While space in some study abroad programs such as SMU-in-Italy fills up quickly, other programs such as SMU’s Rome and Bologna are still struggling to fill spots.
The Rome and Bologna program, led by SMU Italian professors Teresa Brentegani and Damiano Bonuomo, is looking to fill spots for five to seven students for this year’s summer program. SMU-in-Italy, led by theatre design professor Kathy Windrow-Galloway, is currently full with 40 students and a wait list.
So, what is the deciding difference between these two programs? Location, location, location. Rome and Bologna, as the name implies, begins its five-week program at the University of Loyola-Chicago’s Rome campus, then heads to the countryside to stay at Voltrona Farm in the Chianti region of Tuscany and concludes in the city of Bologna.
SMU-in-Italy is based at Hotel Italia in the small medieval town of Orvieto, 60 miles northwest of Rome and 100 miles southeast of Florence, where many of the program’s day trips are based.
While SMU-in-Italy focuses on historical and art-oriented field trips to Rome, Florence, Siena and the ruins of Ostia Antica, Rome and Bologna focuses on the Italian culture itself, particularly in Bologna.
Bologna, which according to Universita di Bologna is often considered home to the western world’s oldest university, “is what Americans would call a college town, but really it’s a university town. It’s one of the coolest places for young people.
“There are lots of sub cultures which give way to lots of diversity including hangouts for hippies, raves, swats and of course, with lots of students around, there is a big nightlife,” explains Bonuomo.
Another fact that may be the most important to students considering studying abroad in Italy is course selection.
Rome and Bologna is mostly language and culture-based, offering FL 2201, Italy Today: Contemporary Italian Culture and Institutions; FL 3393, Contemporary Italian Literature in Translation; ITAL 1401, Beginning Italian-First Semester; ITAL 1402, Beginning Italian-Second Semester; ITAL 2401 and 2402, Intermediate Italian and ITAL 4381 and 4382, Directed Studies.
SMU-in-Italy is mostly art-oriented, offering ASDR 1310, Drawing in Italy for Beginners; ASDR 5302 and 5303, Directed Studies- Drawing in Italy for Advanced Students; THEA 4386/CFA 3386, European Theatre and Drama, 1879-1953; ARHS 3333, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1300-1700 and CTV/CFA 3375, Post-World War II European Cinema.
Hannah Andrus, a sophomore business major, chose SMU-in-Italy based on course selection and fulfillment of her General Education Curriculum requirement or GECs, despite taking Italian for the past two semesters.
“I really think that I chose SMU-in-Italy because the course offerings better suit me and the requirements I still haven’t fulfilled for my GECs. Also, I’m pretty sure I won’t be continuing in the Italian language after this summer, so I figure I shouldn’t take an extra four hours this summer on a class that won’t go towards my major, minor or GECs,” said Andrus.
Other Italian students, such as Allison Bramlett, simply don’t have the time or the money to attend the Rome and Bologna program.
“I am going to Australia on vacation during that time, plus I don’t have the money right now,” said Bramlett.
Whether students prefer one program or another, Assistant Director of the Study Abroad Office Mary Beth Lewis insists that it is purely one’s own opinion.
“There is nothing wrong with either program. There is no comparison; each program is completely different with a different personality all its own,” said Lewis.
The deadline for all of SMU’s summer study abroad programs was March 1; however, there are still spaces available for the Rome and Bologna program. For more information, students can visit www.ilovethisitaly.com or contact Professor Bonuomo at [email protected].
