Skip to Content

Reggio Emilia Courses – 2025 Summer Sessions I & II

Studying abroad can be a more meaningful and invigorating learning experience than at home—both inside and outside of the classroom. You may be more curious and alert than you usually are so use this heightened energy to enhance your studies as well as your cultural and geographical explorations. You may also encounter different teaching styles and course processes; be prepared to adapt and to learn.

Courses

You may take three to seven credits during Session I and Session II. At least one 3-credit course is required each session you are enrolled. Course availability is contingent upon student enrollment and is subject to change.

Click the course title to view course details, description, and availability.

Italian Language Studies

Summer language courses are intensive, with one to four credits of Italian taught in each session. Language courses generally have a maximum enrollment of 15 students each (varying upon level).

Session I and II

  • Summer Session I
    Italian World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English and Italian
    Summer Session II
    Italian World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English and Italian

    The course objective is to enhance the period of study in Italy for participants with little or no knowledge of the Italian language. A working basic knowledge is provided, including a general introduction to common vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. Emphasis is placed on oral communication and pronunciation. Class activities will include some role playing and dialogues. Additional activities such as language lab work and possible class visits to enhance the course topics may be scheduled.

    This course is for students not taking intensive Italian language. It is designed to help students assimilate into the community.

  • Summer Session I
    Italian World Languages and Literatures 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian
    Summer Session II
    Italian World Languages and Literatures 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

    Introduction to the Italian language through the development of language skills and structural analysis. It includes an introduction to the Italian culture. This course is designed to develop students’ linguistic skills in communicating in Italian, learning, and using the basic structural patterns of the language. Intensive study will encourage students in a quicker immersion in Italian life and in a deeper understanding of it.

Education, Communications, Health, and Italian Studies

The following courses are designed to familiarize you with the region as well as provide a multi-disciplinary perspective to your studies.

Session I

  • Summer Session I
    General Education 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

    The course will address education's role in society by examining some major philosophical and sociological foundations related to educational theory and practice. It will include the evolution of US education systems and practices and the role of society in shaping those systems. Topics may include issues such increasing global influences, multiculturalism, language, culture, geography, immigration, environment, and government as they connect to education in a changing world.

  • Summer Session I
    Gender, Race, and Identity 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course will analyze historical, cultural, and institutional constructions of identities by looking at intersections of class inequalities, race, and gender. Students will explore the nature and dynamics of social relations in the contemporary world. The course will also examine historical and modern social movements addressing gender, race, and other social identities in Italy and the United States and from a transnational perspective.

    Prerequisite: one semester of college sociology, race, or gender studies

  • Summer Session I
    Speech Communications 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course will focus on major issues in intercultural communication and help students develop the skills necessary to build and maintain positive communication and relationships across cultures. Students will explore the definition, nature and manifestation of culture while examining their own values, traditions, and beliefs. Through active in-class and out-of-class activities, students will learn about the similarities and differences in communication behaviors and explore language usage, nonverbal style, and perceptions to see how they influence face-to-face communication between individuals of different cultures in the United States, Europe and the rest of the world. The course will also consider the ways that race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, age, region and physical ability inform the way in which identities and communities are shaped in a world saturated by media.

  • Summer Session I
    World Languages and Literatures 100-level 4 credits Taught in English

    Coming Soon!

  • Summer Session I
    Italian World Languages and Literatures 200-level 1 credit Taught in English

    This course is an introduction to the basic features of contemporary Italian culture, particularly within the region of Emilia Romagna. Students are encouraged to take full advantage of their time in Italy as active, curious, non-judgmental observers and researchers. Through class discussions, lectures, and assignments, students will develop an understanding of Italian geography, demographics, commonly practiced norms and values, and important issues facing modern-day Italy. Students are asked to reflect on their own cultural knowledge and beliefs and to share their Italian cultural experiences in each class meeting.

  • Summer Session I
    General Education Human Development and Family Studies 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
    Summer Session II
    General Education Human Development and Family Studies 400-level 1 credit Taught in English

    The aim of the course is to discuss international education approaches with a focus on the two major ones related to childhood education (pre-K, K, elementary): Montessori and Reggio.

    The course will include lectures, inquiry-based dialogues and discussions, audiovisual presentations, critical thinking activities, and projects. This course introduces participants to the experience of the city of Reggio Emilia, in northern Italy, in designing and sustaining infant-toddler centers and schools for children ages 3-6 that have astonished the world with the children’s competence. The high quality of the experience provided for children and families illuminates what it is possible for a culture to support and serves as an inspiration to many cultures to re-imagine education for young children in their own language and culture. We will study features of their experience closely, in particular the environment as a third teacher, documentation, materials as graphic languages of expression, inquiry as theory-building, and collaboration.

  • Summer Session I
    Nutrition 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course addresses nutrition from both social and biological perspectives and will challenge students to conceptualize its effects at each stage of the human life cycle. Students will analyze how nutrition is influenced by cultural, environmental, psychosocial, physical, and economic factors. Students will also develop skills to identify the needs of people in in various age groups. This course is designed to engage unique perspectives to build upon theoretical concepts within the field and provide students with a unique experience to study how nutritional needs vary among people of different cultures.

Session II

  • Summer Session II
    Anthropology 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    Food is a topic with which every student of every ethnicity has personal experience; it is so common that its cultural connotations tend to be overlooked. Food is often an area related to strong identity, whether positive or negative, of one’s ancestry. Cuisines are not just about sustenance, but also about cultural symbols that bind together people in ritual and as a community. How one participates in the act of eating (when/how) and why certain foods are to be prepared are learned and understood at the table.

    Food is of wide-ranging anthropological interest because, in eating, humans incorporate into our bodies the products of nature transformed into culture. This course explores connections between what we eat and who we are through cross-cultural study of how personal identities and social groups are formed via food production, preparation, and consumption.

    The course will initially explore the general topic of food and culture to present a background in which to discuss the specifics of identity and meaning. The role of food will be examined in several different communities. Several films will be used to discuss specific topics, such as festivals/rituals and food as family/community. Moreover, our topics and readings will be eclectic: food taboos; gender and kinship, voice and identity, symbolic and expressive culture, feasts, festivals, fasts, famine, religion and spirituality, race and ethnicity, nationalism, class and social stratification, politics of globalization, among others. Then, we will focus on foodways in Italy, using the tools of anthropology, history, geography, sociology, journalism, and marketing. Furthermore, we will use food as a lens through which to deepen understanding of your new home and neighbors for this term in Reggio Emilia.

    An additional element of the course will look at food and culture through film. Films viewed in class represent different cultures and practices and give us a wider view of the complex and fascinating topic of food and culture. Students will reflect on films we watch together and in independent research for a class project.

  • Summer Session II
    Speech Communications 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

    Students will approach issues of gender and communication, both verbal and non-verbal, through critical analysis of stereotypes, socialization, and male/female interactions using theoretical perspectives. Various social interaction environments such as workplaces, families, media, and friendships will be explored. A special look at the host culture will also be considered.

  • Summer Session II
    Psychology 100-level 3 credits Taught in English

    The course will present an overview of the main topics related to the study of the mind and behavior. It will first provide a historical background of general psychology, describing the origin and evolution of the most important theoretical paradigms and illustrating how they have differently defined the objects and methods of scientific psychology. The discipline’s main areas of inquiry will then be examined: sensation and perception; learning; memory; thinking, reasoning and problem solving; language; motivation; emotions; and personality. Special attention will be devoted to the developmental aspects of some of the subject areas addressed and to an introduction to clinical psychology.

  • Summer Session II
    General Health Sciences Speech Communications 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    Students will explore the theory and practice of health communication and the areas where small group and organizational communication occurs. Students will also analyze how mass media influences engagement in these forms of communication. This course covers topics including the history of health communication, the complexity of patient-caregiver communication, social and cultural issues associated with health communication, and public health and its relationship with media. Students will develop skills in analytical and critical thinking through discussions and debates.

  • Summer Session I
    General Education Human Development and Family Studies 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
    Summer Session II
    General Education Human Development and Family Studies 400-level 1 credit Taught in English

    The aim of the course is to discuss international education approaches with a focus on the two major ones related to childhood education (pre-K, K, elementary): Montessori and Reggio.

    The course will include lectures, inquiry-based dialogues and discussions, audiovisual presentations, critical thinking activities, and projects. This course introduces participants to the experience of the city of Reggio Emilia, in northern Italy, in designing and sustaining infant-toddler centers and schools for children ages 3-6 that have astonished the world with the children’s competence. The high quality of the experience provided for children and families illuminates what it is possible for a culture to support and serves as an inspiration to many cultures to re-imagine education for young children in their own language and culture. We will study features of their experience closely, in particular the environment as a third teacher, documentation, materials as graphic languages of expression, inquiry as theory-building, and collaboration.

  • Summer Session II
    General Education 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course is the study of various models of instruction with an emphasis on application in classrooms. This course provides students with the theoretical and practical understandings of how to use models of teaching to both meet and exceed the growing expectations for instructional practices and student achievement. This course employs the use of the following teaching methods: in-class discussions, technology application, group work, and class presentations.

To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu

U.S. Visiting Professors

While most USAC courses are taught by local faculty, the following U.S. professor will also teach in this program:

Summer Session I, 2025

Course: Introduction to American Sign Language

Andrea Juillerat-Olvera, M.F.A., University of Nevada, Reno

Andrea Juillerat-Olvera is Advisor and Instructor of American Sign Language in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a highly trained and experienced interpreter, currently holding an EIPA 4.2 educational certificate, and has passed the NIC Ethics of Interpreting Exam. In addition to teaching courses at UNR, she has taught English in Slovenia.

Summer Session II, 2025

Course: Health and Wellness Communication

Erin Hunter, Ph.D., Clemson University

Dr. Erin Hunter is Assistant Professor of Global Health at Clemson University. She is principal investigator of a 19-country study on sexual health for the World Health Organization (WHO) and a chief investigator on the Adolescent Menstrual Experiences and Health Cohort (AMEHC) study in Bangladesh. Dr. Hunter previously coordinated the Master of Global Health program at The University of Sydney School of Public Health and was awarded for Best Teaching in Global Health.

Workshops

(Not for credit)

  • Summer Session I
    Summer Session II

    Each session will start with a brief intro to the day's recipes and ingredients, followed by plenty of time to dive into cooking and food preparation. Together, we’ll learn to create classic and modern Italian dishes, including antipasti, pasta, main courses with veggie sides, and desserts. You’ll also get tips on pairing each course with the right wine.

    Our focus will be on enjoying the experience, with attention to traditional Italian dining customs. Sharing meals together will be one of the best parts of the workshop!

    This workshop is not suitable for students on a gluten-free or vegan diet, as many recipes will feature traditional dishes from southern Italy or the Emilia Romagna region.

    This workshop has an additional fee.

    This workshop requires a minimum enrollment of 4 students to run.

Apply