Overseas Study Programs : Italy: Siena brochure : University of Oregon


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ITALY

SIENA PROGRAM

2001-2002

A study opportunity in Italy for University of Oregon students made possible by an agreement between the University of Oregon, AHA, and AHA International.

Founded as the Roman colony "Siena Julia" by Augustus Caesar, Siena has always been less flamboyant than Florence but has maintained its jewel-like medieval atmosphere and architecture through the centuries. The name "burnt sienna" comes from the red Sienese hills and countryside that have contributed the clay for the distinctive coloration of the houses and buildings in this classic Tuscan hill town.

In the Campo, Siena's central plaza, the Palio (a horse race which is an integral part of Sienese culture) is held twice each year. Traffic is prohibited in this famous town square, which is only four streets away from olive groves and orchards, lending a peaceful bygone-century atmosphere to the town. The Duomo is a spectacular example of Gothic Italian architecture, and the accompanying museum houses magnificent works by Duccio and Giotto.

With a population of 65,000, Siena is draped atop three converging Tuscan hills, only 40 miles southwest of Florence. Its soaring skyline is its pride, dominated by the blazing black and white banner of the cathedral and the taut needle of the Torre di Mangia (medieval tower). This location is ideally suited for a program in Italy because it affords students the opportunity to study the Italian language in an area especially noted for its linguistic purity. Participants in the program have the luxury of living in a city of the Middle Ages while enjoying convenient access to modern cultural centers such as Florence, Pisa, Rome, Venice, and Milan.

The program in Siena offers students the opportunity to experience Italy to the fullest - its people, its culture and, above all, its language. Courses are tailored to American students and are designed to take advantage of the Siena setting. Field trips and academic excursions allow students to experience Italy beyond the pages of their textbooks. Students learn about language and customs through the experience of attending language classes on the campus of an Italian university.

Program Fees & Costs

The cost of the program includes:

Tuition and Fees

Housing

Meal Allowance Based on Two Meals per Day

Program Excursions

Course Materials

Local Transportation Pass

Medical Insurance

On-site Orientation

International Student Identity Card

Program cost per term for UO students -- $6,380.

Please note: The enrolling institution may charge additional fees. Airfare and personal expenses such as laundry, incidentals, and weekend travel are not included.

PAYMENT PROCEDURE

The initial non-refundable application fee of $50 and the $200 deposit are made at the time of application to the program. A payment schedule will be included in the program packet sent from AHA.

FINANCIAL AID

Most forms of financial aid for which a student is eligible (grants, loans, etc.) may be applied towards the cost of the program. Students should consult with a financial aid counselor on campus for specific information about awards and eligibility.

REFUND POLICY

A refund of all but the $50 application fee will be made to those who are not accepted into the program or who cancel their participation up to 60 days before the start of the program. Cancellations must be sent in writing to AHA. Verbal notification or notification given only to the campus study abroad office is not acceptable. Applicants canceling within 60 days of the program forfeit 5% of the program fee and 10% if within 30 days. No refunds will be made to a student after the program has begun.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Siena is a LANGUAGE INTENSIVE program; all students on this program will spend three class hours studying Italian language each day. A faculty member from one of the AHA institutions teaches two courses taught in English. Additional courses, also in English, are taught by European faculty who have extensive experience in teaching for study abroad programs. Subject areas may include literature, history, political science, culture, economics, and art history.

Academic standards in Siena are consistent with standards at the sponsoring AHA universities. Grades are based upon examinations, written papers, study projects, class participation, and attendance.

ELIGIBILITY

A minimum GPA of 2.5 and one term of previous Italian language study required.

In addition to the written application, students are accepted following a successful personal interview. Selection is based on seriousness of purpose, academic achievement, and individual stability and maturity.

MULTIPLE TERM OPTIONS

Students may choose to participate in the Siena program during fall, winter or spring term, or any combination of terms and AHA program locations they wish. Please check other program brochures for dates and eligibility requirements.

ACADEMIC CREDIT

Language classes provide 150 total contact hours per term. Other courses provide 45 total contact hours. Students attending any of the participating AHA institutions receive home-campus credit. (See the list of AHA schools under Program Sponsors.) Students attending non-member institutions receive transfer credit from a selected member school. Check with the en-rolling institution to determine the number of credits earned per course.

ITALIAN LANGUAGE

After a language placement test, students register for an appropriate level of Italian language instruction, from beginning to advanced. Advanced language students are able to attend special cultural courses conducted in Italian.

PROGRAM SITE

Language classes are held at the Università per Stranieri di Siena (University of Siena for Foreigners), a state institution of higher education situated in the historical center of Siena. Students attend language classes with other foreign students, and participation in the Università's activities is encouraged. Other courses are taught in the AHA classrooms located near the Università.

HOUSING & MEALS

Students in Siena share an apartment with other students (Italian, American or from other countries). The furnished apartments are modest but equipped with a bathroom and a small kitchen. Most are within walking distance of downtown. A second housing option is to room with a Sienese family, available on a very limited basis. At scheduled intervals throughout the term, students receive a meal allowance based on two meals per day. The university cafeteria offers inexpensive full-course meals.

EXCURSIONS

Field trips to important cultural and historical sites in the region are part of the course work and are carefully planned to take advantage of the rich history and culture of the locale. These may include visits to surrounding areas such as Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano and Assisi. Also during the term, academic excursions of a few days may be planned to more distant locations such as Rome or Venice. The exact destinations vary from term to term and are determined at the beginning of the program.

HEALTH

Medical information is required of all students who have been accepted into the program. This information is considered confidential.

ON-SITE ADMINISTRATION

Massimiliana Quartesan is the on-site director in Siena. Born in Italy, she has several years of experience as a program site director and teacher of Italian language to foreign students. She is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the program site, including coordinating excursions, housing, local transportation and class scheduling, and administering the financial aspects of the program.

Siena Course Descriptions

Fall 2001: September 27 -- December 15

LITERARY LANDSCAPES OF ITALY

Lorraine Mercer

Department of English, Portland State University

This course covers literary works from the Renaissance to the 20^th century. The importance of place setting and landscapes as literary devices are examined in a variety of genres including plays, novels, letters, memoir, film and short stories. Readings include Henry James, Edith Wharton, Christina Rossetti, E.M. Forster and others.

PROSE POLITICS and PLACE: Travel Writing in Italy

Lorraine Mercer

Department of English, Portland State University

This course is both a seminar on 19^th and 20^th century travel writing and an intensive writing workshop. Mary Shelley, Edith Wharton, Barbara Gizzuti Harrison, Jan Morris and others, while receiving guided practice on the art of keeping a personal travel journal. Many assignments are site-specific to Siena and the surrounding area.

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION/CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES (required course)

Siena Faculty

Being abroad means confronting aspects of another culture that one cannot always know or anticipate. This one-credit-hour course combines personal experiences "made in Italy" with the study of the literature in this field. Students will deal with and learn from the misunderstandings and misinterpretations which arise in any living experience abroad. It is designed to provide both an academic and experiential background to the study of culture as well as a framework within which participants can analyze and process their own personal intercultural experiences, utilizing various instructional methods, including lectures, videos, panels, discussions and simulation exercises.

HIGH RENAISSANCE ART IN ITALY

Alan Pascuzzi

Professor of Art History, Siena Centre

Through a specific study of the four most influential artists of the period - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio, and Titian Vecellio - this course explores the concept of genius, the importance of patronage and the artistic achievements of the age that characterized the High Renaissance. High Renaissance finally solved the problems of perspective, anatomy, light and shadow through scientific study of the world around them. In painting and in sculpture this was an age when artists perfected their crafts and were able to create works of unprecedented naturalism, power, and beauty.

ITALIAN LANGUAGE (see UO Program Coordinator)

Winter 2002: January 3 - March 23

THE UNITED STATES AND ITALY, 1776-1996

Bess Beatty

Department of History, Oregon State University

Looking at American and Italian relations from a variety of angles, the first half of the course considers how American writers and artists from the American Revolution through the 19^th century used Italy as they defined and evaluated their own country. Italian immigration to the United States, American and Italian belligerence during World War I and World War II, and continued cultural and intellectual exchange between the two nations are explored during the second half of the course.

ITALY IN WORLD HISTORY

Bess Beatty

Department of History, Oregon State University

This course is a general survey of Italian history over more than two thousand years, stressing particularly three periods of Italian history with especially import significance in world history, the late Roman Republic and the Empire, the Renaissance and Fascism, and war in the 20^th century.

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION/CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES (required course)

Siena Faculty

THE SIENESE SCHOOL: Gothic Artistic Style in Italy

Pippa Salonius

Professor of Art History, Siena Centre

This course aims to provide students with a general comprehension of the European Gothic Movement and to establish the importance of the Sienese School within this movement. The class explores the crucial role played by the Sienese goldsmiths in the late 13^th and 14^th centuries, alongside that of the painters, in the development of the Italian Gothic Style. Relevant connections to French and European art at the same period will also be examined. The students’ visual knowledge of art is improved with regular visits to various art galleries, and architectural and artistic monuments in the area.

ITALIAN LANGUAGE (see UO Program Coordinator)

Spring 2002, March 28 - June 15

Note: Spring term usually fills up early. To avoid being put on a waiting list, please apply as soon as possible!

ITALY AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR: A Social History

Kimberly Jensen

Department of History, Western Oregon University

The Second World War was a cataclysmic event that changed the course of human history. Italy’s wartime experience was unique yet also mirrored many of the issues and struggles experienced by other nations. To understand the impact of the war on Italy and the Italian people, we will investigate the rich materials available including historical documents, memoirs, new interpretive scholarship, and film. How did Italian fascism affect gender roles? When did anti-Semitism become part of Italy’s fascist regime and what were the consequences? What was the role of partisan resistance as Italy became a battleground for the winning of the war by both sides? What were the experiences and consequences of the war for the Italian people?

ITALY : Women’s Visions and Women’s Voices from the First World War to the Present

Kimberly Jensen

Department of History, Western Oregon University

Italy provides the historian with a paradox. It ha a cultural Mecca offering a wealth of creative tradition and the promise of personal development and renewal. Yet it has also been a place of violence, racism and gender discrimination. For some women from the First World War to the present, Italy has been a homeland to cherish but also a challenge. For others Italy has been a site of war, offering adventure and wartime service but also harboring the horrors of violence and racism. For yet other women transplanted for a season or a lifetime, Italy has offered renewal and creative possibilities even as it cradles the treasures and traditions of the past. In this course we will examine a variety of women’s writings to discover some of the meanings of Italy, and engage in our own analysis and experience of this land of history and vision .

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION/CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES (required course)

Siena Faculty

HIGH RENAISSANCE ART IN ITALY

Alan Pascuzzi

Professor of Art History, Siena Centre

ITALIAN LANGUAGE (see UO Program Coordinator)

AHA

The Northwest Council on Study Abroad (AHA) consists of 11 colleges and universities that together sponsor the study program in Siena. AHA also offers programs in Vienna, Austria; London, England; Angers, France; Athens, Greece; Macerata, Italy; Oviedo, Spain, and Hue, Vietnam.

The program in Siena offers students the opportunity to experience Italy to the fullest - its people, its culture and, above all, its language. Courses are tailored to American students and are designed to take advantage of the Siena setting. In addition, field trips and academic excursions allow students to experience Italy beyond the pages of their textbooks. Students learn about language and customs through the experience of attending language classes on the campus of an Italian university.

University of Alaska Anchorage

University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau)

Central Washington University

University of Oregon

Oregon State University

Portland State University

Southern Oregon University

University of Washington

Washington State University

Western Oregon University

Western Washington University

AHA International

The Siena program is offered in cooperation with AHA International, a not-for-profit organization which specializes in intercultural experiential education. AHA provides educational opportunities for students of all ages from the U.S. as well as other nations of the world by offering a variety of inbound and outbound programs.

Founded in 1957, AHA is based in Portland, Oregon, and offers study abroad programs in Austria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

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