students, Italian and Romance Studies. Good academic standing.
Contacts
Suzanne Silver, Art (silver.22@osu.edu), Giuliano Migliori, Frit (migliori.2@osu.edu); Ohio State Program Contact globaledspecialist@osu.edu
Funding
For semester study abroad experiences, students do not pay tuition through June 2021 if they participate in a direct enroll program; at the same time, all scholarships and grants may apply to a student’s semester abroad.
Students may also partially fund their study abroad experience through money received in the Second Year Transformational Experience program (STEP), which we recommend for all students in their 2nd year.
Additional scholarships and grants for studying in Italy are provided by the department - Italian Scholarships and Study Abroad Funding.
Finally, the Office of International Affairs is very helpful in locating many different types of funding.
OSU Credits
All credits above 1103/5101 from Lecce, Siena, Sorrento or AIFS internships APPLY TOWARD MAJORS or the MINOR. Although there is a limit to the number of 5797 credits allowed to count toward a major/minor (9 for major and minor), credits for other courses (2102, 2193, 2194, 3000 and 4000 level) may also be granted.
Other Programs
If you would like to participate in a program not listed below, contact April Weintritt or globaledspecialist@osu.edu