The Umbra Institute offers one-month (June) and two-month (June-July) summer Italian language and culture programs in cooperation with the prestigious Università per Stranieri di Perugia. This immersive and experience-oriented program is ideal for students seeking to spend their time abroad focusing exclusively on the Italian language and to engage in contemporary Italian culture, not as “study abroad students”, but as temporary citizens of their new university town.
The program is open to students of all levels of proficiency, including absolute beginners and yields 6 credits per module for up to 12 semester credits (see courses and levels below). The program is intensive and allows students to rapidly advance their linguistic skills and expand their understanding and appreciation of contemporary Italian culture and society.
Students attend classes at the Universita’ per Stranieri and participate in tutorials and workshops at the Umbra which provides a rich co-curricular activities series including language exchange with local students, culinary exploration dinners, day trips in Umbria, visits to artisan workshops and museums, and local guided tours – all of which are conducted in Italian.
The program is designed for the students to use the Italian language naturally in a wide variety of real situations. These everyday experiences combined with apartment living “embedded” in the city of Perugia, ensure a practical application of the language to the Italian cultural context along with immersion into contemporary Italian-university life in Perugia.
Session One: May 27 – June 30, 2023
Session One & Two: May 27 – July 30, 2023
Classes are held at both the prestigious Università per Stranieri di Perugia (where students study alongside international students representing over 100 countries) and the Umbra Institute. Classes run from Monday through Friday for approximately 18-21 hours per week and include both in-class and asynchronous learning. The in-class instruction is conducted entirely in Italian and is supplemented with language workshops, as well as a rich series of cultural co-curricular activities. The program is immersive, intensive, experiential, and fun. Click the course titles below to see the detailed descriptions and material covered.
The weekly program includes:
• Language lecture/skills – 7 hours class / 3-hours asynchronous study
• Development of skills – 4 hours class / 2-hours asynchronous study
• Pronunciation and spelling workshop – 1 hour class / 1-hour asynchronous study
• Review sessions & cultural experiences – 4-8 hours/week
Depending on your starting level, you can:
• fulfill your university’s language requirement;
• gain credits towards a minor or a major in Italian;
• advance your language level sufficient to take content courses in Italian at your home university;
• gain appropriate reading knowledge in Italian to prepare yourself for graduate studies;
• get a language certification to put on your résumé;
• impress your Italian nonna!
ITAL 110S Beginner Italian
(Language and Culture)
ITAL 210S Intermediate Italian I
(Language and Culture)
ITAL 310S Advanced-Intermediate Italian I
(Language and Culture I)
ITAL 320S Advanced-Intermediate II
(Language an Culture II)
ITAL 330S Advanced-Intermediate III
(Language and Culture III)
Courses and LevelsWhat level are you? Unless you are a complete beginner, you will look to take the next level course in your progression you follow at your home university. Each college and university numbers their courses differently, and it also makes a difference if you have taken the language recently or if your experience lies sometime in the past. For example, if you have taken IT201 and IT202, the next course in your progression most likely will be in the 300 level, but you might also test into the upper 200 or lower 400 level depending on the pace of the Italian instruction at your home institution and how much time you practiced. In any event, before starting classes, you will take a placement test that will determine the level that best fits your proficiency and curricular needs. If you are concerned about your placement level or have questions about courses and/or graduation requirements, feel free to contact us for a preliminary assessment.
All program participants receive an Umbra Institute transcript with a letter grade. Final grades for each course are based on the coursework and exams completed at the Università per Stranieri, performance in tutorials and workshops at the Umbra Institute, and participation in the co-curricular cultural activities which are an integral part of the academic program.
The Università per Stranieri is one of two Italian universities in Perugia. It offers degree programs in International Communications, Digital Humanities, Made in Italy Food and Hospitality, and more. But its primary focus is offering comprehensive programs in Italian language and culture. It is also the foremost university for anyone interested in becoming a teacher of Italian language and culture. The origins of the university go all the way back to 1925, though, when a royal decree established it to be a school for the promotion of Italian language to citizens all over the world. Today the university hosts over 5000 international students from over 100 countries annually.
All activities are conducted in Italian and include:
• Welcome dinner;
• Tandem nights with Italian students;
• Day-Trip to Tuscany
• “Serate in cucina”- cooking with faculty;
• Trips to local festivals (e.g., typical Central Italian “sagre”, Perugia 1416 historical festival);
• Guided tours of Perugia and Assisi;
• Visit to local winery with tastings;
• Lecture series on historical and current topics of Italian culture;
• Cinema nights;
• Farewell Festa
Program Dates
One-Month Program: May 27 – June 30, 2023
Two-Month Program: May 27 – July 30, 2023
Program Fees
One-Month Program Fee: $5,275.00
Two-Month Program Fee: $7,975.00
Credits
June Course: 6 credits
June/July Course: 12 credits
Application Deadline
April 15th
What’s Included
Tuition for Academic Program, Course Materials, Field Trips and Activities, Housing, Airport Transfers in Italy (FCO-Perugia-FCO), Orientation, Institute & University Facilities, Umbra-sponsored Cultural Activities, Student Services and 24-hr Assistance, Official Umbra Transcripts.
What’s Not Included
Airfare, Meals, Textbooks, Insurance.
Apply Early!Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible to ensure they get their first-choice course selections. This will also give you plenty of time to prepare and plan for this amazing immersive summer program in Italy!