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Viterbo Courses – 2024 Spring

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.

Academics

You will enroll in 12 to 18 credits per semester comprised of language courses plus electives in Italian art, culture, and Mediterranean studies. All students must complete a minimum of one language course, although we strongly encourage students to complete an entire language track. 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 Tracks

USAC offers intensive language courses grouped into tracks in which courses are taught sequentially (back to back) within one semester. If you have already taken the first course in a track, you do not have to take it again for credit, but you must audit it to be prepared for success at the next level. Language courses are small and typically have a maximum enrollment of 15 students each.

Track I: 8 credits

Prerequisite: None

  1. Elementary Italian I
  2. Elementary Italian II

Track II: 6 credits

Prerequisite: 2 semesters of college Italian

  1. Intermediate Italian I
  2. Intermediate Italian II

Track III: 6 credits

Prerequisite: 4 semesters of college Italian

  1. Italian Composition I
  2. Italian Composition II

Track IV: 6 credits

Prerequisite: 6 semesters of college Italian

  1. Advanced Italian I
  2. Advanced Italian II

      Language Courses

      • Spring
        Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

        Elementary Italian I is a four-credit language course offered to students who are enrolled in USAC and have not taken any Italian courses at college-level before. This course is designed to help non-native speakers of Italian to acquire basic communicative competence by providing the opportunities to develop the basic skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading and writing.

      • Spring
        Italian 100-level 4 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help learners of Italian to develop basic communicative competence and critical thinking skills. This course will allow students to improve their knowledge of Italian grammar, enrich the vocabulary and develop the understanding of oral and written Italian.The main emphasis of this course course is on communication and, therefore, class attendance is essential.

        Prerequisite: one semester of college Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help learners of Italian to improve their communicative competence and critical thinking skills. It offers an intensive study and practice of the productive and receptive language skills in the oral and written modes. The course will allow students to improve their knowledge of grammar, wide their vocabulary and their understanding of cultural and social aspects of Italian life.

        Prerequisite: two semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 200-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help learners of Italian to improve and deepen the knowledge of Italian grammar, provide a wider and more specific range of vocabulary, meeting the students’ communicative needs. It will allow students to recognize and discuss meaningful cultural and social aspects of Italian life.

        Prerequisite: three semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 300-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help non-native speakers of Italian to obtain advanced level competency in the Italian language. It offers an intensive study and practice of the skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing. The main emphasis of this course is on communication and, therefore, class attendance is essential.

        Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 300-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help non-native speakers of Italian to obtain advanced level competency in the Italian language. It offers an intensive study and practice of the skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing. The main emphasis of this course is on communication and, therefore, class attendance is essential.

        Prerequisite: five semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 400-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help non-native speakers of Italian to obtain advanced level competency in the Italian language. It offers an intensive study and practice of the skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing. The course will allow students to investigate different cultural issues involving interaction with native speakers. The main emphasis of this track is on communication and, therefore, class attendance is essential.

        Prerequisite: six semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 400-level 3 credits Taught in Italian

        This course is designed to help non-native speakers of Italian to obtain advanced level competency in the Italian language. It offers an intensive study and practice of the skills of a language: listening, speaking, interacting, reading, and writing. The course will allow students to investigate different cultural issues involving interaction with native speakers. The main emphasis of this track is on communication and, therefore, class attendance is essential.

        Prerequisite: seven semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      • Spring
        Italian 300-level 3 credits Taught in Italian Cancelled

        This course facilitates the language acquisition necessary to express oneself in daily situations and more challenging contexts. Therefore, it will help students become more confident about taking part in conversations in Italian either in everyday life or on a wide range of topics.

        Prerequisite: two semesters of college-level Italian, or equivalent

      Spring Semester

      • Spring
        Art 100-level 3 credits Taught in English

        This course is centered on the sketchbook as an instrument for developing drawing and painting techniques, as well as for learning how to observe and understand visual information. The majority of classes will take place around the medieval city of Viterbo and surrounding areas. Students will use a variety of materials to document historic sites, building up a unique and personal record of the world around them. Students will receive individual instruction throughout on drawing and painting techniques and will be guided through the process of creating an informative and attractive sketchbook up to the development of a final artwork project based on work done in the sketchbook. Content will be an important factor, and the course will place an emphasis on techniques of observation and concise capturing of the world around you as well as concentrating on the technical aspects of drawing and painting.

        This course has an additional fee

      • Spring
        Art Historic Preservation Journalism 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        Documentary photography serves to preserve the memory of an object and make it visible, even in its absence. The photographer has the task of documenting cultural heritage and assets in a fair and objective way while also creating new perspectives that provide a better understanding of the work. Each image, without distinction, is more effective for our personal memory than the word, making images a fundamental tool for the documentation of cultural assets.

        In this course, we will analyze the visual paths that have created our collective identity. Through the study of the "culture of the gaze,” students will analyze and study a variety of historic monuments - including sculpture and architecture - learning their history, style, origin, author(s), and concepts of restoration as well as the “visual language” of cultural heritage and the use of contemporary tools of image creation such as DSLRs, smartphones and tablets.

        To attend the course, you will need a digital camera that allows full manual control of the functions (all DSRL or mirrorless models) with wide-angle and normal lens (18-55 basic lens), and a basic laptop with image software processing (like photoshop, camera raw, lightroom, etc...). Smartphones able to control ISOs, Aperture and Shutter Speed are also allowed.

      • Spring
        Art Women's Studies / Gender Studies 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        This course will cover various art-historical topics in ways that reveal the gender inequality that has influenced the art profession throughout history. Students will develop the theoretical and historical foundation to evaluate the gender imbalance in the arts effectively. This course will present neglected artists based on gender and encourage students to develop ideas for creating a more inclusive environment in the art community.

      • Spring
        Political Science 400-level 3 credits Taught in English Cancelled

        This course will explore critical issues related to Italian politics and its evolution in the European and global context from the end of the World War II until today, including Italian power dynamics in foreign policy and Italy’s role in the European integration process; the Italian constitutional framework and the role and evolution of Italian political parties; elections, the transformation of the political system after 1989, and representation through cinema and media; significant policies put forth by Italian governments, their evolution in Italian society, and their impact on the Italian people and representations in the media; and Italian foreign policy with a comparison to US policy.

      • Spring
        Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        The course offers an overview of Italian Art through the Etruscan and Roman culture from the early Iron Age (c. 1000 BC) to Late Antiquity (c. 400 AD). Lectures are thematically organized as well as chronologically progressive. The program also provides first-hand knowledge of the art and architecture of this period through on-site visits to archaeological sites, monuments, and museums in Etruria and Rome.

      • Spring
        Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        This course will examine the development of Italian art and architecture from the late 14th to the 16th century, focusing on the major artists and architects of the Renaissance in central Italy. Renaissance Italy produced some of the greatest artists in world history, including Donatello, Piero Della Francesca, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Students will study the artwork in its physical and cultural context with visits in and around Viterbo as well as in Rome giving students the opportunity to experience first-hand what is covered in class.

      • Spring
        Nutrition 200-level 1 credit Taught in English

        This course will introduce local cuisine in a hands-on kitchen environment, including the authentic preparation of several local dishes as well as an emphasis on correct cooking techniques. Readings and lectures on local food customs and traditions will support and contextualize the cooking instruction.

        This course has an additional fee

      • Spring
        Anthropology Nutrition 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        Cooking and cuisine is a cultural, that is a highly organized self-reproducing symbolic expressive system, like folklore, music, visual art. However, it also has an additional and eminently concrete component, namely a direct nutritional/physiological and psychological impact on physical existence of its “practitioners.”

        The course will concentrate on several important themes such as the idea of cooking as an essentially human phenomenon transcending considerations of mere nutrition. And yet the nutritional component is vitally important for the culture/society expressing itself through its cooking. We will explore contemporary issues such as the Mediterranean diet, public health, food production and distribution, and Italy’s role in the global food economy from an anthropological perspective,. Much of the course will be dedicated to the concrete analysis of cooking/regional meals in the perspective indicated above, that is, culturally/symbolically, sociologically and physiologically/nutritionally. The course will emphasize not only the regional styles of Italian cooking but also an all-important topic of typology and quality of regional/local produce. Finally, a considerable part of the course content is highly pertinent to both social and pure psychology, for not only cuisine itself is a strongly psychologically imbued social phenomenon, but the aspect of nutrition is essentially meaningless without psychology and psychoanalysis.

      • Spring
        Italian Studies 200-level 3 credits Taught in English
        Spring
        Italian Studies 300-level 3 credits Taught in Italian Cancelled

        This course provides an overview of cultural studies, with an emphasis on Italy. The object of the course is to present students with a picture as complete as possible, and angled from a multiplicity of perspectives of Italian culture and lifestyle, and it also aims to provide the tools to better-understand and compare, in a cross-cultural perspective, Italy as a post-modern, complex, and layered society.

      • Spring
        History 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        This course will cover topics related to Italian and European Medieval history, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Students will develop a solid theoretical and historical foundation to effectively analyze the cultures, traditions, social and religious structures that evolved into modern Europe. This course will challenge students to evaluate political, social, cultural, demographic, and economic transformations during the Middle Ages in its various facets in Italy, Europe, and around the Mediterranean. Field trips and firsthand experience include visits to Rome, Tuscania, Viterbo, and other cities.

      • Spring
        Italian 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        This course introduces some of the great writers and thinkers who have shaped Italian literature and culture spanning over a thousand years of history. The texts will be analyzed through the theme of “love, injustice and subversion”. The selected texts will contribute to an understanding of Italian history, society, and culture through the analysis of the literary movements and the comparison of the most important authors and genres of each period.

        Advanced Italian students may work from original sources (rather than translation) and complete their written assignments in Italian for advanced credit in Italian.

      • Spring
        History 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

        In this course, we shall study the civilization of ancient Rome as manifested in its history and cultural achievements. Literary evidence will be used together with material culture in order to achieve a rounded, critical vision of the Roman experience. Excerpts from authors such as Plautus, Julius Caesar, and Juvenal and artefacts such as the hope-chest of the daughter of Dindia Macolnia, the coins of Augustus, or the bas-reliefs of the Column of Marcus Aurelius provide insight into the personal lives and public experiences of the people who made the city of Rome one of the most dynamic and influential of world civilizations.

      • Spring
        English Journalism Speech Communications 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

        The basis of this course is the development of creative writing skills by focusing on the genre of travel writing. Students will read and discuss extracts from the great classics of travel writing as well as current travel journalism published in newspapers magazines and on-line. Most of all this class is a writing workshop, and we will be writing for nearly every class and often in class, too. Assignments will focus on helping students find an individual voice, on developing ideas and honing them through revision and drafting, on writing for different audiences, and on the inclusion of photographs in their written work.

        Prerequisite: one semester of college English composition

      To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu

      Internships

      USAC in-person and virtual internships are rich resources for your academic and professional development. Whether onsite or virtually, you will work closely with a USAC Resident Director (RD), an internship coordinator, and a professional supervisor to gain valuable experience and skills that can be applied to your chosen career field. Internships are also a great way to immerse yourself in the culture of Italy, deepen your cross-cultural understanding, and help you develop intercultural communication and language skills in an internationally focused organization or other professional work setting.

      Among the many benefits of an internship experience, USAC in-person and virtual internships help you

      • Learn about a career that matches your academic and personal interests
      • Gain practical, hands-on experience
      • Master highly sought-after soft skills such as time management, teamwork, and problem solving
      • Build a network of professional contacts
      • Improve your resume
      • Cultivate intercultural communication skills that are essential in a globalized workforce
      • Develop an understanding of the workplace norms, expectations, and culture of Italy

      For eligibility requirements and application information, see the USAC internship page.

      For more information about placement options, see the Viterbo internship page.

      Host University Courses

      Attending a host university course is a great option for students looking to expand their academic experience abroad. By auditing a class at the Università degli Studi della Tuscia, USAC students can experience firsthand the academic style of Italy, immerse themselves in the academic community of Viterbo, and get to know local university students with similar academic interests. Courses are taught in Italian.

      While it may be possible to earn academic credit for host university courses, the Università degli Studi della Tuscia does not provide an official university transcript for courses completed by USAC students. Instead, they may provide a letter verifying participation in the course and the grade received. Be sure to work with your home university academic advisor to determine if host university courses will be accepted for credit. Please note that the Università degli Studi della Tuscia may follow a different academic calendar than USAC. This means that final exams may take place after the USAC program has ended. It may be possible to arrange early exams, but USAC cannot guarantee this. Additionally, there may be supplementary fees associated with host university courses that are not covered by USAC program fees.