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Academics

Fields of Study: Humanities, Social Sciences

In the capital of Italy, explore what makes Italian style so identifiable while studying the food, fashion, and art. The academics focus on Italy's history and culture while exploring Italian marketing strategies and entrepreneurship. Classes are with UC students and incorporate site visits and walking excursions throughout the city.

Unique study opportunities

  • Examine the slow food movement where it began as a protest and bloomed into a global revolution through the lenses of education, tourism, and city planning.
  • Explore the appeal of Made in Italy as a global brand and the marketing of Italian style throughout the world.

Language

Language of Instruction: English

Italian Language Study: Optional

Explore Rome's rich culture and learn the basics of Italian language through the optional Exploring Rome: Language and Culture course. The culture section of the course examines the city of Rome through a series of on-site lectures. The language section gives you the tools and skills to navigate the city and complete tasks in real-life situations and specific contexts.

Enroll in an optional Elementary Italian language course, focusing on the first term of Italian language study.

Courses and Credit

Requirements While Abroad

To successfully complete this program:

  • Take two courses for a total of 10 quarter/6.6 semester UC units.
  • You may take one course pass/no pass.

To successfully complete this program:

  • Take a full-time course of study: Four courses for a total of 20 quarter UC units.
  • You may take one course pass/no pass.

To successfully complete this program:

  • Take a full-time course of study: Three courses for a total of 15 quarter UC units.
  • You may take one course pass/no pass.

Current Program Courses

Electives:

You'll select two electives. Exact offerings may depend on enrollment and instructor availability. Final courses will be announced prior to the start of the program. Course enrollment is held on a first-come, first-served basis; enrollment in your top course preferences is not guaranteed, so be sure to have back-up courses in mind. Recent offerings include:

  • Exploring Rome: Language and Culture (lower-division): Explore Rome’s language, culture, and counterculture, in the piazzas, streets, parks, and homes that have contributed to its identities. Study culture on site, and the language in the classroom. Develop your Italian and analyze some of the cross cultural topics you identify as you navigate the city and reflect on real-life scenarios. Subject area: Italian
  • Banqueting Culture in Ancient Rome: Explore banquet culture in the Mediterranean, investigating the traditions of the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Visit museums and archaeological sites in and around Rome, as well as Tuscany, Lazio, and Campania. Prepare a banquet following an ancient Roman cookbook and recall villa culture, feasts, and leisure. Subject areas: Classics, History
  • Italy's Artistic Heritage Through Craftsmanship and Luxury (previously titled Branding the Eternal City Through the Arts): Explore the intersection between the Arts and Italy's reputation for luxury and high quality in Rome. Learn in the city about mosaics in the loggia of Santa Maria Maggiore, sculpture in Piazza Navona, and paintings in chapels for which they were commissioned. Interview local artists and visit the very spaces, workshops, and ateliers where these masterpieces are created in Rome. Subject areas: Art History, European Studies
  • Italian Food: Farm to Fork (previously titled Slow Food, A Case Study in Tradition and Innovation): Explore the Slow Food movement, traditional food culture, sustainable agriculture, and mindful eating practices in Rome. Tastings, visits to neighborhood markets, and discussions with experts will focus on topics like morality and good, biodynamic wines, wildflower harvesting, and anti-Mafia food farms. Subject areas: Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Italian
  • Made in Italy: A Marketing Focus: Study the marketing and advertising strategies of Italian companies with a special focus on food, fashion, and design. Going beyond the fundamentals of marketing, this course studies the phenomenon of Italian branding both locally and globally. An interactive and participatory class that includes site visits to corporations in Rome that have a reach well beyond the city. Subject areas: Business, Italian, Communication
  • On Location: History of Italian Film in Rome: Using films shot in the Eternal City, you will learn about the history of Italian film. Watching films by Italians and their capital city will deepen your understanding of the country and its peoples, how they presented themselves to the world, what they were really like, and what they aspired to be. Subject areas: Italian, Film & Media Studies
  • Social Psychology and Choices for Well-being: Learn practical tools for gaining control, living a life you aspire to, and gain insight into your wellbeing and that of your community. Study cultural norms, social relationships, and societal structures and how these shape perceptions of wellbeing and the pursuit of happiness. Subject area: Psychology

Research and independent study are typically not available on this program.

Electives:

You'll select four electives. Exact offerings may depend on enrollment and instructor availability. Final courses will be announced prior to the start of the program. Course enrollment is held on a first-come, first-served basis; enrollment in your top course preferences is not guaranteed, so be sure to have back-up courses in mind. Recent offerings include:

  • Exploring Rome: Language and Culture (Sample syllabus not available; lower-division) Explore Rome’s language, culture, and counterculture, in the piazzas, streets, parks, and homes that have contributed to its identities. Study culture on site, and the language in the classroom. Develop your Italian and analyze some of the cross cultural topics you identify as you navigate the city and reflect on real-life scenarios. Subject area: Italian
  • Elementary Italian (lower-division): Using films shot in the Eternal City, you will learn about the history of Italian film. Watching films by Italians and their capital city will deepen your understanding of the country and its peoples, how they presented themselves to the world, what they were really like, and what they aspired to be. Subject area: Italian
  • Slow Food: A Case Study in Tradition and Innovation (Sample syllabus not available) Explore the Slow Food movement, traditional food culture, sustainable agriculture, and mindful eating practices in Rome. Tastings, visits to neighborhood markets, and discussions with experts will focus on topics like morality and good, biodynamic wines, wildflower harvesting, and anti-Mafia food farms. Subject areas: Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Italian
  • Entrepreneurship: The Italian Way (Sample syllabus not available) Explore the phenomenon of entrepreneurship through the lens of intersectionality in creative chaos of Rome. Case studies on Leonardo da Vinci, the Fontana Sisters, and Adriano Olivetti, will help you evaluate entrepreneurship from the perspectives of diversity management, finance, and marketing. Subject areas: Business Administration, Italian
  • Made in Italy: A Marketing Focus (Sample syllabus not available) 
  • Branding the Eternal City Through the Arts (Sample syllabus not available) Explore the intersection between the Arts and Italy's reputation for luxury and high quality in Rome. Learn in the city about mosaics in the loggia of Santa Maria Maggiore, sculpture in Piazza Navona, and paintings in chapels for which they were commissioned. Interview local artists and visit the very spaces, workshops, and ateliers where these masterpieces are created in Rome. Subject areas: Business Administration, Communication, Italian

Research and independent study are typically not available on this program.

Electives:

You'll select three electives. Exact offerings may depend on enrollment and instructor availability. Final courses will be announced prior to the start of the program. Course enrollment is held on a first-come, first-served basis; enrollment in your top course preferences is not guaranteed, so be sure to have back-up courses in mind. Recent offerings include:

  • Exploring Rome: Language and Culture (lower-division): Explore Rome’s language, culture, and counterculture, in the piazzas, streets, parks, and homes that have contributed to its identities. Study culture on site, and the language in the classroom. Develop your Italian and analyze some of the cross cultural topics you identify as you navigate the city and reflect on real-life scenarios. Subject area: Italian
  • Elementary Italian (lower-division): Bongiorno! Learn how to express yourself in Italian and to understand those around you. Through a focus on key skills, the interactive classes in the city and in the classroom will help you to communicate with locals and to feel part of the city. Subject area: Italian
  • Italian Food: Farm to Fork (previously titled Slow Food, A Case Study in Tradition and Innovation): Explore the Slow Food movement, traditional food culture, sustainable agriculture, and mindful eating practices in Rome. Tastings, visits to neighborhood markets, and discussions with experts will focus on topics like morality and good, biodynamic wines, wildflower harvesting, and anti-Mafia food farms. Subject areas: Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Italian
  • Entrepreneurship: The Italian Way: Explore the phenomenon of entrepreneurship through the lens of intersectionality in creative chaos of Rome. Case studies on Leonardo da Vinci, the Fontana Sisters, and Adriano Olivetti, will help you evaluate entrepreneurship from the perspectives of diversity management, finance, and marketing. Subject areas: Business, Italian
  • Made in Italy: A Marketing Focus: Study the marketing and advertising strategies of Italian companies with a special focus on food, fashion, and design. Going beyond the fundamentals of marketing, this course studies the phenomenon of Italian branding both locally and globally. An interactive and participatory class that includes site visits to corporations in Rome that have a reach well beyond the city. Subject areas: Business, Italian, Communication
  • Italy's Artistic Heritage through Craftsmanship and Luxury (previously titled Branding the Eternal City Through the Arts): Explore the intersection between the Arts and Italy's reputation for luxury and high quality in Rome. Learn in the city about mosaics in the loggia of Santa Maria Maggiore, sculpture in Piazza Navona, and paintings in chapels for which they were commissioned. Interview local artists and visit the very spaces, workshops, and ateliers where these masterpieces are created in Rome. Subject areas: Art History, European Studies
  • Social Psychology and Choices for Well-being: Learn practical tools for gaining control, living a life you aspire to, and gain insight into your wellbeing and that of your community. Study cultural norms, social relationships, and societal structures and how these shape perceptions of wellbeing and the pursuit of happiness. Subject area: Psychology, Sociology

Research and independent study are typically not available on this program.

Catalogs and resources

  • UCEAP Course Catalog: See a list of courses students have taken on this program. 
  • Campus Credit Abroad: Learn the types of credit (major, minor, general education, elective) students from your campus received at this location. There are currently no listings for this program in the database.

Academic culture

You’ll be on this program with other UC students in relatively small classes. Since courses are designed for UC students, regular papers, presentations, exams, and projects are all part of the curriculum. Professors are local resident faculty with experience teaching UC students.

The academic workload for this program is demanding. Expect to be attending lectures from three to six hours per day where classroom learning is combined with “place learning” where lectures are held outside in the city and on longer excursions. Typically class is Monday through Thursday; occasionally classes are held on Fridays and evenings. All courses have required readings and assignments that you will complete outside of your contact hours. Place learning occurs in many types of weather conditions and requires extensive walking on cobblestone streets. You are required to attend class and all place learning excursions, arrive punctually, and participate actively in your courses. Attendance is taken at every class session.

Grades

You'll earn direct UC credit and grades for all coursework. Grades are typically available mid-September for the summer, and late July for the spring quarter.