The program is housed at Meredith's Italian campus, the Palazzo Alberti, in Sansepolcro. Located in the Tiber river valley, this ancient Tuscan city provides the perfect setting for our students to learn about Italian life and culture. Outside of class you will have the time to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the town, strolling the streets, sampling the local coffee in an outdoor cafe, or the gelato...

The program includes day trips to nearby towns as well as an overnight excursion to Florence.  In Florence students will have the opportunity  to visit key museums, the local market, and have time to explore on their own prior to departing for their independent travel break.

The two and a half day independent travel break is designed to help students put into practice what they have learned while seeing another part of Italy. Departing from Florence students can choose their own destination from among many wonderful Italian cities and attractions. Our students often comment that the independent travel breaks are when they learn the most about Italy and themselves as travelers.

COURSES

CD 900: Play: Cross Cultural Perspectives

Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) reads: "To protect, preserve, and promote the child's right to play as a fundamental human right." From this, one might conclude that play is a time honored expression of childhood and should be valued in its own right.

Yet here in the United States there is an emphasis on the educational value of play. Is this a uniquely American perspective? What does cross-cultural research tell us about the importance of children's play? What is the role of  the International Play Association in promoting children's play? And more specifically, what is the role of play in the Italian culture and Italian education?

This course will explore the many ways play has been defined and described, will examine in depth how play contributes to young children's development, and discuss why play has developed a tarnished reputation in the American culture. The American perspective on play will be compared with the findings from cross-cultural research.

Students will conduct observations of children at play and examine how adults interact with children while they are engaged in play.

3 credits, fulfills an elective in Child Development.

ID 940: Italian Design Studio

Imagine working on a studio project that involved the design for a renovation of a 16th century building in Tuscany! This studio class will include pre- and post-trip meetings on the Raleigh campus in addition to the 3-week portion of the course taught in Italy.

Students will be given the drawings, an introduction to the metric system, an introduction to Italian design resources and other preliminary materials prior to the trip. Several meeting times will be established to cover programming and preliminary planning, as well as, orientation to the area. Prior to departure, students will be submitting preliminary design work via email. Due dates will be established for projects critiques and reports.

While in Italy, students will be able to see the property plus visit similar types of renovations. In addition, students will visit local vendors such as fabric and furniture companies. There will be the opportunity to talk with a local architect and interior designers. Included in the trip will be day trips to Tuscan towns and an overnight trip to Florence. From these experiences, students will gain product knowledge necessary to complete projects and also knowledge of the ways of doing business in Italy. Also, students will visit museums in Florence and in the local area.

After returning from Italy, students will present projects to instructor and group for evaluation.

3 credits, fulfills ID344 or ID444 OR can qualify as an ID elective.

 

Successful completion of the program fulfills the Global Perspectives or CORE 200 requirement for General Education.

FACULTY

Dr. Kathryn Clark, Dept. of Human and Environmental Sciences

Dr. Ellen Goode, Dept. of Human and Environmental Sciences

PROGRAM DATES

July 2-23, 2011 (tentative)

COST

$3,500 - Includes room, half-board, tuition, and program excursions in Italy.

Additional costs include airfare (arranged by Office of International Programs at a group rate--estimated at $1,400), Spending money varies with the individual and fluctuates with the exchange rate.  We estimate that you may want to budget between $1,000 to $1,400 to be spent on independent travel and miscellaneous personal expenses (food, gifts, and entertainment are not covered by the program fee)

For additional information on program costs - click here.

Scholarships and financial assistance are available. Contact the office of International Programs for further information.

ELIGIBILITY

Students must be in good academic standing (2.0 minimum GPA)

Application Deadline:
February 1, 2011

For additional information, contact:

Dr. Kathryn Clark, Dept. of Human Environmental Sciences

Dr. Ellen Goode, Dept. of Human Environmental Sciences