Program Reviews

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.

Travelling to Italy for two weeks with Art History Abroad was one of the most exciting and inspiring experiences of my life. I knew so little about art history beforehand, but I learnt a phenomenal amount in such a short space of time and I am still now inspired by it!
The tutors were unbelievably enthusiastic about their subject and they made every ‘lesson’ so fascinating and always such fun. They were clearly enjoying themselves and this enthused us students all the more. There was quite literally not one single dull moment.
I made friends for life on the course. We ate, drank, laughed, danced, painted and sang our way through three fabulous cities and shared so many wonderful and unexpected experiences. Highlights ranged from a spontaneous silent disco in a beautiful square in Venice to a private opera performance from one of our tutors on one of the bridges and from ‘nun-splitting’ in the Vatican to devouring delicious pizza and gelato. Another amazing experience was watching the sunrise, with prosecco, over the roman forum on our last morning before our flight home. This trip really had it all.
I had never been to Italy before and to physically step into the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican and many wonderful churches and museums, rather than just looking at them in books, was unbelievable and I fell in love with it all. To learn by experiencing something first hand is unbeatable.
This trip really was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget and I honestly cannot recommend it enough.

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.

The Art History Abroad Autumn European Gap Semester Program is a wonderfully enriching intellectual experience for gap year students. The Program's knowledgeable tutors teach the history of Europe not through dry lectures but through engaging and immersive "sessions" in which students get to interact with history in a first-hand manner through the art and architecture that they encounter. Art History Abroad also teaches students how to navigate life away from home effectively. The Gap Semester fosters a spirit of maturity in all Art History Abroad students. Aside from the appeal of the Gap Semester with respect to the growth of students, the 12 weeks students and tutors spend together in Europe are unbelievably enjoyable.

This semester was the best of my life. I had at least one moment every single day for three months where I could not believe where I was or what I was doing. The art and architecture we studied was EPIC and the people are EPIC. You learn how to see on this trip, observe and understand the world around you just a little bit more. It was so informative beyond studying art and history, you learn tons about yourself as well right in time before you head off to college or whatever's in store for you after high school. And the people are a constant source of giggles and inspiration. Go on this semester trip!

I had an amazing two weeks on the AHA southern course! We saw the beautiful Naples and ended up visiting many towns in Sicily, a poorer part of Italy yet still so stunning, and full of incredible architecture as well as some breathtaking Caravaggio paintings. The tutors were incredible - so much fun but also so passionate and knowledgeable, full of information and fun facts about the art! I learned a huge deal of fascinating things but also made some amazing friends! I love history of art but it’s not something I’m thinking of studying, nonetheless I would recommend this course for anyone because with the art comes friendships, happiness and the building of a group. Thank you so much to AHA for a truly unforgettable course.

Anousha O’Malley

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.

This program was wonderful and taught me a great deal about art history. All the tutors are immensely knowledgable, and having the opportunity to visit so many significant historical sites in person was an amazing experience. The course was also very fun socially, and provides a great opportunity to make lifelong friends. It is challenging and engaging, and is also a program that will certainly make anyone who takes it change as a person and grow. There were many different aspects of the course, and many different periods of art history were covered, making it quite expansive and informative. The quality of the information delivered by the tutors and the quantity of incredible sites that were in the itinerary, as well as the opportunities for social interaction made this a truly unforgettable program.

I attended the AHA Semester program in 2015. I completed two courses I fell so throughly in love with it. I met some of my closest friends from all over the globe that I still stay in touch with and see regularly. The tutors were extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic about teaching and inspired a life-long passion in art history in me....I am now an art history major going to university in Florence if that's any indication for you. I plan on becoming a Renaissance professor after I get my masters' degree in art history. AHA made me fall in love with art history and find what passion I wanted to follow as a career. The hotels and inns included are charming and quintessentially Italian. The groups and tutors always have engaging conversation over traditional, delicious Italian antipasti. Italy is a dream and AHA is too....don't wait, just GO!!!