Accademia dell'Arte: Art in Italy in Three Months Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This is a sort of complex question. From a theatrical perspective, the experience was first class. We were taught by true experts, and the classes were almost without exception engaging and fun. Academically, I felt like my brain had shriveled to nothing by the end of the class. We had a philosophy class, and the teacher was fantastic, but the other students unpreparedness both on a day-to-day basis and in terms of academic background made the discussions almost useless.

On-site administration of your program

ADA administration is INCREDIBLY frustrating. The program is growing faster than it can keep up with, and many of their expectations are based on back when a given semester had twelve people. Ours had forty. They want to make the program grow, but seem unwilling to invest the time and (more importantly, I think) money to make the community feel of the villa sustainable for groups as large as those they are beginning to get. On the other hand, all of the administrators are incredibly kind and knowledgeable about Italy. They will help you with any personal problem you have, be it wanting a haircut or needing a doctor. Monica Capacci, the director of student life, is one of the greatest humans on earth and can guide you to anywhere in Italy. Also, she gives the best tours of Rome ever.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

For the first time in my college experience, I loved my roommate! I don't think a single person had roommate problems, in fact. They did our laundry for us (once a week for towels, every other week for sheets), which was absolutely amazing. All of the studios and classes are in one campus complex. I lived in the villa, where the classrooms and kitchen were. It was nice for getting breakfast in the morning, but sometimes I envied the kids who lived in the other building, the casina, because at least they had opportunity to leave the villa, even if it was only to walk 10 feet to their own dorm. Sometimes I felt like I could go an entire week without ever setting foot outside of the villa.

AMAZING. Family-style sit down dinners every night, with some of the best food I have ever tasted in my life. They were amazingly accommodating of dietary needs, even going to far as to make a separate special dish every night for the one vegan student. Weekends are hard, though, when no meals are supplied. There is one microwave and some refridgerators, but no real way to prepare food, so eating out is more or less obligatory. This is fun at first, and especially when you travel, but as the semester goes on and you get poorer and poorer, it can become difficult.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Awesome! As stated above, so much opportunity to travel. They took us on one program-sponsored trip, but it would have been kind of nice if there had been more. The trip to Rome was awesome, though!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Perhaps inevitably in a tiny villa, there were one or two waves where pretty much everyone got sick. Students were well cared for, though, and there was a doctor on call for those times and any other emergencies.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

We had Italian classes, and I was in the beginning section. All other classes and day to day interactions were in English. I feel like I understand Italian quite well now, but really can't speak it. That wasn't really the point of going, though.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

• Excellent teachers, beautiful location, and tons of time to travel.

• The program is too big for itself. We brought up these concerns at the final meeting, but they were pretty much ignored. But ADA is going to have to make some changes, or else it won't be able to continue at this side.