Italy: Venice Semester

Istituto Venezia in Venice

The Istituto Venezia has been offering language instruction for Italians and foreigners since 1994. Program participants have an opportunity to study Italian with students of all ages and from around the world. No previous knowledge of Italian is required. Italian is offered at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. Because the program in Venice is small, courses are offered on the basis of individualized study, unless five or more students enroll in a course. A professor is assigned to work with a student. The student and professor meet for an hour a week to go over the material to be covered and assignments of the previous week. Students do not meet in regular classes with other students, but rather have the concentrated attend and exclusive guidance of a single professor for each course; assignments are often tailored to the student's special interests. The language of instruction is English with the exception of the language courses.

Course Offerings

Program I: Super-Intensive Italian Language Program (12 credits). Student may register for a total of 12 credits only in this program.

Program II: Venetian Civilization and Culture (14 credits). Students take six credits of Italian language and two four-credit courses. Students must take a placement exam before registering for intermediate-and advanced-level language courses.

Course Descriptions

Program I: Super-Intensive Italian (300 hrs, 12 credits)
4 hours per day, 5 days a week

Weekly seminars in Italian culture and art history tours are mandatory for all intensive Italian language courses.

Levels: There are five levels of Italian instruction. All beginners start at the first level (1). All other students, regardless of their language competency, are tested by the Istituto Venezia instructors before classes begin. The test determines the level in which they are placed.

Italian Levels:
Level 1- This course addressed beginning students who have no knowledge of the Italian language. At the end of the course, students are able to communicate in the most frequent daily situations, using basic vocabulary and grammar.

Level 2-This course is designed for students who have a basic knowledge of Italian. It allows the student to increase his/her communication ability, expanding basic vocabulary and grammar.

Level 3-This course aims at strengthening comprehension, communication, and writing skills by using advanced grammar.

Level 4- This course builds a good command of the language. The student develops complex grammatical structures and enriches his/her vocabulary, thus improving fluency.

Level 5- This is an advanced course that can be repeated by those who want to reach a high level of fluency. The course investigates different aspects of the Italian language.

Program II: Venetian Civilization and Culture (14 credits)

Italian Language (6 credits)

Venetian History, Politics, and Society from the 12th to the 20th Century (60 hrs, 4 credits)

The central aim that underlies the course is "to study the history of Venice, from the birth of the Republic to the present, watching and seeing (in the historical and modern city) the testimonials of it and the progressive changes."

To realize this goal, the course is designed to combine class lesson and visit to the sites of secular class lessons and visits to the sites of secular historical importance: The Basilica of Saint Mark's, The Ducal Palace, and the Arsenale; the commercial sites of the city and the modern industrial sites in the suburbs; the future solution for the program of high water; the mobile dam in Pellestrina.

Venetian Art and Society from the 12th to the 18th Century (60 hrs, 4 credits)

The course aims to introduce and explore the specificity of Venetian art and architecture: the origins, development, and affirmation; their elaboration of influences from both East and West; their originality and social, political, and cultural role in the life of the Serenissima Republic; and their relationship with contemporary Italian artistic centers like Florence and Rome.

Classes are for the most part in the form of field trips. Venice is a city that, like few others, has kept almost intact its ancient appearance and urbanistic structure. The history of its artistic development can therefore be read as in a live book, simply by identifying the clues left everywhere for us to find, in each wall and façade, church and palace, bridge and well. Masterpieces not only can be viewed in the city's museums, but also can be admired in the exact sport for which they were made, thus offering the rare possibility of a much deeper understanding of the artwork as devised by the artist. Moreover, the direct experience of the actual masterpiece-otherwise studied in art books, isolated from its context-offers the possibility of analyzing the interaction with previous and following artworks coexisting in the same place, and stimulates the student to identify the net of relationships linking artistic production throughout the centuries. Of equal importance are the visits to nearby significant artistic centers, where different artistic traditions have developed, cities like Ravenna, Padova, and Vicenza, whose links with Venice underline at the same time the interaction of different cultural influences and the uniqueness of Venetian art and architecture.

 

Student Life

The Istituto Venezia organizes several activities during the week to give students the opportunity to make the most of their cultural experience in Venice. There are many walking tours with each focusing on different aspects of Venice-social life, cinema, cultural events, art, and other topics.

The Istituto Venezia arranges apartments for students, located within walking distance for a vaporetto (water bus) ride from the institute. Apartments are modest and they all have similar facilities, but no two apartments are alike. Each apartment is furnished and equipped with towels and bed linen, basic pots and pans, and kitchen utensils. They are not provided with washing machines, telephones, and air conditioning. The housing coordinator at The Venice Institute assigns roommates based on the completed housing profile.

Students are assigned to single rooms in the student apartments, which are shared with other students in the program or with local residents. Opportunities for sporting and outdoor activities such as tennis, sailing, and swimming are available. E-mail is available for a small fee.

Alumni Feedback

"Although this was my first experience traveling abroad, I can't imagine a school that is better organized, or one with teaches who are as patient and friendly, who can communicate a concept to anyone while speaking only Italian. With two to 15 students in class on any one day, if a student was unexpectedly absent, the teachers would inquire out of concern. The faculty were involved in and out of the classroom. They could be approached at any time."
- Jamie Bort

 

Duration

Spring 2013: January 31 - May 11, 2013
Fall 2013: September 12 - December 21, 2013
Spring 2014: TBA

Application Deadline(s)

Fall: April 15
Spring: October 15

Eligibility Requirements

A 2.5 GPA, official transcripts, two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and a minimum age of 18 are necessary for admission to the program.  Minimum class standing - students must have completed at least one semester (minimum 12 semester credit hours) of college-level coursework at the time of application.

Costs

For Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 

Program I: $5,055 per semester

Program II: $6,455 per semester

Costs Included

Tuition and administrative fees, program related activities, orientation in US and Italy, sickness and accident insurance

Costs Not Included

Airfare ($1,200), books ($300), room (2,800 euro for single; 2,000 euro for double if 2 students of the same sex on the same program ask for it), meals ($1,700), personal costs ($1,700), and school of record fee-Non CUNY/CCIS only ($300)

All costs, fees, and dates are subject to change without notification. Please contact the appropriate individual to verify all costs, fees, and dates for this program.

Related Links

• Wikipedia - Venice

 

Submit Application Materials To:

Center for International Service
College of Staten Island/CUNY
Building 2A, Room 206
2800 Victory Blvd.
Staten Island, NY 10314
(718) 982-2100
(718) 982-2108 (fax)
StudyAB@csi.cuny.edu
http://www.csi.cuny.edu/international

How do I apply?

Start the CCIS Study Abroad application process by downloading the forms. To download, right click on the application or recommendation form and click "save as", then save the form to your desktop or downloads. Once you have completed your form, SAVE IT FIRST!!!! DO NOT CLICK "SUBMIT" until you have SAVED your form or the recipient will receive a BLANK form. Once you have saved it, click "submit" and THEN email your completed form as an attachment to the contact email address associated with the program in which you are applying. If for some reason you do not see the email address pop up when you click "submit", then email the application to the program sponsor listed here on this page.

YOU MUST NOTIFY YOUR HOME INSTITUTIONS' STUDY ABROAD OFFICE OR ADVISOR OF YOUR INTENTIONS AND ALSO PROVIDE THEM WITH A COPY OF YOUR APPLICATION. 

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CCIS Online Application & Instructions

CCIS Online Student Recommendation

(Students: DO NOT send the student recommendation form to your evaluators as an attachment. Please only send the page URL. The student recommendation form can be found under the "Apply Now" tab.) 

Note: Students from CCIS member institutions apply through home campus; students from non-member institutions apply through Broome Community College/SUNY or other appropriate member institutions.

All costs, fees, and dates are subject to change without notification. Please contact the appropriate individual to verify all costs, fees, and dates for this program.