Intensive Italian through Culture – Summer Program
Each summer the Umbra Institute offers an intensive Italian language program entitled “Intensive Italian through Culture”. The program is directed by Dr. Robert Proctor, Professor of Italian at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.
The program consists of full-time study coupled with a rich co-curricular, cultural activities program. Activities such as cinema nights, language exchange sessions, lunches, socials, museum visits, and local tours in Italian complement the in-class learning process. Courses are offered at four different levels of Italian, ranging from the beginning level to the advanced level. This is an excellent program for students who wish to learn and practice as much Italian as possible during the summer.
Course Offerings
Students can choose from the following four courses:
Italian 111S Intensive Elementary Italian – 8 credits [pdf]
Italian 211S Intensive Intermediate Italian – 8 credits [pdf]
Italian 311S Intensive Intermediate-Advanced Italian – 8 credits [pdf]
Italian 411S Intensive Advanced Italian – 8 credits [pdf]
Program Structure
The program is conducted entirely in Italian and is open to all students. It is an intensive, 6-week program that consists of an average of 5 contact hours of instruction per day, five days per week for a total of 150 contact hours. In addition there is a rich series of cultural activities of approximately 5 hours per week for an additional 30 contact hours in Italian (180 in total).
The organization of the daily program includes:
• language instruction (comprehension)
• language exercises (application)
• conversation (integration)
In the exercise and conversation sessions the emphasis is on speaking, oral comprehension, and vocabulary. Each session is conducted with a limited number of students per class to allow for individualized attention.
Periodically, the two hours of language exercises and conversation will be combined into one session to allow for the viewing and discussion of a film in Italian, excursions to local galleries, exhibits or other cultural events, or cultural exchanges with international students who are studying the Italian language. These activities typically take place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. In addition, on Wednesday and Monday afternoons cultural activities and lectures in Italian are scheduled to enrich the study and practice of the language.
To enhance students’ learning:
• Umbra faculty offer daily office hours during which individual students can seek additional tutoring;
• Italian library facilities are open to Umbra students to consult specialized texts, popular Italian magazines, and various multimedia materials (e.g., DVDs, music CDs, dedicated computer language programs);
• Umbra organizes Tandem, a language and cultural exchange program between American and Italian students to promote inter-cultural and social engagement through a variety of activities, such as dinners, parties, and games.
The goal of the summer program is to offer students the possibility to immerse themselves in the language and culture of Italy in a variety of contexts (both formal and informal) so that they can come to appreciate the language as an element of cultural enrichment and achieve a level of engagement in the local community beyond the merely casual. Throughout the 6 weeks of the program, Perugia itself is seen as a laboratory for learning.
“Intensive Italian through Culture”
by Robert Proctor, Ph. D. (Professor of Italian Language and Literature and Program Director)
“Italian through Culture” combines intensive language instruction at the Umbra Institute with a rich immersion in Italian culture, past as well as present. The program has two components: Italian language classes and speaking opportunities, and liberal arts cultural events conducted in Italian.
Intensive Italian through Culture students take Italian language courses at the level that best suits them, from beginning to advanced Italian. In addition, the Umbra Institute organizes scambi di lingua, “language exchange” get-togethers with Italians, in order that students from their very first days in Perugia have the opportunity of meeting Italians with whom they can practice the language. Liberal arts events include tours of Perugia and Assisi conducted in Italian; a wine-tasting in Italian; instruction in Italian in the art of making ice cream; a guided tour in Italian of the famous Osvaldo Grazia ceramics showroom and factory in the nearby town of Deruta, and guided tours in Italian of local museums and galleries.
Most of our Italian guides have also been trained in teaching languages. At the beginning of each cultural tour or event our guides pass out vocabulary sheets ordered according to the sequence of the event itself, so students can follow the words as the guide is going from one building or painting or statue (or piece of pottery, type of wine or flavor of ice cream!) to another.
The Italian language classes are intense: on average four hours a day, five days a week for a total of 100 hours of in-class language instruction over the 6 weeks of the program. On occasion Umbra instructors host their students at local restaurants—with the understanding that only Italian is to be spoken during the meal! At the end of six weeks, students will have put in the class-time equivalent of two semesters’ work in the States. The Italian teachers at the Umbra Institute are excellent. They are experienced in teaching Italian in Italian at all levels, from beginning to advanced, to people of all ages from all over the world.
From an educational point of view, Intensive Italian through Culture brings together an oral proficiency pedagogy of language teaching and a liberal arts commitment to broad, interdisciplinary learning. The liberal arts tradition, our oldest educational tradition, has particular relevance today in our hurried age of specialized study. Its sees reality as an ordered whole (kosmos in Greek), the individual as part of this whole, and all the intellectual disciplines as complementary ways of experiencing this whole. It emphasizes a balance between work and leisure, public service and contemplative study.
The experience of Italy can be a liberal arts experience of the highest order. Italy’s natural beauty, combined with her rich history and culture, embodies the interrelation between all the branches of learning, and between the fine and liberal arts. The Umbra Institute’s commitment to the liberal arts tradition uses the beauty of Italy to inspire students to learn the Italian language, and uses their growing command of Italian to draw them more deeply into Italian life.