Location
  • Italy
    • Siena
Length
4 - 26 weeks
Financial Support
Need-based funding, General grants/scholarships, LGBTQIA+ funding, BIPOC funding

Program Details

Activities
City Exploring Trekking Wine Tasting
Timeframe
Academic Year Fall Spring Summer
Housing
Host Family
Primary Language
Italian
Age Min.
18

Pricing

Starting Price
13500
Price Details
This is an approximate all-inclusive program price including: airport pick-up, orientation, accommodations and meals with a host family, lunch vouchers, all program activities and trips, tuition and administrative fees.
Need-based discounts possible, scholarships available.
Fees may vary by year, billed in EUR.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Meals Transportation Wifi
What's Included (Extra)

Staff assistance, tuition for courses

What's Not Included
Airfare Travel Insurance Visa
Jul 19, 2021
Jan 18, 2023
7 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Expand your horizons and earn optional college credit studying abroad with this semester gap opportunity in the heart of Tuscany. During the SIS Gap program, students will have the opportunity to enjoy life in Siena with a local Sienese host family, learn the Italian Language, and get to know themselves and this fascinating city through service-learning in the community. Unlike other SIS programs, this program was specifically designed for the gap year experience, allowing students to spend a bit less time in the classroom and more time out in the community or participating in cultural activities. The only courses you are required to take are Italian language (both the Intensive 3 week course, and the semester course) as well as our Intercultural Dialogue, Democracy and Global Citizenship course, which guides the students in Intercultural Reflection linked to their service activities. You also have the option of taking another SIS content course.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Service-learning in a wide variety of service sites: from teaching English and assisting refugees to caring for the city walls.
  • Take 1 year's worth of language in 1 semester with SIS (and earn up to 15 semester credits to take home)!
  • All inclusive *competitively priced* program fee -- meals included!
  • Gain perspective-changing experience and create lifelong relationships.
  • Use Siena as a home-base for exploring Italy and Europe.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 2 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Housing 5
  • Support 5
  • Fun 5
  • Value 5
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Default avatar
Theo
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Life-changing experience

My gap year program at SIS has been for sure one of the most meaningful and productive experiences of my life. I found the program to be very unique as it really gets you to experience the local culture by volunteering at local NGOs/projects, and living with a host family. The teachers are great, and I saw a lot of improvement in my Italian in a couple of months. Classes are very hands-on and include many visits to museums, like the Uffizi museum in Florence.
Siena is beautiful and SIS is located at an amazing spot, so it is really easy to get around the city.

Pros
  • Theme Courses
  • Volunteering Opportunities (Service Learning)
  • Host Families
Cons
  • N/A
44 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Spencer
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Life-Changing Program!

Siena Italian Studies is nothing short of amazing. I attended SIS for a semester during my gap year and it was the best experience of my life. I was able to learn Italian extremely quickly through the community service programs they organize, through my loving host family and through the social events organized with Italian students. Siena is extremely safe and still a place I can call home. After SIS, I majored in Italian at my university in the US. After my degree in the US, I even decided to go back to Italy and pursue my Masters for two years in Milan. SIS is a major reason why I was able to get that opportunity. Without the advanced intercultural skills I gained through SIS, living in Milan would have been much more difficult. I cannot stress enough that SIS is an incredible program that runs so smoothly by an incredible staff and faculty of amazing professors!

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
Take advantage of every opportunity to learn and speak Italian! It is an incredible language that has taken me further than I ever imagined.
74 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers