The Program Schedule

The program is run by a resident director who is a faculty member at a consortium institution and who acts as academic advisor for all participating students. The consortium offers courses designed specifically for program students and facilitates access to courses offered at the Università di Bologna. In consultation with the director, students will develop a program of study suited to their own language proficiency and disciplinary interests.

The first segment of the program consists of a language course for three weeks in August. This 1/2 credit course is graded pass/fail and is considered as summer study credit only; that is, it is not considered part of the 4 credits students will complete in the fall semester. As students’ language skills improve, they will progress to the examination of more complex topics, with the transition to Bologna for three more weeks of highly-focused study in September. This course, which carries 1/2 credit, is also graded pass/fail. All other courses will award students a quality grade (e.g., A–F).

Program courses will begin, roughly, in late September or the first days of October at the same time as those at the Università di Bologna, and will run until approximately mid-December. All single semester students will take the Writing Workshop, which carries 1/2 credit and is awarded a quality grade. Full-year students will take the Writing Workshop in the fall semester. Students will select three program courses (or two if their language skills permit enrollment in one or two courses at the Università di Bologna). The fall semester at the Università di Bologna terminates in late December. Students enrolling in the fall will take their exams in mid-December.

Students may enroll in the program starting in January if they have taken three semesters of Italian. All students beginning in January will be required to take a three-week intensive language course. This 1/2 credit course is graded on a pass/fail basis but all other courses for the spring semester will award students a quality grade (e.g., A–F). This includes the Writing Workshop which carries 1/2 credit. Students with only three semesters of Italian prior to studying in Italy probably will enroll in program courses only, but there could be exceptional cases and students whose Italian would, in the director’s opinion, indicate a successful course experience may enroll in a Università di Bologna course. Such students should petition the director. Other students will be expected to take a combination of consortium courses and courses at the Università di Bologna. The spring semester at the Università di Bologna terminates in late May. Students enrolling in the spring will take their exams in mid-May.

Typical Program Calendar