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Florence is known for being the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, making it an epicenter for art and architecture. Florence is the capital city of the region of Tuscany and is bustling with commerce and culture. Situated on the national railway lines, it is extremely accessible to cities all over Europe.
Below are the courses offered for the Elon in Florence Semester Study abroad program. All courses listed below are offered every academic semester (unless otherwise indicated and as long as minimum enrollment is met.) All students are required take either 4 or 8 credits of Italian Language.
Please note: Although it is indicated in parentheses how these courses have counted for credits toward graduation in the past, please consult with your adviser to see how they will count toward your particular degree program and to double check prerequisites.
ARH 310 IS/ELR: Art History in Florence - 4 credits
(credit for Expression as Fine Arts or Advanced Studies if outside your major; credit for Italian Studies minor*)
This course begins with the rebirth of the major arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting in the late Middle Ages in Florence, Pisa, and Siena, and then focuses primarily on the art of Florence in the early Renaissance, concluding with a consideration of the High Renaissance both in Florence and Rome, and the beginnings of Mannerism. The majority of the course is taught in the museums and monuments of Florence to exploit fully the possibility of onsite study. There are required field trips to Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, and Rome. In all phases of the course, the art will be related to the historical and cultural context in which it developed and of which it is a reflection. Among the artists covered are: Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Alberti Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Pontormo. Course requirements include written midterm and final examinations and a term paper.
ENG 368 IS/ELR: Modern Italian Literature - 4 credits
(credit for Expression as Literature or Advanced Studies if outside your major)
This course will introduce students to Italian literature of the twentieth century using the theory of the avant-garde as a critical jumping-off point from which to study the movements within and the various resistances to Italian literary tradition that marked this turbulent period. To accentuate the stylistic and formal qualities of avant-garde literature, students will have the chance to choose between two different texts representing some of the movements that we will examine. I hope that this will enhance our in-class discussions and provide us with the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the greater complexities of literary movements as a whole.
GST Seminar - GST 380 IS/ELR - 4 credits
(credit for upper level GST; credit for Italian Studies minor* - subject to approval of the coordinator each semester). The topic of the seminar changes each semester with the faculty member in residence.
- Spring 2012 - Anne Bolin (Anthropology/Sociology): GST Seminar topic: A Tavola, non si Invecchia: Food Production, Distribution and Consum ption Patterns in Italy
Food is the lens through which we will explore the diversity of local Italian cultures historically and currently. This course will provide a wide panorama for understanding how history, environment and political-economy converge with culture in shaping local foodways and cuisines in Italy. Beginning with the 12th century through nation state formation and two world wars, we will investigate the influence of migration, exploration, warfare and trade, and political organization on local culture, food production and consumption practices. Contemporary themes address the Italian economic miracle of the 60's, the decline of the mezzadria (peasant) system and the globalization of food including the slow food movement and its impact on local gastronomic traditions. This is an interdisciplinary writing and reading intensive course.
- Fall 2012 - Mike Carignan (History) GST Seminar topic: Italy: Nationalism, Regionalism and Food in Italy
The early 1800s witnessed the growth of many modern ideologies such as capitalism, socialism and romanticism. This period also gave birth to the modern concept of nationalism, a radical new way of organizing states that led to the creation of two new states, Germany and Italy. During the period known as the Risorgimento a number of competing views of nationalism fed movements to unify Italy for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. The push to create an Italian state meant the expulsion of occupying armies from the peninsula, the reduction of the temporal authority of the Pope and the unification of the eleven pre-existing states, which included a grand duchy, two duchies, three republics, two Church-run states and three kingdoms. These movements culminated in the unification of Italy in the 1860s, although the modern borders of Italy were completed only after World War I. However, the creation of an Italian state did not equate with the creation of an Italian "nation." Massimo d'Azeglio, an Italian statesman, famously said, "L'Italia è fatta. Restano da fare gli italiani" [Italy has been made. Now it remains to create Italians.] Even today regional identity plays a significant part in the twenty official provinces of Italy. Food provides one source by which regions differ from one another. This course will explore the conceptions and historical development of nationalism and regionalism in general and in particular in its rise and meaning in the Italian context. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third or fourth year of study. Counts toward the Italian Studies minor.
- Spring 2013- Mike Frontani (Communications) GST Seminar topic: Italy, The United States, and Post-World II Culture(s)
The course interrogates the cultural value of images of Italians and Italian Americans in film, print media, and other mass-mediated artifacts, with a focus on 1940-1965, a quarter century during which Italian Americans transitioned from ³the Other² to ³Americans,² and during which Italy and Italians were rehabilitated as members of the community of nations. These processes were deeply integrated and intertwined in the images and narratives circulating during the era. That is, the evolving images of Italian Americans (i.e, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joe DiMaggio, Rocky Marciano and other boxers, and Medal of Honor Winner John Basilone, etc.) were often used as a point of comparison with Italians and Italy by the media as part of a U. S. sponsored effort to rehabilitate the wartime foe, just as the rich history of Italy and Italians was used to validate Italian Americans. The sources of these images, artifacts, and so forth, and the impetus for their evolution is to be found in the history of the period, of the U.S. and Italy, and in the commercial and cultural values of the Italian and American media responsible for constructions of Italians and Italian Americans, etc. Italian culture benefitted from the exporting of Italian culture, notably in film, fashion, automotives and other parts of the Italian economy benefitting from the Marshall Plan and related U. S. efforts to build the Italian economy as best suited U. S. aims for Italy. In a sense, this course is about the dialogue between America and Italy in the decades following World War II, as it was pursued in the media, art, and other cultural artifacts emerging from the two countries. Films, recordings, and print media (including newspapers, books, and magazines) will provide the raw materials for our analysis of this relationship.
- Fall 2013 - Larry Basirico (Anthropology/Sociology) GST Seminar topic: Italy: Contemporary Culture and Institutions in Everyday Life
This course is an interdisciplinary exploration and explanation of the interrelationship between culture and institutions in contemporary Italy. Students will learn to use a culturally relativistic approach that is rooted in understanding the elements of culture (such as norms, values, beliefs, symbols, technology, artifacts and others), the reasons and ways in which they have developed in Italian life, and how they both have helped to shape and have been shaped by institutions such as family, religion, politics, economics, education, health care, leisure and others. Students will learn through lectures, readings, discussions, media presentations, group work, and conducting ethnographic research. This course is writing intensive.
- Spring 2014 - Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler (Psychology)
- Fall 2014 Tom Mould (Anthropology/Sociology)
HST 380 IS/ELR: History of Contemporary Italy - 4 credits
(credit for Civilization or Advanced Studies if outside your major; credit for Italian Studies minor*)
This course provides a review of modern and contemporary Italian history from the end of the Napoleonic wars up to the present day. The first part of the course will cover the Risorgimento and the movement towards national unity as well as the impact of the First World War and Fascism; the second part of the course will focus on World War II and the postwar republican era. The aim is to offer the student both a complete introduction to Italian history and a familiarization with the issues and themes of contemporary Italian history.
The course pursues these goals through lectures, readings, site trips, films and discussions. Some general texts offers a background on the historical development of towns while other readings will offer a choice of interpretations of actual cities and of their representations.
POL 350 IS/ELR: Italian Politics and Government - 4 credits
(credit for Society or Advanced Studies if outside your major; credit in Political Science/International Studies major/minors)
The aim of this course is to explore the Italian political system and political parties as well as some politics related phenomena, such as the Italian media system, the Italian organized crime and the Italian unconventional political actors and informal political participation. Along the semester, the course is divided into three parts. The introductory lectures analyze the process of state-building in Italy and the consolidation of democracy in the early post-World War Two years. The focus will be on the rise and consolidation of mass political parties (Christian Democratic Party and Communist Party), the role of Italian unconventional political actors and the season of political terrorism. The second part of the course explains the current Italian political system. Starting from the Italian Constitution, lectures deal with the Italian government, parliament and the president; the judiciary power; the electoral system and the media system. The third part discusses the political upheavals that have characterized Italy since the early 1990s. Starting from the "Tangentopoli" political scandal, the remaining lectures deal with the origins and developments of the current Italian party system, the role of organized crime in contemporary Italy and the interaction between Italy and the European Union. The lecture program will also include slots for the showing of videos dealing with aspects of contemporary Italian government, politics, and issues in government and society.
(Required) Italian Language – 4 or 8 credits
(Depending on the level of Italian previously taken and the end of course test score – credit for Foreign Language requirement completion; credit for Civilization; credit for a Italian Studies minor*; or elective credit) Italian Language will be taken at the appropriate level based on prior courses at Elon and is a requirement of the Elon in Florence Program.
Dance Seminar - 10 credits
(credit for Expression)
Starting Spring 2013, a Dance Seminar will be offered every Spring semester. Students interested in taking dance will be required to take the following four dance courses:
- DAN 214 IS Modern IV
- DAN 216 IS Ballet IV
- DAN 302 IS Dance History II
- DAN 320 IS Special Topic: Dance in Florence
Credit /non-credit private Art Studio Lessons and music instruction are available for additional fees.
*Note: Students can only transfer a maximum of three courses toward the Italian Studies minor from their semester in Florence.
Study abroad courses may not be taken on an audit or pass/fail basis.
Grades count toward an Elon GPA.
Costs for study abroad vary program to program and will not be exactly the same as on-campus costs of attendance at Elon.
For cost information for this program, please see the budget sheets:
Need-based scholarships are available for Elon semester programs through the GEC. For additional information on scholarships or other funding for study abroad, see the Funding for Study Abroad page.
If you qualify for a travel grant through any of the fellows or scholars programs, see the appropriate program director for more information on how to apply the grant to your study abroad program. Visit the Deadlines and Events Calendar for travel grant deadlines.
Students will live in apartments in a quiet section of the city within easy walking distance of classes and the city center.
Students must complete the online Elon University study abroad application by the published deadline. See the Deadline and Events Calendar for the most up-to-date deadline information. Applications are generally accepted one year in advance.
Note: This program has limited capacity. Applications for a given term will no longer be accepted once capacity has been reached.
A successful semester abroad is dependent upon adequate preparation. Students will participate in a series of mandatory orientations during the semester prior to studying abroad. These orientations will address issues of academic, cultural, logistical, financial, and personal preparation, as well as health and safety. Failure to participate in the required orientations will result in dismissal from the program. Any financial losses incurred by this dismissal, including program fees and international airfare, are the student's full responsibility.
Click here for semester programs and pre-departure orientation schedule.
The orientation guide for the Elon Centre in Florence, Italy is available on iBookstore. This guide is also available as an Elon Center in Florence, Italy (9.17.12).pdf file.
Want to know more? Join the Florence study abroad Facebook page to connect with alumni and other prospective students. Click here to read AEF's official blog.
Study Abroad Student Ambassadors (SASAs) are GEC student representatives who have participated in one or more study abroad programs, and have been trained to speak about their experiences. You can be in touch with current SASAs via email, or contact past study abroad participants who have attended your program. They are looking forward to hearing from you!
Embassy, Consulate, and Visa Resources