STUDY ABROAD
Fully immerse yourself in the Italian culture, improve your language skills, and spend your academic year or semester engaged in courses with Italian students at the University, and other BCSP participants in consortium classes.
This program is ideal if you’re looking for an academically rich study abroad experience with an introduction to Italian language. In Florence, the renowned history of Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, the Medici, and Botticelli will become part of your daily experience.
Spring 2018 Courses
Italian Political History of the First and Second Republics
(Ricardo Galliano Court)
This course covers the political and social changes in Italy since the end of the Second World War. We will start with the political history of what is called the First Republic (1948-1992) with attention to the impact of the Cold War. Then, we will pay particular attention to the collapse of the Italian party system and the rise of Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Itaila party and the political realities of the so-called Second Republic. We will examine several populist movements (Alleanza Nazionale, La Lega Nord, Margherita, and the most recent Movimento Cinque Stelle) that have risen (and fallen) in the last 25 years. We will also examine the impact developments in the administrative, fiscal, and political institutions of the European Union have had on Italian politics. Salient contexts include: the Italian Family and Gender, the Catholic Church, civil rights and environmental issues, the economic and social disparity between il Nord and il Mezzogiorno (north and south), and inevitably the Mafia (Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta, and Camorra). Finally, the course will speculate on the vast shift from a nation of mass emigration, to a country of mass immigration and the future of the European Union.
Machiavelli and His World
(Ricardo Galliano Court and Kristin Phillips-Court)
This course introduces students to the major works of Machiavelli through the close reading and discussion of his writings in their cultural and historical contexts. First, students will encounter Machiavelli’s texts on their own, with guidance from lectures. Students will have the opportunity to react to Machiavelli’s writing before grappling with its reception and interpretation. Students will then deepen their understanding of Machiavelli’s thought by considering historical, literary, cultural, artistic, feminist, and political-theoretical points of view. Discussion and targeted writing assignments will aim at cultivating in students a broad understanding of Machiavelli’s principal intellectual (literary, political-theoretical, historical) attitudes. The course aims at developing students’ analytical reading, writing and discussion skills. The outcome will be a deeper understanding of the controversies surrounding Machiavelli, and the ability to articulate with subtlety some complexities in his political thought.
The Florentine Renaissance
(Kristin Phillips-Court)
This introductory course examines the artistic, literary, and philosophical developments that took place in Florence during the Renaissance and how they uniquely defined the idea of the Italian Renaissance for centuries. We will study Florentine painting, sculpture, architecture, urban planning, and literature both inside the classroom and on-site in Florence. In addition to introducing students to the numerous artistic treasures of Florence, this course also aims at and broadening their appreciation of the enduring capacity of the arts to feed the human need for aesthetic and intellectual fulfillment. Lectures, discussions, and activities will focus on building a practical knowledge of Florentine Renaissance art and culture, as well as on developing students’ analytical skills.
On this program, you will be intentionally immersed in an Italian language and culture experience.
INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIPS
International Internship Program heps you explore international internship options. Click here for there latest schedule and deadlines.