6-week Gap Year Course in Italy | Art History Abroad

I decided to go on a month long AHA summer course around a month before it began. I was feeling bored and uninspired from being stuck at home during lockdown without anything to do. I was not keen at first to go on a summer course as what I imagined was a sort of glorified school trip. I could not have been more wrong. The students and tutors were all interesting and entertaining and I have made friends I know I will be close with for the rest of my life - including quite a few who are now at university with me! I could not recommend this course enough, I find myself thinking back to August whenever the rain or my essays start to get me down.

Art History Abroad’s semester course is the best way anyone could possibly spend 6-12 weeks. I was so lucky to experience it, having not only educational but fun tutors who guided us seamlessly through some of the most stunning places on the planet. I met friends from places I’d never even heard of before and the lasting friendships that you can build during this enriching time are possibly the best thing about it. It is truly a blast. I found the most enriching thing to be the way in which i found myself loving learning. I felt that everyday had a true and amazing purpose, and i knew that each day my mind would be blown afresh.

My own experience with Art History Abroad is a positively unforgettable one. It’s the trip where you will catch yourself replaying sun soaked scenes in your head, when it’s still and raining outside. If you need a reminder of all that is valuable and sweet in life you really do not need to look any further. Behind all of it lies a foundation of passion for the arts which I found infectious, to create in any form is joyous and so much more valuable than we make it out to be these days. AHA is an important reminder of this and I can’t encourage you enough to welcome such an opportunity with open arms.

The course is well-organized, informative, educative, and relaxing. I learned a lot through the 6-week course. I saw so many masterpieces that I was dreaming to see in person. Besides art, the trip provided me with perfect opportunities to experience Italian culture and enjoy Italian food. Immersing myself in a totally different country was intimidating at first, but later I found Italy truly fascinating. I will definitely visit again! I will never forget watching the sunset on the dome of Florence Cathedral, sitting in a random cafe while doing nothing, seeing Botticelli's “The Birth of Venus” in the Uffizi…The tutors are really nice and knowledgable, and I enjoyed the conversations with them. If you want to learn more about art history or simply hope to do something meaningful and/or cultural, take this trip!

Before embarking on my journey with Art History Abroad, I had no idea I would come out the other side a completely changed person. After finishing high school I felt almost burnt out and AHA completely revived my excitement about learning and exploring the world. Every day the tutors (who live and travel with the group) lead “sessions” on a different subject in a museum, cathedral, city center, or even on a gondola. These lessons were anything but dry and often discussions about the art and architecture we were seeing continued into the rest of our days together. I often found myself most looking forward to our meals. The tutors always knew the best restaurants in the area and we would spend hours as a group eating, laughing, and talking about the day. Something that I quite appreciated about AHA was their flexibility. I decided to combine two of their courses and start a few weeks late on one of them since I had an interest in traveling to France by myself. They were more than accommodating and even encouraged me to forge my own path and meet up with them later. I also appreciated how the tutors and directors treated the students as real and capable adults. After participating in similar programs throughout high school, I found that it is unique to AHA how students are given so much freedom to explore and learn and are taken seriously in return. The tutors, directors of AHA, and friends from the program became like another family to me and I am forever grateful for the memories I made and the amount I learned about myself and the world with AHA.

For anyone thinking of pursuing a future in Art History or any creative field, AHA is without doubt an eye opening experience that will exceed your expectations. The course provides an inviting social environment that encourages individuality within members of the group and aids the challenging yet engaging opportunities that the course offers. Each location that you visit gives plenty of time to inhale the cultural differences between each region, and how history has influenced its infrastructure and people throughout time. I can safely say from my experience that I discovered so much about the wealth of locations such as Florence, Naples and Rome. And how important they were in establishing Italy as a powerhouse of the arts from a contemporary view of today, reflecting on the time period.

The best offer to the course is definitely the tutors who are extremely insightful with both their opinions and factual knowledge to each location we visited. They provide an intimate and engaging setting when they take you to visit galleries, monuments etc.. which personally cannot be provided in regular tour groups. The teaching style of the tutors were a big reason for artists I found a new interest in, you also will find yourself becoming invested into certain figures depicted and not just the artist themselves. I especially became fascinated with the life story of Mary Magdalene, after being in awe of Donatello's emaciated wood sculpture 'Penitent Magdalene' at The Opera del Duomo Museum in Florence.

Looking on the course as a total package it was the most insightful and intriguing experience i've had abroad! Packed full of curricular activities, workshops and including free time to do some independent research around the cities and capitals we visited. The itinerary includes entry to exhibits to all galleries of medieval, renaissance, modern and contemporary stature. Workshops allowed us to take handcrafted pieces home and providing demonstrations of traditional techniques used to make sculptures, mosaics and frescos. These making both great memories and ideal presents if you wish to give them to relatives and loved ones.
Tutors will take you to the most authentic restaurant locations in each city, steering you clear of tourism traps of overcharged prices for food, which becomes especially useful for lunch and supper. All in all it's an course I would urge anyone who is interested art, history, architecture or even in general to get involved with AHA, it's a great way to spend part of your gap year anywhere from 2 to 6 or 12 weeks engulfing the culture of Italy and form your own opinion of the place itself.

Before having found AHA, I had never been away from home without the company of friends or family. The idea of being on my own was a terrifying concept. But AHA changed that for me. I came into the program thinking I would fail. Instead, I succeeded in the best of ways. There was so much that made the trip extremely memorable. From the art, the tutors, and the other students, AHA made it their goal to help us have the best time possible. The tutors not only were supportive, but they were fun, happy and altogether fantastic. They were amazing teachers too, providing us with the necessary tools to be passionate about the art we saw while not pushing us in the way of exams or tests. They taught us simply for the love of learning. Also, the food was amazing. Every dinner was a new experience, and I never grew tired of eating pasta. AHA provided me, and I believe so many others, with the chance to experience art in a new and thought-provoking way. We had discussion-based sessions where students were encouraged to ask questions and speak out, while also having sessions where we would be able to draw and write about the art we saw.

There was so much to explore on this trip, so much to do and so much to learn. I would really recommend it for anyone looking to learn (for the sake of learning!) and to have fun. I’m so glad that I found AHA’s summer course, and if I could, I’d do it all over again.

I cannot speak highly enough of AHA. Its an opportunity that provides the perfect learning and social combination which excatly what I had hoped for. The access to the treasures and places of historical importance in Italy must be completely unique. Finding myself on a private tour around Saint Marks Basilica one evening in Venice an example of the lengths AHA go to, to provide a first hand taste of what Italy offers. This is all backed up by tutors who are incredibly knowledgable. They also teach in such a style that is inclusive, fun and socially interactive making it a perfectly balanced learning environment. Your able to connect with people from all over the world on the trip, some of whom I still see today. The course encourages you to socialise with everyone including the tutors in the evening which is a brilliant way to get to know everyone more and explore the cities further. The tutors are experts on the restaurants and bars to go to which is a huge help, that allows you to delve into the local cuisine. The exposure to the quality and different periods of Art, Architecture and even Literature in the finest Churches, Musuems in the world is just extraordinary. Asides from the renowned calling points, a highlight included discovering one of Carravagios last paintings in an old bank off the high street in Naples. Pleasant surprises like this happen regularly mainly due to the courses fantastic organisation.