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Study Abroad Program Review of AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence

Submitted by Katherine Corcoran (public relations,female,The University of Texas at Austin) on August 2nd, 2010

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Academics
Language
Housing & Food
Culture & Health
Final Opinion

Personal Information

Start Date:

Jan 13, 2010

End Date:

May 5, 2010

If you enrolled at multiple foreign universities, please list them here:

Richmond University in London

International exposure prior to program?

1 month-6 months

Academics Overall

**Overall educational experience:

**Comment:

I didn't go abroad for academics. I went for the cultural experience. I would say the academics were fine and I certainly learned a lot in the classroom, but I got a much larger/richer cultural education.

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Course Title:

European Business Environment

Course Department and Number:

INB306

Instructor:

Tamara Evans

Language of Instruction:

English

Please comment on the course:

This was my hardest class I took while abroad, but mainly because it was really boring. Instead of it being a course on European business, it was actually a class on the history of the European Union--not very interesting. Lots of reading. The teacher was knowledgeable but a bit arrogant.

Please rate the course overall:

Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

No credit transfer issues.

Course

**Course Title:

High and Late Renaissance Art History

**Course Department and Number:

ARH320

**Instructor:

Peter Porcal

**Language of Instruction:

English

**Please comment on the course:

Loved loved Peter! He was a fabulous teacher and really knew his facts. I definitely think that if someone studies abroad in Florence, they should take an art history course since Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance. Not a difficult class at all!

**Please rate the course overall:

**Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

Course

**Course Title:

Basic Spoken Italian

**Course Department and Number:

ITL301

**Instructor:

Veronica

**Language of Instruction:

Italian

**Please comment on the course:

This was following our orientation Italian course that we took in Siena for 2 weeks at the beginning of our semester abroad. I did not learn much more Italian in Basic Spoken than what I learned in Siena. It was not a difficult course at all. Our program required us to take Italian, so this was easy with little to no coursework. It was annoying that this course only counted for 1 credit hour even though we met for 2.5 hours a week.

**Please rate the course overall:

**Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

Course

**Course Title:

Italian Cinema and Society

**Course Department and Number:

COM315

**Instructor:

Lorenzo P.

**Language of Instruction:

English

**Please comment on the course:

Liked this class moderately well. My main complaint about it was that it was at 9 a.m. which made it difficult to stay awake once he turned off the lights and turned on a movie. It was an interesting class to get some history and see some movies.

**Please rate the course overall:

**Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

Language Overall

Foreign language component?

Yes

**Language acquisition improvement?

**Comment:

The language-immersion course we took for orientation (2 weeks with class 4 hours a day) was hugely beneficial. I learned more Italian there than during the actual semester in Florence. I could understand it relatively well but didn't practice much/never spoke it since nearly all Italians spoke English.

Host Country Program Administration Overall

**On-site administration of your program:

**Please explain the program's strengths and weaknesses:

AIFS was fantastic. My advisor was incredibly helpful and she responded to any of my questions so quickly. The staff in Florence was also great. No complaints whatsoever!

Housing Overall

Living arrangements? (all that apply):

Apartment

Who did you live with?

Americans

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

**Housing satisfaction:

**Comment:

Near Pitti Palace right off of Via Maggio. Loved the area since it was more authentic/less touristy

I lucked out because I had my own room (the only single in the apartment). I liked my roommates just fine but not great. The apartment was very nice. The school found it for us/organized all of our housing. We had no input as to where we were housed.

Food Overall

**Food satisfaction:

**Comment:

Our program gave us 5 breakfast and 5 dinner meal vouchers for each week. This was an awesome perk to the program! The vouchers worked at about 30 restaurants throughout Florence and we were able to get a large amount of food with the tickets. Loved the Italian food! So delicious!

Safety and Health Overall

**How well were health issues addressed through your program?

**Safety:

**Comment:

Not at all riskier in Italy than in the US. Have to be smart about being alone, but that's true for America too.

Money Overall

**How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?

General Assessment Overall

**Words of wisdom:

This program really is the best. I did some fairly extensive research into the various programs in Italy, but AIFS had the best deals/offered the most! Go abroad if you're remotely considering it! And if you can, go for a semester rather than a summer. Summer has too many tourists that it dilutes the richness of the culture.

**If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program?

Yes

**Overall satisfaction with your study abroad experience:

**Was your study abroad experience worthwhile?

It was so worthwhile! I can't even begin to explain what I gained from it since I continue to realize how much I appreciate my time I spent there now that I am back in the US. I would love to go back some day!

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Study Abroad Program Review of AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence

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