Teach an undergraduate course in Italy!

FOOD STUDIES • ITALIAN STUDIES • BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

The difficult job market makes it imperative for graduate students to have practical academic experience on their CVs, especially those who hope to become teachers or professors. The new Graduate Teaching Fellowship (GTF) — offered by the Umbra Institute, an American study abroad program in Perugia, Italy—gives graduate students doing degree work in food studies, Italian, international business and more the opportunity to design and teach their own course to a small group of undergraduates during a semester in Italy.

To qualify, graduate students in a related Masters or Ph.D. program, submit a prescribed set of documents (syllabus, CV, recommendation letter) and indicate the semester or summer session they wish to teach. Applicants are also required to recruit a small group of students from their home institution to accompany them during their tenure abroad. Umbra will assist in gaining the approval and support of the home institution.

Umbra’s Food Studies Program
The Institute currently offers an interdisciplinary curricular concentration in food studies, with three related courses (history, business, sustainability). It hosted an international food conference in the summer of 2012 and has a faculty of three. The graduate instructor’s course would be offered as a fourth course option for the Program.

The Business and Economics Courses
Umbra also offer a number of business and economics courses for undergraduate business majors and non-majors. They include courses in international marketing, multicultural organization management, Business in Europe, the global economy and economics of the European Union.

The Italian Studies Courses
The Institute offers a wide variety of course in Italian language and Italian studies including subjects such as contemporary Italy: culture and society, Italian politics, history of Italy from the Risorgimento, Italian literature, Italian cinema, and more.

Advantages of an Umbra Graduate Fellowship
In addition to designing and teaching their own courses as part of a fellowship, the GTF allows graduate instructors the time to do independent research or writing. As the Institute has a large student services staff which takes care of all the logistics and support for undergrad students (airport pick-up, orientation, travel assistance, and medical needs/emergencies), the graduate instructor would only be responsible for teaching 3 hours a week, with no additional administrative or logistic duties. In addition to a stipend, the Institute would provide housing as well as access to our facilities and small library, plus research assistance with contacts from our large network of community partners in central Italy.

Requirements
Graduate students need to submit an application including but not limited to a CV, proposed course syllabus, letters of recommendation, and the semester or summer session they wish to teach. Proposals should be submitted at least nine months in advance of the proposed session. After receiving approval from both the home institution and the Umbra Institute, graduate instructors would — with Institute assistance — recruit a small group (5 or more, preferably 10) undergraduate students from their home institution to accompany them to Perugia and form the core of their class. These students will also take other courses with Umbra while abroad and be subject to the Umbra program fees and expenses.

More information
Those interested should contact Academic Director Francesco Burzacca