Summer Structural Engineering Program
About ISI Florence
Established in 2001, ISI Florence is a study abroad program rooted in the liberal arts tradition and internationally recognized for the high caliber of its faculty and wide range of student services. ISI Florence is committed to providing students with a safe and rewarding educational experience of exceptional quality both in and out of the classroom and is supported by endless opportunities for cultural immersion and exchange. True to its extraordinary setting in the cradle of the Renaissance, ISI Florence aims to inspire students to strive for learning which will make their semester abroad a life-changing experience.
With several thousand years of civilization woven into its legendary urban texture, Florence embodies all that the Renaissance sought to bring back to life. Bordered by its famous countryside of pine- and cypress-dotted hills, lush vineyards, and olive groves, the Florence of today is an innovative European cultural center, as well as a university city. While living in Florence, students will have the opportunity to walk the same medieval streets as Dante, look upon the great works of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and stand within the massive halls that housed Medici businesses, all built on top of Roman and Etruscan ruins. Iconic Via Tornabuoni offers insights into Florence’s thriving love of fashion in the shadow of Brunelleschi’s great dome, Santa Maria del Fiore. Surrounded by statuesque relics of the Renaissance and the push of progress, Florence offers both depth of ancient character and a melding of past, present, and future.
Engineering Abroad
This program has been devised to enable engineering students to study abroad while doing work related to their major, thereby contributing to their overall understanding of the field. Engineering courses abroad are relatively rare and this program has been created to fill that gap.
The Summer Engineering Program in Florence is designed as a two-course program: a historical survey of structures and an in-depth experience of structural rehabilitation. These courses allow engineering majors to apply for elective credit towards their major.
Why Florence?
Florence is a perfect place to inaugurate a program of this kind because it enables engineering students to be immersed in a built environment that spans across 2000 years, with an exceptional number of significant monuments that are intact starting from the Middle Ages. In addition, it is an ideal place to observe and analyze contemporary structures and modern structural interventions on historical buildings.
An innovative, cosmopolitan European cultural center, Florence is also a university city. It is difficult to think of a location that better offers both such a depth of character and so obvious a melding of past, present, and future.
Academics
These courses have been designed as a unified program:
- ENGR 430 – Contemporary Structures in Historic Buildings (3 credits)
- ENGR 431 – Structures in History (3 credits)
The program is set to run from mid-May to the end of June. Upon successful completion, students will receive a total of 6-semester credits.
Student Services
The student services team at ISI Florence provides all students with a strong support system from the moment of arrival to the day of departure. Staff members are on hand to offer information and assistance so that students can make the most of their time abroad. Health and safety are of the utmost importance to us. Students are coached in personal safety, and the student services staff is available 24/7 to address illnesses, injuries, and any other needs that require special attention.
Living Accommodations
Students share apartments with other program participants. All apartments are located in the historical center of Florence and within walking distance of ISI Florence facilities. The apartments come with a fully equipped kitchen, communal living space, and wireless Internet connection.
ISI Florence Highlights
- State-of-the-art centrally located facilities
- Expert and dedicated international faculty and staff
- Pre-departure and arrival assistance
- Comprehensive orientation program
- Informative student handbook and APP (For Apple & Android OS)
- Fully-equipped student apartments in the historic center of Florence
- Extra- and co-curricular field trips and volunteering
- Practical Italian language courses and workshops
- Wi-Fi access in apartments and at the Institute
- Emergency hotline available 24/7
Application
All students are required to submit a completed application and submit current transcripts and meet all prerequisite requirements. Admission is selective.
Apply now to begin the application and review process and discuss the program with an admissions specialist.
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