Program Highlights for Torino, Italy

• Live in a large cosmopolitan center that celebrates its ancient history as well as its modern lifestyle, rated one of the top ten most beautiful cities in Italy by the Michelin Guide.
• Take part in interactive classes with students from around the world and learn real-life skills for international careers in internships in business, marketing, architecture, communications, and many other areas.
• Practice Italian with natives, away from tourist areas, in one of Italy’s greenest cities.
• Soak up a vibrant, exciting destination that hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and was previously named European Capital of Sport and Youth capital of Europe.
• Join unique business visits, guest lectures, and overnight trips to enhance class work and knowledge of the culture and local industries, including cars, food, wine, design, and more.
• Take advantage of the perfect location in the center of Europe and between the Italian Alps and the sea—with fast trains and low cost airlines making travel easy and convenient.
• The USAC Resident Director and staff are present on-site full-time to welcome and support you during your term abroad.

Why Study In Torino?

Study and live in Torino, an exciting, cosmopolitan setting where you will never be at a loss for things to do—an excellent location to study and practice Italian and to experience Italy’s rich culture away from the crowded tourist areas. Touted as Italy’s most sustainable city, Torino is home to two major parks: the Valentino along the Po River and Pellerina which is Italy’s most extended green space.

Torino is home to many prominent international companies, and this program provides an excellent opportunity to meet European students and business people in a leading center for European business and business education. Choose from courses in international business/politics, architecture/design/art, Italian studies, intercultural communication, politics, international affairs, human rights, diplomacy, and more and stay for semester or a year. All students are required to take an intensive Italian language course during the first six weeks of the semester to help them integrate into their surroundings. The Torino program combines academic coursework with practical learning, tours, and field trips to create an integrated cultural experience.

Your studies in business, politics, design, architecture, and Italian language and culture extend outside the classroom into business visits, field trips, optional tours, local festivals and traditions, and other activities around the city. Many well-known companies are centered in and around Torino including FIAT, Chrysler (manufacturer of Alfa Romeo and Jeep), Ferrero (maker of Nutella and TicTacs), Cinzano, Campari, Lavazza Coffee, Caffarel Chocolate, and Iveco and Sparco (maker of auto and motorcycle seats and suits). Torino also has active aerospace and engineering industries, including sites where sections of the International Space Station were constructed. Milano, one of the world’s fashion capitals, is a short train ride away, as well as the rest of Europe which are easily connected with Torino by low-cost airlines. Torino is also home to the United Nations and ILO Training Center, located behind our school, adding to the academic environment to learn about politics, international and EU issues, diplomacy, and human rights.

As a bustling urban center and Italy’s fourth largest city after Rome, Milan and Naples, Torino blends historic charm with big-city vitality. It has one foot in its regal Roman and Baroque past, and the other in its new role in global business and innovative design. Torino was named the first world capital of design for its creative energy and innovative production. Imagine the wide, tree-lined avenues and commercial pace of Chicago or Paris coupled with the classic Italian "dolce vita"—complete with prize-winning cappuccino and locally produced chocolate and wine (Torino’s historic cafes were recently named the best in Italy). The main square of the city center, Piazza Castello, reflects the entire architectural history of Torino from its ancient Roman roots to the global business giant it is today. It is home to several Savoy royal palaces and residences named World Heritage Sites.

Torino’s excellent public transportation system is an efficient, inexpensive way to get around the city or you can enjoy the many cobblestone pedestrian walking areas. The city offers a wide assortment of sites of historical interest and cultural activities. In addition to miles of parks and the many beautiful piazzas throughout the city, you can explore the Roman ruins, the Royal Palace and gardens of the first kings of Italy, the first national parliament, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud (believed to be the burial cloth of Christ), the Royal Opera House, Modern Art Gallery, Egyptian Museum (ranked second in the world after Cairo’s museum and recently renovated to exceptional status), National Cinema Museum (honoring Torino as the birthplace of Italian film), the original home of RAI national TV and radio, and Superga Cathedral, among many other spectacular sites. Torino is home to a new high-tech 44-floor skyscraper considered one of the world’s most sustainable buildings and designed by architect Renzo Piano. Torino also hosts the largest open air market in all of Europe six days a week—Porta Palazzo—a colorful, bustling environment dating back to the Roman times. A foodie’s dream and a shopper’s Mecca, the market offers goods from fruits, cheeses, meats, clothing, and household goods. Part of the ancient Roman wall overlooks the market and leads you into the beautiful cobblestone streets of the Quadrilatero neighborhood full of shops, restaurants, and nightlife.