Montclair State University

International Summer Institutes

MSU Faculty Led Short-Term Study Abroad Institutes

Montclair in Florence

Intensive Italian Language and Civilization

May 18 - June 30, 2012

Academics
Payment Deadlines and Costs
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Montclair in Florence Scholarship

Montclair in Florence

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Students come to Florence and Tuscany for many reasons--fine art, wonderful cuisine, Italian language and culture. From the Etruscans to the Romans to the Renaissance, Florence is possibly the greatest repository of art in the world, from extraordinary paintings and sculpture to frescoes and architectural masterpieces. A city of about 600,000, Florence is situated only a few hours by train from other major cultural centers including Rome. The program is run in conjunction with Arizona State University and Dominican University, making it possible to register for Italian language courses at various levels. Two one-day excursions to Assisi and to a castle in the Chianti area are included in the program, and students may explore the surrounding region on their own.

Faculty

Serena D'Ovidio is a native of Rome, where she received diplomas in Classical Studies and Psychology, earning a Master’s from La Sapienza University. Rather than be a practicing psychologist, she chose to travel extensively, including Sri Lanka, Thailand, and North Africa, among other places. Settling eventually in New York, she has taught Italian at Hunter College and is now a full time instructor in the Spanish/Italian Department at Montclair State University. She prides herself on passing along to her students that passion for knowledge and enthusiasm for the unknown. Additional faculty for the program are from the partner institutions, Arizona State University and Dominican University.

Dr. David Sanders, who received his Ph.D. from New York University, is an associate professor in the Broadcasting Department. In addition to his duties as producer of Inside MSU, the weekly campus television news program and audio supervisor for Carpe Diem, the MSU Broadcasting Department's award winning weekly cable show, Dr. Sanders teaches courses in television production, audio production, multi-track recording, sound design, and music technology. He has been the Director of the National Music Council since 1994. He produces the National Music Council's annual Leadership in Music symposium and American Eagle Awards in New York City, and is the U.S. representative to the International Music Council of UNESCO.

Academics

Students register for one language course and one civilization seminar. Also note that participants may request a waiver for GNED 303 Global Issues with any study abroad program. Credit and grades for faculty led programs appear in the MSU transcript as MSU Summer Sessions courses.

ITAL 375-01: Study Abroad Language Courses- Italian 101, 102, 103, 104,

post-program credit adjustment.
The fundamentals of speaking, reading and writing through task-oriented activities, video/audio cassettes, CDs, and laboratory work. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Foreign Language. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Languages.

Special Topics. A Florentine Travel Diary. Traversals and Reflections through Italian Contemporary Culture
Taught in Italian. This advanced composition course will cover various content units ranging from modern Italian design, fashion, music, art, multiculturalism in Italy, and literature on Italy, to name a few. Students will be required to visit and attend art and fashion exhibits, theatrical performances, musical concerts, monuments and lectures. Assignments will include a travel diary or series of compositions, reviews, articles, personal reflections, etc. on their first-hand experiences with and research on the complexities of Italian contemporary culture. Classes will be structured as writing workshops. Prerequisites: ITAL 242, 243 or by special permission. Credit adjustment for ITAL 345 by arrangement .

ITAL 375-02 Civilization Seminars
Tuscany in the English/Anglophone Literary Imagination
Italy functions as a site of prolific productivity for many writers throughout the 17th to 20th centuries, such as Lord Byron and Persy Bysshe Shelley, Ouida, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Warton, EM Forster and many others. This course explores this fascination with what Shelley calls, in “Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills,” in “Italy, Those Paradise of Exiles.” The course, which is centered on Anglophone writers who wrote in, about and from Tuscany, will explore the best work of these writers (poetry, drama and prose) which is all written during their self-imposed exile in the land of Dante and Boccaccio. The works to be discussed include, but are not limited to, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Don Juan, and Frankenstein, “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, A Room With a View and selections from many others. Writing assignments will include a daily reflective reading journal and a 7-10 page research paper. Taught by faculty of Arizona State University. Credit adjustment for ENLT 250 by arrangement.

Drawing on Florence
This is a multi-level drawing course in which students work in and out of doors in the churches, museums, gardens and streets of Florence as well as the surrounding Tuscan countryside. Drawing problems will focus on working from direct observation and will implement basic drawing principles, such as gesture, perspective, shading and color. Daily critiques will aim to help students develop their own vision and style. Beginning and intermediate students generally work together as a group; advanced students have the option of working on their own with individual critiques. No prerequisite is required; only an imaginative willingness is expected. Taught by Dominican University faculty. Credit adjustment for ARGS 260 Visual Arts Workshop by arrangement.

BDCS 470 Italian Media Journal

This Broadcasting course is open to both Broadcasting majors and non-majors. Students will research, write and produce short videos on various aspects of Italian culture. They will explore the Western European broadcast system to experience Italian culture through its media. Students will train on video camcorders, learn simple production techniques and then use the camcorders as a tool for research. For their primary project, students will research a particular area and conduct primary source research by interacting with people, doing interviews and producing short video journals. Knowledge of television production is not necessary. Primarily taught on site.

Accommodations and Meals

Participants will be lodged in apartments located in central Florence. The apartments are equipped with standard kitchen facilities which will enable participants to prepare some of their own meals and save some expenses. Housing assignments and instructions will be sent separately to each student, and cannot be traded without permission from the ASU Faculty Director. Lunch vouchers are included for four days per week at one of two possible local restaurants. Note that participants must be physically able to walk one mile on cobble stone streets.

Highlights

Estimated Program Costs:

$4,500 plus tuition and fees for six credits. The program cost includes:

Roundtrip airfare
Airport Transfers in Florence
Housing in Double or Triple Occupancy Bedrooms in Furnished Apartments
Internet in apartments and classroom center
Two one-day excursions to Siena and Chianti
4 lunches per week and two group dinners
Orientation in Florence & Museum Pass
International Student I.D. card and ISIC insurance
Cell phone rental (does not include actual cost of calls)
Administrative and guest lecturer fees

Payment Schedule:
The payment schedule for program costs is as follows:

Administrative fee by February 1:	$100
By January 15:	$1,100
By February 15:	$1,700
By March 15:	$1,700 (to be confirmed)

Make checks payable to “Montclair State University”

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for MSU students. See the Spanish/Italian Department and Global Education Center sites for further information

Program cost for participants opting out of the group airfare and meeting up with the group in Florence: $3,300 (does not include airport transfer in Italy). Participants should plan to cover other meals and Atlas Travel Insurance (approximately $40). Program costs are based on 15 participants and current airfare and exchange rates and are subject to change

Application procedure: All participants are required to submit
All participants are required to submit
1) Pre-enrollment Form confirming interview with the faculty director;
2) Reference form completed by a faculty member other than the faculty leading that program; and
3) $100 administrative fee.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling admissions basis but the recommended deadline is December 15 to ensure sufficient space.
The minimum GPA is 2.75 and students must be in good academic standing and not be under disciplinary action. Summer programs are open to non-MSU students and high achieving high school seniors who demonstrate special interest. Non-MSU students, new transfer students and high school seniors will need to submit two references forms, an official transcript from their home institution(s) and an additional $100 administration fee. Telephone interviews with the faculty will be accepted for out of state students. After completion of the program, non-MSU students will need to request an MSU transcript for submission to the home institution.