UC Center, Florence

This course offers an introduction to Italian culture and Florence's rich history and traditions through a hands-on approach. Florence is a complex city with many identities. It is known as the cradle of the Renaissance, but its structure was shaped in the middle ages, in the 19th century, and in recent times. It is an international place, visited by tourists from all around the world, but still maintains a sense of pride in its own traditions. In the Culture section of this course, students explore the city through a series of on-site lectures, understanding its structure and its development through the centuries up to today, discovering the significance of its beautiful monuments and the scars left by its fascinating history. The Language component of the course provides students the tools and skills to navigate the city and complete tasks in real-life situations and specific contexts. Through small-group works they acquire basic communicative structures and learn to react effectively to authentic communicative situations.

This introductory foundation course for beginners investigates the various materials, skills, and expressive issues involved in drawing the city of Florence, its architecture, sculptures, and the human figure from the live model. Students explore a range of compositional issues such as figure/ground relationships, light and shade, perspective, line and shape, value and color, texture, anatomy, contrapposto, and design.  Students draw on site in the city of Florence as well as in the classroom. Both are used in conjunction with exploring diverse approaches to the learning of drawing fundamentals. Emphasis is placed on drawing from perception while focusing on different cultural conventions relating to space, perspective, the human figure, architecture, anatomy, and proportion. The course includes trips to on-site locations in the city of Florence: its piazzas, gardens, museums, as well as a visit to an artist studio. There are two versions of the FOUNDATIONS OF DRAWING: DRAWING IN THE CITY OF FLORENCE, a beginner level and an intermediate level, this course is the beginning level.

This course trains students to use their experience abroad to reflect critically on the kind of city they would like to live in in the near future and what actions they would take to shape their ideal urban environment. To this purpose, the focus of the course is the nexus between cities, innovation, and sustainability, and the idea of smart city conceptualized and developed in the European Union as the main model for the city of the future. The concept of the smart city is approached by the six different angles and corresponding indicators commonly used to identify it: smart governance, smart economy, smart environment, smart mobility, smart living, and smart people. These six thematic areas are central to the course program, which comprehends three parts. The first part of the course sets the context by introducing concepts, tools, and policies of sustainable development and innovation in Europe and their strategic role in the development of cities and urban areas according to the indications from the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It also touches upon the historical evolution of cities as main hubs for socio-economic development. Secondly, the course concentrates on the study of the six different areas and indicators for the smart city in a European-United States comparative lens to give students different perspectives and tools to analyze an urban system and propose ideas for future developments. In the final part of the course, Florence and other case studies from Tuscany, Italy, and Europe serve as models of practical application of the previous theoretical considerations. European cities offer stimulating points of view concerning sustainability and innovative solutions. Florence in particular constitutes the main case study of the course, as the first smart city in Italy according to the ICity Rank 2022 and one of the nine Italian cities part of a European project for the development of Smart Cities. The course critically analyzes the approach towards the actual state of cities in Tuscany and their evolution towards the proposed model of a future city that the Tuscan region and its urban centers, Florence in particular, are undertaking. Key thematic issues and sustainability challenges are explored in the context of Tuscan urban environments, including mobility (electric mobility, shared mobility, AI systems), industrial development and clusters (green logistics, green buildings), innovative ecosystems (local ecosystems of innovation, startups incubators, and accelerators), and resource management (waste management, urban mining). The course includes outdoor activities (visit to local firms developing smart solutions; talking to local policy makers, public officials, or representatives of workers’ and firms’ organizations) and guest speakers that offer unique opportunities to engage with the local environment.

This introductory foundation course for beginners investigates the various materials, skills, and expressive issues involved in drawing the city of Florence, its architecture, sculptures, and the human figure from the live model. Students explore a range of compositional issues such as figure/ground relationships, light and shade, perspective, line and shape, value and color, texture, anatomy, contrapposto, and design.  Students draw on site in the city of Florence as well as in the classroom. Both are used in conjunction with exploring diverse approaches to the learning of drawing fundamentals. Emphasis is placed on drawing from perception while focusing on different cultural conventions relating to space, perspective, the human figure, architecture, anatomy, and proportion. The course includes trips to on-site locations in the city of Florence: its piazzas, gardens, museums, as well as a visit to an artist studio. There are two versions of the FOUNDATIONS OF DRAWING: DRAWING IN THE CITY OF FLORENCE, a beginner level and an intermediate level, this course is the beginning level.

This intermediate foundation course investigates the various materials, skills, and expressive issues involved in drawing the city of Florence, its architecture, sculptures, and the human figure from the live model. Students explore a range of compositional issues such as figure/ground relationships, light and shade, perspective, line and shape, value and color, texture, anatomy, contrapposto, and design.  Students draw on site in the city of Florence as well as in the classroom. Both are used in conjunction with exploring diverse approaches to the learning of drawing fundamentals. Emphasis is placed on drawing from perception while focusing on different cultural conventions relating to space, perspective, the human figure, architecture, anatomy, and proportion. The course includes trips to on-site locations in the city of Florence: its piazzas, gardens, museums, as well as a visit to an artist studio. There are two versions of the FOUNDATIONS OF DRAWING: DRAWING IN THE CITY OF FLORENCE, a beginner level and an intermediate level, this course is the intermediate level. Intermediate students are required to have completed a beginning drawing course as a prerequisite. Some assignments for the intermediate students will vary from the assignments given to beginning students. Intermediate students' assignments and progress are held to a higher standard than beginning students. The intermediate students are expected to perform at a higher level.

This intermediate foundation course investigates the various materials, skills, and expressive issues involved in drawing the city of Florence, its architecture, sculptures, and the human figure from the live model. Students explore a range of compositional issues such as figure/ground relationships, light and shade, perspective, line and shape, value and color, texture, anatomy, contrapposto, and design.  Students draw on site in the city of Florence as well as in the classroom. Both are used in conjunction with exploring diverse approaches to the learning of drawing fundamentals. Emphasis is placed on drawing from perception while focusing on different cultural conventions relating to space, perspective, the human figure, architecture, anatomy, and proportion. The course includes trips to on-site locations in the city of Florence: its piazzas, gardens, museums, as well as a visit to an artist studio. There are two versions of the FOUNDATIONS OF DRAWING: DRAWING IN THE CITY OF FLORENCE, a beginner level and an intermediate level, this course is the intermediate level. Intermediate students are required to have completed a beginning drawing course as a prerequisite. Some assignments for the intermediate students will vary from the assignments given to beginning students. Intermediate students' assignments and progress are held to a higher standard than beginning students. The intermediate students are expected to perform at a higher level.

This introductory studio course presents photography as a medium of documentation, critical communication, and personal expression related to social issues and intimate involvement. It builds photography skills including composition, light, and technical expertise. Alongside developing skills, the course considers questions of identity and expression in photography and examines how photographs have been used as markers of cultural identification. The course challenge students to question, explore, and express their own identity through photography and to take inspiration from their host city environment, in synergy or contrast with their own identity. It deepens the ability to think critically and express thoughts through images and related texts by analyzing and interpreting experiences in Italian society. Through various photographic exercises and assignments, the course explores digital photography as a tool to interpret and narrate different aspects of the city and one's personal experience of and with it, reflecting on identity in a visual way. Lectures cover technical aspects related to shooting and editing, conceiving and amplifying projects, and addressing different audiences. The course also offers an overview on Italian and international photographers and different approaches in contemporary photographic practice. Classroom discussions, assigned readings, and photo responses, combined with the personal experience of the photographic medium, help to develop critical skills to understand how photographs work aesthetically and conceptually in various contexts, how they are used in contemporary society and culture, and how they become means of personal exploration.

This course builds on and rapidly expands control of basic grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students consolidate their ability to negotiate basic survival situations in the target language and learn more advanced grammar concepts, especially with attention to the past tenses. They understand sentences and common expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local topography, employment). They complete routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar matters. They describe in simple terms aspects of their background, environment, and matters in areas of immediate need. They talk about their family, living conditions, present or recent, and past work and school activities, and personal experiences. They are able to expand learned phrases through simple re-combinations of their elements. All four abilities (writing, speaking, listening, reading) are developed in the class, also with the support of authentic audiovisual materials such as Italian movies, short videos, TV programs, and songs. The course uses a communication-based approach: students engage in daily role-plays, group activities, games, and class discussions. Out of class activities are designed to take advantage of the opportunities for interaction and language practice, as well as immersion in Italian culture, that the city provides.

This course offers an introduction to Italian culture and Florence's rich history and traditions through a hands-on approach. Florence is a complex city with many identities. It is known as the cradle of the Renaissance, but its structure was shaped in the middle ages, in the 19th century, and in recent times. It is an international place, visited by tourists from all around the world, but still maintains a sense of pride in its own traditions. In the Culture section of this course, students explore the city through a series of on-site lectures, understanding its structure and its development through the centuries up to today, discovering the significance of its beautiful monuments and the scars left by its fascinating history. The Language component of the course provides students the tools and skills to navigate the city and complete tasks in real-life situations and specific contexts. Through small-group works they acquire basic communicative structures and learn to react effectively to authentic communicative situations.

The aim of this course is to inspire students about the possibilities of entrepreneurship. The Italian context will prepare students for the creative chaos of the entrepreneurial world.  There is no better international context for exploring this phenomenon.  From the Medici, who made a fortune and lost it again within a century, to Ferrari, the consummate entrepreneur; from Armani, Ferragamo and Gucci to Luxottica and Del Vecchio’s sunglasses empire, we investigate the essence of Italian entrepreneurship.  In addition, we scrutinize great examples of family businesses, in which each new generation exhibits entrepreneurship (FIAT, Ferrero etc.) as well as instances of entrepreneurships where it all went wrong (e.g. Parmalat). The world of entrepreneurship is evaluated from the perspectives of management, finance, and marketing as well as sociology in order to understand these enterprises.  The course is delivered using a large array of texts and academic sources that the students assess in real life case studies. We visit a wide range of entrepreneurial contexts and have the opportunity to interview at first hand a number of entrepreneurs and those that support entrepreneurship.  Students also critically evaluate major issues such as globalization, sustainability, and ethics, which affect entrepreneurship today. Each class is based on a set of readings, and it is crucial that students keep up with the readings and be prepared to discuss them in class. Some lectures directly engage our readings while others provide contextualizing historical and theoretical information. Lectures and class discussions are supplemented by visits in which we explore the structure, philosophy, values, and methodology of Italian entrepreneurs. Emphasis is placed on taking the theoretical approach and applying it directly to the Italian context. This course is designed for undergraduate students of business, communication, international studies, management, economics as well as students with an interest in entrepreneurship.