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Academic Program

Curriculum & Course Selection | Italian Academic System | Academic Calendar | Academic Credit | Intercultural Experience

In September, before the regular Italian academic year begins, students are required to attend the program’s four-week presession in Bologna. The presession language course (which is offered in January for spring semester students) is designed to improve students’ command of Italian and facilitate their adjustment to life in Bologna and at the university. Students earn 3 semester hours of credit for the presession. During each semester of the academic year, which begins in October and extends through June, BCSP students enroll in one or two regular University of Bologna courses with Italian students, or a minimum of three over the academic year. Students may also take special courses in Italian literature, language, art history, film studies, civilization, and contemporary politics that are arranged by the BCSP for program students. All instruction in program courses is in Italian, and the courses are taught by University of Bologna faculty.

In addition to the 3 credits earned in the presession, academic year students complete a minimum of 27 hours of credit, or 12 in the fall semester and 15 in the spring semester. Students from institutions using different credit systems (units or quarters) should consult their home school academic advisors for equivalencies to these semester hour requirements.

 

Curriculum and Course Selection

Students accepted into the program will receive information about the curriculum, including a description of BCSP courses and a list of University of Bologna courses that students have taken in the past. Final course selection occurs in Bologna. The resident director serves as academic advisor and will orient students to the Italian academic system. Most students take courses in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Sample courses taken by students in past years include:

The courses that BCSP offers are top-notch, as well as the professors who teach them. I had the opportunity to take an Italian contemporary history course with the head of the department, and some students this semester are taking a medieval politics and art course with a professor involved in Bologna’s medieval museum M. Cipolla, BCSP student

• Antropologia Culturale
• Relazioni Internazionali
• Storia dell'Arte
• Sociologia della religione
• Boccaccio
• Poesia italiana del Novecento
• Letteratura Italiana del Neorealismo
• Storia del Fascismo in Italia
• Filmologia
• Sistemi Politici Europei

 

Italian Academic System

Students in the program must be adaptable if they wish to succeed academically, for Italian universities differ in important ways from American universities, despite their common use of the lecture system. The Italian system places a premium on self-discipline. Assignments consist of a long list of recommended readings rather than a shorter list of required readings; students then determine their own reading priorities from within the list. Most University of Bologna courses are now taught for a single semester, though a few still run for the entire academic year. Most of these courses carry 6 semester credits, the equivalent of two U.S. semester courses, whether full year or semester in length. It is possible to take only a segment of some courses for fewer credits, so long as an examination is provided for the segment. Though written assignments are becoming more common, grades are often determined by a final oral examination covering readings and lectures alike, without the frequent quizzes and midterm examinations that encourage American students to keep up with their work.

 

Academic Calendar

Although the academic calendar varies in detail from year to year, in broad outline it is usually as follows:

September: 4-week presession (academic year students)
October to late January: First semester
Students have a 3-week break at Christmas.
January: 4-week presession (spring semester students only)
Mid-February to June: Second semester
Students have  a 1-week break at Easter.
June: Finals for most classes

 

Academic Credit

Students from BCSP member institutions earn residence credit from their home schools; students from associate member and non-member schools receive an Indiana University transcript. Although IU credit normally transfers to other universities, students are urged to consult the advisors on their campuses about the applicability of course work in the program to particular degree requirements.

 

Intercultural Experience

Formal course work is only one dimension of study abroad. Returning program students often note the significance of new perspectives gained on their own society, their heightened self-confidence and maturity, and friendships they formed with Italians. BCSP is committed to making the intercultural experience as rich as possible, not only through the program’s distinctive format of integrated study alongside Italian students, but also through activities outside the classroom. The program staff organizes group activities within Bologna and trips to towns not easily accessible by public transportation. The program coordinator counsels students concerning intercultural adjustments and keeps them abreast of cultural opportunities such as volunteer opportunities, concerts, operas, and theatrical and sporting events. Vacation periods permit extensive travel in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Students are encouraged to use weekends for shorter trips to explore the region.