Important Dates
Tentative Travel Dates: May 16 – June 11, 2025
Interest Meetings: View on Office of Education Abroad event calendar here.
Scholarship Application Deadline: October 15, 2024
Application and Deposit Deadline: January 15, 2025
Program Description
In the middle ages, life on Earth was widely considered to be a brief interlude during which the sensible person prepared for an eternity spent in the afterlife. The Renaissance was a rebirth of the ancient Roman belief that life on earth could be savored and cherished, and that the individual and the surrounding world were worthy of our attention and admiration. One key event that supported and sustained this essential belief was Brunelleschi’s invention of the artistic technique of linear perspective. Florence is the birthplace of linear perspective and the Renaissance, and thus the modern mind.
As such, the Culture of Food today offers us a view into how the Renaissance shaped the linguistic landscape of Florence including art, architecture, public spaces, museums, restaurants, food, and people. Students will experience the food and beverages in Italy through shopping, tastings, cooking, and eating and drinking in local contexts including street food, restaurants, cafes, and markets, and reflect upon the culture and linguistic landscape of Italy and how that relates to the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the people and compare that to our own in Arkansas.
Students taking any of the Psychology, Linguistics or Culture courses will be able to describe differences between American culture and Italian culture, navigate numerous different kinds of Italian public transportation: train, bus, taxi, and funicular, live as a temporary resident in a foreign country in which most residents do not speak English, including how to learn and use simple Italian words and phrases to purchase groceries and other necessities, describe how the following contributed to the development of art, culture, and science in the Proto-Renaissance and Renaissance: Cimabue, Giotto, Masaccio, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Cellini, Verrocchio, Castagno, Fra Angelico, Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo, and Galileo, and describe what is meant by the term ‘Renaissance man’, and how Brunelleschi was the prototype of the Renaissance man.
Health and Safety
Students registering for programs should carefully read through all health and safety information provided during the application process. In addition, students should honestly complete the ‘Health and Safety Form’ so that any health related concerns may be adequately accommodated on study abroad programs.
Participants will be enrolled in comprehensive international insurance for the duration of programming. It is the student’s responsibility to extend insurance cover if they stay abroad beyond UCA’s planned program dates. For information about international insurance coverage: https://uca.edu/globalstudy/health-and-safety/
Students must attend one health and safety meeting during the spring semester. Meeting dates will be announced after the application deadlines.
Faculty Leaders and Course Offerings
Dr. Ken Sobel spent a month studying French at the Institut Catholique in Paris as a college student, and loved it so much that he always wanted to lead students on their own study abroad experiences. As a professor at UCA he has been able to fulfill his dream by leading ten study abroad experiences in which students were based in Florence, Italy, and traveled on public trains and buses to Rome, Padua, Lucca, Pisa, Cinque Terre on the Mediterranean, Bolzano in the Alps, and hill towns such as Orvieto and Siena. He is excited to return to Italy to continue to practice speaking Italian, and to introduce a new group of students to all the wonders Italy has to offer.
Courses offered by Dr. Sobel:
- HBST 1377 Study Abroad Seminar [LD UCA Core: Diversity in World Cultures]
- PSYC 4377 Study Abroad in Psychology
- PSYC 4383 Special Topics in Psychology
- PSYC 6361 Research Lab in Psychology and Counseling
Dr. Lynn Burley is a seasoned traveler both as a citizen of the world and as a Study Abroad Leader. She took students on this trip in Summer 2024 and is ready to return for more adventures now that she knows how to get around and where everything is. She also took students to Florence way back in 2007, as well as spent five weeks in Maastricht, The Netherlands with students in 2002 and led a trip to Paris and London in 2012. She’s visited 15 countries in Europe, been all over the Caribbean and spent time in The United Arab Emirates and Oman. As a Linguistics professor and one who has spent a lot of time in many countries, she is well-prepared to teach the culture and the linguistics of food in Italy.
Courses offered by Dr. Burley:
- LING 1310 Language, Culture, and Society in Italy
- WLAN 2315 The Culture of Food in Italy
- LING 4355 Special Topics in Linguistics
- ENGL 4385 Travel Seminar in Literature: Greek Mythology
Prof. Doug Corbitt, the son of missionary physicians, grew up in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has travelled extensively in Europe, Africa, and South America and has led a Study Abroad trip to Tanzania. Once fairly proficient in French, he now regularly embarrasses himself whenever he tries to use that beautiful language. But having been frequently pranked the past twenty years by students in the Schedler Honors College, he has come to accept embarrassment as his lot. He’s considering taking as his motto, “I blush so you don’t have to.”
Courses offered by Prof. Corbitt:
- HONC 3310 Junior Seminar
Program Cost
Click here to view the 2025 program cost for ‘UCA in Florence: The Italian Renaissance, the Culture of Food and the Modern Mind’.