Florence, Italy - Course Descriptions - The Florence Experience I: Beginning Italian I

Course Information

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Course Description and Objectives

The Florence Experience I is an interdisciplinary course which focuses on developing proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing Italian, while introducing the students to various, relevant aspects of contemporary Florentine life and Italian culture. The course offers students an interdisciplinary experience in language learning made possible only by direct immersion in the target culture.

The city of Florence becomes a cultural laboratory: with its world-famous fashion concerns, its beautiful theaters and lively markets, its young writers and actors, and its characteristic stores and artisans’ workshops, it is a composite of contemporary Italian culture to be explored by the student.
In addition to classroom work based on the standard content of the first semester of language study, the course includes a series of on-site encounters, which will range from interviews with various exponents of Florentine society, to encounters with artisans in the botteghe of the characteristic neighborhood of Oltrarno, field-trips and treasure hunts at the most vivacious markets in town, and encounters with students of the University of Florence.
During the semester, students will also engage in conversation exchanges with Italian students outside class time.


Course descriptions may be subject to occasional minor modifications at the discretion of the instructor.

Textbooks

During orientation at the Institute, students will receive a list of textbooks they are required to purchase. Students should not purchase any texts before orientation.