Discover Siena.
Study Italian Language, Art History, and Crosscultural Communications at the historic AHA Siena Center, just a short walk from Siena's iconic medieval Piazza del Campo. Each term a U.S. visiting faculty member teaches two specialty courses. Additional courses are taught by local instructors. All courses, with the exception of Italian language, are taught in English. No prior Italian language is required.
COURSE LISTING
FALL 2010
Click here for course descriptions.
Italian Language (mandatory)
Crosscultural Communications / Crosscultural Perspectives (mandatory)
Gender and Desire in Renaissance Literature
Rediscovering Man: Renaissance in Central Italy
Renaissance Selves
WINTER 2011
Click here for course descriptions.
Italian Language (mandatory)
Crosscultural Communications / Crosscultural Perspectives (mandatory)
Food and Culture in Italy
Journalism in Italy
Picturing People - Italian Art and Society During the Renaissance
Politics in Italy: Between History and Society
SPRING 2011
Click here for course descriptions.
Italian Language (mandatory)
Crosscultural Communications / Crosscultural Perspectives (mandatory)
Food, Farming, and Sense of Place in Italy
Environmental Issues in Italy
The Birth of Art History: Art Criticism in Italy from Dante to Vasari
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Click on the course titles for syllabi.
Italian Language Level 1 Italian Language Level 2 Italian Language Level 3 Italian Language Level 4
(mandatory - 100 contact hours - fall, winter, spring )
Transition into life in Siena and gain better access to Italian culture through practical language and conversation skill development. Italian language courses are mandatory and are offered at levels 1 - 4.
Crosscultural Communications / Crosscultural Perspectives
(mandatory - 20 contact hours - fall, winter, spring)
Examine both the academic and experiential nature of crosscultural communications. Analyze and process your personal intercultural experience in Italy.
Food and Culture in Italy
(40 contact hours - winter)
Embark on an exciting journey through foodways in Italy. With a special focus on the Tuscan region, examine issues affecting the world's food today, by looking at food production, consumption and Italy's strategies for protecting its diverse food traditions.
Journalism in Italy
(40 contact hours - winter)
Discover Italian journalism and the Italian journalistic tradition. Practice journalism in the Italian context and discover Italy while reflecting on your experience abroad.
Picturing People - Italian Art and Society During the Renaissance
(45 contact hours - winter)
Explore
Italian art during the Renaissance. Examine the way Italian society and
culture is reflected in the works of artists of the day.
Rediscovering Man: Renaissance in Central Italy
(45 contact hours - fall)
Discover
the artistic and intellectual changes which gave rise to the rapid
development of visual culture during the Renaissance. Examine the
dramatic cultural changes and stylistic developments from the
thirteenth- to the sixteenth-centuries.
Politics in Italy: Between History and Society
(40 contact hours - winter)
Examine
the evolution of politics in Italy. Using major historical and social
events, travel through time from the Middle Ages and Renaissance
through the World Wars up to current day and discovering differences
between Italian, European and American political systems.
The Birth of Art History: Art Criticism in Italy from Dante to Vasari
(45 contact hours - spring)
As
the modern idea of Art and Artist was born in Renaissance Italy, so too
was Art History Criticism. The main goal of this course is to
demonstrate that this new idea of art criticism was introduced for the
first time by Dante Alighieri in his Divina Commedia and then developed
by many during XIV century. After an introduction to the most
important Classical art writers, we will discuss passages from the best
Mediaeval and Renaissance Italian sources about art and artists. This
course, on Italian literature and art history both, will explore the
aesthetical ideas and the new cultural vision on art and society of the
Renaissance.
FALL QUARTER 2010 U.S. VISITING FACULTY MEMBER COURSES
Instructor: Amy Greenstadt, Professor of English, Portland State University
Gender and Desire in Renaissance Literature
(45 contact hours)
Challenge standard discussions of the Renaissance that focus on male genius to look at the legacy of female writers and artists. Read writings by both men and women to explore the sometimes surprising and always interesting ways that this period envisioned maleness, femaleness, and everything in between.
Renaissance Selves
(45 contact hours)
Discover how the European "Renaissance" saw a vast expansion in international trade, the discovery of new continents, a radical questioning of Christian doctrine, and many scientific and artistic innovations. Explore the ways Renaissance people experienced themselves, and what their culture might tell us about ours.
SPRING QUARTER 2011 VISITING FACULTY MEMBER COURSES
Instructor: Martha Works, Professor of Geography, Portland State University
Food, Farming and Sense of Place in Italy (45 contact hours)
Analyze how Italy and Tuscany have a powerful hold on the American imagination, shaped in part by the agricultural landscapes and regional food cultures that are often portrayed as representing an idealized lifestyle. Explore how and why those images dominate our understanding of the region.
Environmental Issues in Italy (45 contact hours)
Discover the physical geography of Italy and how humans have modified the environment over thousands of years, and then investigate today's major driving forces of environmental change. Investigate how nature-society interactions have transformed the Italian landscape.
ACADEMIC CREDIT
All courses offered in Siena are recognized and approved for academic credit by various NCSA member institutions. Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office. Check with your study abroad adviser for more information. Not all courses listed are offered every term. Course offerings are subject to change depending on enrollment and availability.
Check with your study abroad adviser for specific deadlines on your campus.
