Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Siena - My Fairy tale land Past Review

By (Art History and Italian, Tufts University) for

CET Siena

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I loved the program. I'm considering going back for a year after graduation.

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The grading system was the same as the American grading system. My language class (Italian C1) was very conversationally based. We did very little grammar after the first 2 or 3 weeks and would come into class, pick a topic and just talk for the 3 hour class period. All classes were very discussion based, which probably had a lot to do with the small class sizes. The workload was definitely manageable, but there were always readings or papers every week.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

Anna is great as the resident director. She was able to help with anything from class scheduling to apartment issues to travel tips. She is moving to the Florence program but I'm sure she will be just as great there.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My roommate was an American girl in my program but we lived in an apartment with 3 Italian students (Giorgio Albert, Laura and Chiara). They were great in getting us adapted and helping us meet more Italians and gain a real abroad experience. They helped us so much - my time in Italy definitely wouldn't have been the same without them.

* Food:

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

There are so many group activities scheduled and included in tuition - it's great! You really understand where your money is going when you get the semester activities schedule on the first day.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

I did get sick in the winter and went to the pharmacy where the pharmacist was able to give me medicine based on the symptoms I described. Medicine is really cheap there too. Had I gone to the doctor, I believe it would have been free. Part of the tuition includes an insurance card also.

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

Finances

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

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

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? Maybe 50-100 Euro. I never spent more than 30E/week on groceries (20 is more realistic) - the Conads (grocery stores) are really cheap.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? I budgeted more for travel and less for shopping.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? Advanced
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? Italian 21
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Language acquisition improvement?

Siena is a small town where people will understand English, but it is definitely encouraged to speak Italian. I used Italian daily, whether it was while shopping, in the streets or with my Italian roommates. There was also an option to get a language exchange partner.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
  • Local Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Pick CET Siena! It's great for Italian skills and actually being exposed to the culture without being sheltered in a bubble of Americans/tourists (ie. programs in Florence).

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Sienese Art and Architecture
Course Department:
Instructor: PG
Instruction Language: English
Comments: The course was definitely interesting and PG knows his stuff. It was taught as a beginner art history course. Readings were easy and definitely not of the in-depth nature I'm used to as an art history major. There were 2 short papers, a midterm and a final, which consisted of 3 IDs of works from a study guide, 3 IDs from readings and 1 unknown ID. There were plenty of field trips (almost every other class was on location) and PG definitely knows his Sienese history and how to take advantage of our location. Other trips included a short ride to Pienza and San Gimignano.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Italian Cultural History
Course Department:
Instructor: Pierluca Birindelli
Instruction Language: English
Comments: This course was very discussion based and often was off topic. Pierluca is more of a sociologist interested in Americans' perception of Italians and stereotypes than teaching about the given materials. Readings definitely weren't mandatory and reading his powerpoint presentations was plenty of studying for the midterm and the final. There were 2 papers, one autobiographical and one "research." We took a trip to Catania, Sicily for this class as part of the Traveling Seminar. The trip was good, but really had nothing to do with the course.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Fine Young Cannibals
Course Department:
Instructor: Marianna Marrucci
Instruction Language: Italian
Comments: This course had the potential to be really good. We read about 3-4 short stories in the beginning in the "Pulp Fiction-esque" style of Fine Young Cannibals, which were all rather strange. Then we read Io non ho paura, which was a great book and I actually used as my spring break book. The other 2 books, Fluo and La vita oscena, were really strange and difficult to read in the sense that they were slow moving, not because of the language difficulty. We had a midterm based on the short stories and after every book we wrote a 3-5 page paper and at the end of the course we did an 8-10 pg paper about a theme in the books and a 30-45 min presentation. Marianna's teaching style wasn't great and she didn't really know how to ask the right questions to get us talking and would instead stare at us silently. There were a lot of awkward pauses and most of the classes were spent re-reading the pages we read for homework.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Italian Language C1
Course Department:
Instructor: Sabrina Mattei/Cristina Bibbiani
Instruction Language: Italian
Comments: This course was great. Going abroad I had only completed Italian 21 and I tested into the 4th level (Italian B2), but needed C1 to get credit. I chose to move myself to the C1 level because I only needed to get a C to pass/transfer the credit. I'm really glad I did because I found the course work to be an appropriate level of challenging. In the first month Sabrina had us for a crash course. We met M-F from 9-12. We had 2 or 3 tests and a powerpoint presentation. Most of the intensive was conversational with a little grammar thrown in as a refresher. After the intensive, Cristina had us twice a week from 9-12 and continued with a conversational method of teaching. We had 3 tests, I believe, and a final with maybe 3-4 powerpoint presentations. When we had breaks/vacations, she always had us bring in a powerpoint with photos to talk about our trips. We learned a lot about Italian culture and history in these classes because a lot of the conversations would end up being about the differences between Italy and the US, whether governmental, historical or cultural. I loved Cristina and Sabrina.
Credit Transfer Issues: Although CET recommends 7 credits (on the 3 credit system) for this course, Tufts only gives credit for Italian 22.