Study Abroad in Italy with SACI

There is no independence like that of being in a foreign country. Being at a new school, away from my family and friends, in a completely new place, I found myself thriving as a young, independent adult. You learn how to take responsibility of your own life; whether it is grocery shopping, studies or making sure you balance work + play-- it is completely up to you. With that independence, I found myself more confident in using my learned Italian and reaching out to make friends with plenty of locals. I really enjoyed meeting people of different cultures (Italian and otherwise)-- I feel as if in America, those cultures become watered down and dissolved, whereas in Europe there is much more pride and curiosity in each others' nationality.

I don't know if I will ever have enough of Italian coffee! I am a fan of the macchiato (an espresso "marked" by the slighted amount of milk) and fondly remember enjoying plenty of pizza (try the napoletana or the spicy diavola!)-- however, for the more adventurous eaters, I highly recommend traveling to one of the food vans (one among the San Lorenzo market and the other in the Sant'Ambrogio market) and trying some Trippa alla fiorentina (tripe) or a lampredotto panino.

The tripe is made of animal stomach, fried with tomato and other vegetables and served hot. The lampredotto is also made from stomach, although specifically the fourth stomach of a cow. It's cooked with tomato, onion and parsley and served on a delicious roll with salt and pepper, a green sauce, and the option to make it piccante (spicy). Both have a very strange and enjoyable texture and are flavored richly by the vegetables they've been cooked with.

The big news is that SACI’s just launched the first MFA in Studio Art program by a US-accredited school in which all course work will be completed abroad. Students will spend two years at SACI in Florence. They’ll work in studios in the heart of Florence’s historic center, regularly meet with emerging and established artists, critics, gallery owners, and other members of the art community, and travel to the Venice Biennale, Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Berlin, London, Paris, and other sites where great artworks can be found and contemporary art is being made and displayed. We have a full class of students who’ll begin MFA study at SACI in Fall 2013, and we’re very excited about how their presence will affect the community of SACI undergraduates, Post-Bacs, instructors, and administrators.

I think that in the next decade more and more students will go abroad to study for lengthier periods of time. Ten years ago, relatively few individuals traveled to China or Vietnam or Ghana or Ecuador to study. Now numerous students enroll in programs in Asia, Africa, South and Central America as well as in Australia and Europe. The more students and educators expand the study-abroad universe, the more exciting the future will be for everybody in the international educational community. I’d not be surprised if, increasingly, students pursued study-abroad opportunities on two or three different continents before completing their undergraduate education. That would be wonderful for all, I think.

To my thinking, the answers to these questions will vary very much depending on the individual student’s goals and outlook. For example, some students find challenging and rewarding studying in a country in which a language other than their own is spoken. Others are more interested in learning about the antecedents of their own culture, perhaps by studying where their native language is spoken but in a way that reflects a different approach to the world from their own. Study abroad is not just about discovery but rediscovery. What seems exciting today may appear dull tomorrow. But, equally, what perhaps seems less exciting or exotic now may surprise us by how thrilling and unexpected it can be once we allow ourselves to experience it fully. For me, that’s what study abroad is about. What you bring to your destination counts just as much as what your destination has to offer.