Italy

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Italy has a long history of welcoming foreign students. The School in Italy offers two sites from which to choose depending on the type of environment the student is seeking. Students who choose to study in the provincial city of Ferrara will have little interaction with other Americans or tourists, while students studying in Florence will have a more international experience.


                 Watch video about studying in Florence
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Watch video about studying in Ferrara
(Quicktime version) (Windows Media version)

Florence embodies the Renaissance, which began in Tuscany during the fourteenth century and continued to influence the region and ultimately the world for four hundred years. Michelangelo, Ghiberti, Machiavelli, Dante, and Galileo are just a few of the great men who shaped the city. Among the

numerous programs for U.S. students in Florence, Middlebury's is noteworthy for the linguistic proficiency of its students who are appreciated by the Florentine community for the seriousness of their commitment to experience Italian life fully and to live in the culture. Middlebury's School, or Sede, is located at the Palazzo Giugni, a sixteenth century palace designed by the renowned Bartolomeo Ammannati, which is situated in the academic heart of the old city, an area bustling with coffee shops, bookstores, cultural clubs, and academic buildings. The Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, and Florence's other main monuments are all within easy walking distance.

Ferrara_passaggiarre

By choosing to study in Ferrara, students expose themselves to a relatively tourist-free city of 130,000, located on the Po river only thirty minutes by train from Bologna and one hour from Venice. Ferrara was once described as "the first modern city of Europe." Long associated with the Este family, who built the famous castle, this independent city state, which had been a center of learning and the arts, went into a long decline at the end of the renaissance and only reinvented itself in the second half of the twentieth century as a vibrant agricultural and industrial trading center. Ferrara's historic center is located within the old city wall, a favorite walking venue, and is filled with medieval and renaissance monuments, palazzos, churches, and a renowned cathedral while its museums, exhibitions, festivals, and theater reflect both its rich artistic, musical, and cultural heritage and its continuation in the present. The old city is made even more attractive by being devoid of automobiles and full of shops and cafes. Bicycles are, thus, a primary means of transportation, giving the center the feel of a small and friendly community. The university, which is also located in this part of the city, was first established in 1391 and today enrolls approximately 12,000 students

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