Open to juniors and seniors from Sarah Lawrence and other colleges, the Florence program offers a remarkable opportunity for academic enrichment. Through the experience of studying in seminars with Italian faculty, working with artists in Florentine studios, studying music in Florentine conservatories, attending a class at the University of Florence (for those with more advanced language skills) and living with Italian families, our students achieve the goal of living much like Italian students.

Students take a full course load—three courses per semester—for which they receive full academic credit (15 credits per semester). Those with at least one year of Italian may choose to enroll for the spring semester only (15 credits). One course consists of intensive study of Italian, matched to each student's level of proficiency. One course must be an academic seminar in the humanities. The third can be a second seminar or a studio course in art or music—or, for those with one year or more of Italian, a course at the University of Florence. All language courses, seminars and University courses are supplemented by individual tutorials.

Much of the program's curricular strength comes from the focus on the arts and humanities. In the humanities, small seminars gradually transition from English to Italian over the course of the year, and individual tutorials foster new directions and further understanding. Field trips in all courses bring students firsthand experience related to the subject matter.

"It is really extraordinary to teach our students after they have returned from Florence. Texts have a different cultural nuance for them -- you can see it in their eyes, they simply light up." —Judy Serafini-Sauli, founder, Sarah Lawrence in Florence program