Verona Courses – 2027 Spring

USAC Course Descriptions

Click the course title to view course details, description and availability. To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu

• Business Communications

  Spring

  General Business Speech Communications 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Students will develop professional writing, speaking, and document design skills for traditional and new media in today's hyper-connected digital age. This course will cover topics such as letters of inquiry and application, resumes, email practices, social media, PowerPoint, etc., in a new corporate and non-profit communication era. Students will develop practical communication skills at the interpersonal and professional level and learn how to provide feedback efficiently to improve business communication skills. They will be able to refine the skills employers value most, such as superior writing, speaking, presentation, critical thinking, and teamwork.

  This course aims to provide students with a conceptual framework and concrete tools for communicating in complex environments and accomplishing strategic academic and professional business goals. In addition, this course includes writing, oral, and collaborative skills necessary for future business courses, internships, and professional positions.

• Business Ethics and Artificial Intelligence

  Spring

  General Business 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  We’re excited to introduce this new course option as course details are being finalized. Please check back after 1/15 for full course details.

• Business of Music and the Arts

  Fall

  General Business Music 200-level 3 credits Taught in English

  We’re excited to introduce this new course option as course details are being finalized. Please check back after 1/15 for full course details.

• Corporate Finance

  Fall

  Finance 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course will examine corporate decision making from the CFO’s perspective regarding their firm’s financing arrangements -- debt/equity mix (e.g., bonds, loans or stocks) and evaluate what the retail landscape has to offer the individual investor thinking of their own retirement and personal portfolio decisions/weights. Business/Financial management topics include the importance of cash flow, especially DCF, the Time Value of Money, Net Present Value, and the volatility of returns given past (and recent) market history. Currency (Exchange Rate Risk), the FX market, will also be considered. Aspects of Business Ethics will be timely and frequent.

• Digital Marketing

  Fall

  Marketing 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  Marketing 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  We’re excited to introduce this new course option as course details are being finalized. Please check back after 12/1 for full course details.

• Economics of Sport and Entertainment

  Fall

  Economics 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  Economics 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  We’re excited to introduce this new course option as course details are being finalized. Please check back after 1/15 for full course details.

• Elementary Italian I

  Fall

  Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

  Spring

  Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

  This course is designed to help students acquire basic communicative competence by providing the opportunities to develop the basic skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing.

• Elementary Italian II

  Fall

  Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

  Spring

  Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

  This course is designed to help students acquire basic communicative competence by providing opportunities to develop the basic skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing.

  Prerequisite: one semester of college Italian, or equivalent

• Event Management

  Fall

  General Business Management 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  General Business Management 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Students will explore the fundamental aspects of organizing an event from the start of event operations to successful completion. This course will familiarize students with an overview of the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions industry. In addition, students will learn the different roles of the organizations and people involved in the event industry businesses.

• Fashion Marketing and Merchandising

  Fall

  General Business Marketing 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course develops students’ understanding of marketing and management in the fashion industry. Students will improve their knowledge and skills in brand development, creativity, innovation, maintaining interpersonal relationships in a competitive environment, and strategizing to produce positive outcomes through consumer demographics and consumer spending habits. This course will also explore topics related to entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility.

• Food and Culture

  Fall

  Anthropology Nutrition 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  Anthropology Nutrition 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.

  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. 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 Verona.

• Intercultural Communication

  Fall

  Speech Communications 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  The purpose of this course is to develop the skills necessary to build and maintain positive communication and business 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 actions, 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.

• International Finance

  Spring

  Finance International Business 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course focuses on international financial markets, financing opportunities for international business operations and investments, and financial decision-making in the multinational firm, measuring and managing currency risk, foreign exchange rates, international monetary systems, balance of payments and international financial institutions, the theoretical determinants of international finance and realities of international financial management.

• International Marketing

  Fall

  International Business Marketing 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  International Business Marketing 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course offers a study of all aspects of marketing unique to international business. We will examine the impact of cultures, ethics, history, politics, and the law on marketing practice in the globalized economy. It also provides knowledge of tools for cultural analysis and discusses issues related to culture, the economy, and all other environmental variables that affect global business. A better understanding of cultural diversity is essential for successful international business, and this course provides a comprehensive perspective.

  Prerequisite: Principles of Marketing, Introduction to Marketing, or equivalent

• Italian Conversation for Daily Communication

  Fall

  Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

  Spring

  Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

  Coming Soon!

  Prerequisite: Two semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent.

• Italian Cuisine

  Fall

  Spring

  For summer sessions: A single-session workshop focusing on a specific skill such as making fresh pasta, pizza, or gelato.

  For semesters: A 3-session workshop offering a more structured culinary journey through Italian cuisine exploring different aspects of the culinary tradition.

  This workshop is not suitable for students on a gluten-free or vegan diet.

  This workshop has an additional fee.

  This workshop requires a minimum of 6 students to run.

• Italian Culture

  Fall

  Anthropology Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  Anthropology Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course analyzes various aspects of Italian culture through lectures, readings, discussions, and observation research projects. Students will develop an understanding of contemporary Italy, encompassing its recent history, regional differences, social institutions, and contemporary issues. Students will also reflect on their cultural upbringings and beliefs, and to share their Italian culture experiences in class. Students are encouraged to break down commonly held stereotypes and experience the realities of contemporary Italian life.

• Luxury Brand Management

  Spring

  Management 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  We’re excited to introduce this new course option as course details are being finalized. Please check back after 1/15 for full course details.

• Operations Management

  Fall

  General Business Management Supply Chain Management 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  Spring

  General Business Management Supply Chain Management 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  In this course, students will learn the concepts and techniques of operations management across all activities of an organization. This course covers topics related to methods of analysis that support organizational decision-making. Students will evaluate and apply the appropriate analytical technique for a variety of scenarios, perform quantitative analyses utilizing primary sources, and develop conclusions regarding effective management of operations in manufacturing and service environments.

  Prerequisite: introductory college-level business course

• Renaissance Art and Architecture

  Fall

  Architecture Art History 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course will examine the artistic Renaissance in Italy. It aims to present the birth of Renaissance art from the end of the thirteenth century with the innovative frescoes by Giotto in Assisi and Padua to the significant changes accomplished in Florence by Donatello and Masaccio in the first half of the fifteenth century. Lectures will also present the Renaissance in Rome with the Sistine Chapel's artistic laboratory, Pope Paul III's role in the sixteenth century, and Venetian art – Bellini, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto - and its influence on Veneto. An accurate selection of this period's most important works of art will allow students to understand why the Renaissance period has been and is still considered a pivotal moment in European art and culture. In addition, students will have the opportunity to experience three field trips to Verona.

  The objectives of this course are to understand the Renaissance as a multiform phenomenon through significant examples that illustrate the artistic evolutions through nearly three centuries in Italy. An interactive method will teach students "how" to look at a painting or a sculpture, from the composition to the iconography and its physical and cultural context as well as learn through works of art different artistic techniques, artistic movements, European history, society, politics, and religion. Get excited, have fun, and exchange ideas and opinions.

• Roman Art and Architecture: Verona and Veneto Region

  Spring

  Architecture Art 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

  This course will explore the most important examples of Roman art and architecture in Verona and the Veneto area and give students foundational knowledge of Roman history related to the world of art and architecture. We will use magnificent Verona as our backdrop to learn firsthand about ancient Roman life and culture through the well-preserved examples of art and architecture created in and part of old Roman life and remain as part of the daily life of the Veronese people today in the twenty-first century.