UGA Cortona - Italy Studies Abroad Summer

The setting for the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Studies Abroad Program is the small, quiet, walled hilltown of Cortona, Italy. Centrally located within the Tuscany region on the crest of Mont S. Egidio overlooking the vast Val di Chiana, Cortona is surrounded by beautiful olive groves, vineyards, rich valley farmland and immense history.

The town of Cortona is a veritable museum that offers the student a rich artistic and historical environment that reveals itself through fine examples of Etruscan, Roman, Romanesque, and Renaissance art and architecture. Since 1970, the small community of Cortona and the University have shared a mutual tradition of goodwill and respect where the local government and citizens provide generous support and encouragement to the Studies Abroad Program and its students.

In this idyllic environment, the UGA Cortona - Italy Studies Abroad Program provides a challenging opportunity for the serious student who wishes to combine international travel with an intensive period of studio and classroom work while merging with the lifestyle and culture of a typical Italian community. Students live in a newly renovated 15th century monastery that provides premium studio spaces and living quarters with historic surroundings. 

Although based in Cortona, students begin their experience in Rome or Naples.  Throughout the program, field trips are made to many major cities and artistic centers in Italy such as Perugia, Assisi, Siena, Florence, and many other sites.

Program Director and Course Leaders

Chris Robinson, Program Director
Kristine Schramer, Associate Director
Enza Valente, Office Manager in Cortona
Mary VanNus, Administrative Specialist
Sydney Nettles-Coates, Administrative Associate

Academic Program

UGA Cortona - Italy Studies Abroad Program

• Art History:  Students have an opportunity to visit and study some of the most influential works in art. Each week the instrutor lectures/presents a specific work of Italian art. The lecture is followed by a prearranged visit to observe the work "in situ". Each student is responsible for the analysis (formal, art historical, visual) of a comparable work. 

 

• Ceramics: Cortona has a rich ceramic tradition dating to the time of the Etruscans. Students work in a large studio where there is ample space for handbuilding, wheels for throwing with electric and gas kilns. 

 

• Drawing: In direct contact with monument of traditional European art, the drawing student has the opportunity to compare and assimilate ideas and techniques of the Italian tradition. The student is encouraged to actively compare historical traditions with contemporary European art. In all drawing classes, there is the opportunity to work from the fiure as well as the landscape. 

 

• Graphic Design: Students will develop communicative concepts using combinations of photography, traditional materials, and imported or digitally created visuals to explore image

 

• Italian Language and Culture: These courses are designed to offer students with little or no knowledge of the Italian language effective and expedient control over basic language patterns necessary for basic, direct communication. The culture course introduces students to the politics, religion, food and daily customs of Italy.     

 

• Jewelry and Metalwork:  Beginning students work primarily in the lost-wax casting process and are introduced to soldering and hand finishing techniques. Advanced and graduate students are encouraged to work on individual interests.  

 

• Landscape Architecture: Italian landscapes and townscapes are complex urban and rural environments that are remarkably contemporary while retaining characteristics of the Middle Ages. Students are encouraged to assimilate into their own work some of the aesthetic qualities they observe in ancient public spaces by experiencing the wide variety of daily activities taking place in Italy’s small piazzas, squares, waterfront spaces, and streets.  

 

• Painting: Fundamentally, the ideas of Western painting are the outgrowth of ideas developed during the Italian Renaissance. Coursework offers students the opportunity of working in the environment where these ideas were born. All levels of students are encouraged to develop strong personal approaches to painting.   

 

• Papermaking and Bookarts: In the papermaking classes, the methods and materials for making paper by hand are studied and students are encouraged to investigate the potential for paper as a medium. The book arts classes include the study of various traditional and experimental binding techniques that explore the book as an art form and structure in relation to aesthetic content. 

 

• Photography: Work in this course of study concentrates on black and white photography, but also utilizes color slides, a format that is practical and relatively permanent and being viewed by transmitted light, ideal for learning to judge qualities of light and color. Thus the student can concentrate on contemplating and making photographs in the distinctive light of Italy unencumbered by darkroom procedure and technique.  

 

• Printmaking: Printmaking students work in a fully equipped intaglio and relief studio in Cortona. All basic equipment, accessories, and inks are provided. During the studio sessions intaglio and relief techniques such as etching, engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, dry point, calligraphy, and woodcut are explored according to the interests of each individual.  

 

• Sculpture: Carrara marble, alabaster, bronze, gold, wrought iron, mosaics and stone inlay have traditionally been the materials of Italian sculptors and craftsmen. Sculpture courses take advantage of the reservoirs of skill and materials available in Italy with visits to artist’s studios, art foundries, and active marble carving and woodworking studios. Coursework is offered on the beginning, intermediate, advanced and graduate levels.

2016 Program Itinerary

Summer 2016
June 4th - August 2nd

June 4     All participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Italy. In order to arrive in Naples for the beginning of the program, this is the last possible day to depart the US.
June 5     Arrival Rome 

June 5-8   Rome
June 8      Leave Rome for Cortona - via Orvieto
June 8      Arrival in Cortona - inaugural ceremony, flag throwers, welcome by Mayor of Cortona
June 11    Cortona day
June 18    Field trip to Pisa
June 25    Field trip to Arezzo

July 2       Cortona day - Fourth of July celebration
July 9       Field trip to Siena
July 16     Field trip to Florence
July 22     Tentative Exhibition Opening
July 23     Exhibition
July 24     Exhibition take down
July 30     Depart Cortona for Venice

July 30 - Aug 2   Venice
Aug 2       Official end of program after hotel check-out


Housing and Meals

Housing:
Living conditions for UGA students are similar to those experienced by European students in pensiones or one-star hotels. The John D. Kehoe building is the permanent residential facility of the UGA Cortona - Italy Studies Abroad Program, and has been recently renovated with modern conveniences. The Kehoe building has multiple-bed dormitory rooms and shared bathrooms. A large courtyard provides students an opportunity to gather outdoors to study, draw or tend to personal chores such as laundry. Downstairs is a large kitchen. In an adjoining room, a continental breakfast is served between the hours of 7:00 am to 9:00 am. There are several coin operated washers for use, but many students choose to wash their clothes by hand in available sinks or tubs. The terrace has several clothes lines to dry your clothes on, which is the only means to do so. There are several common rooms available for studying or reading. The Kehoe building doors remain locked but each student is provided with a personal key. Linens are provided and are changed by the staff. 

Breakfast:
A continental breakfast is served every morning at the Kehoe Building. Continental breakfast consists of bread, jam, fruti juice and coffee or tea. Students who want or need additional food for breakfast may buy groceries and keep them in the student refrigerator. 

Lunches:
Lunch while in Cortona and on field trips will be on your own. In Cortona, there are many options for an inexpensive quick lunch at local grocery stores and bars, as well as numberous full-service restaurants. For lunch, sandwiches are available at most bars and grovery stores in town. A "toast" in Italy is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and most bars will offer other choices as well. Any of the grovery stores in town will prepare a sandwich made to your specifications or you can buy your won fruit, cheese and bread. The range of restaurants in Cortona varies from first-class full menu restuarants to more inexpensive places where you can order a pizza or a plate of pasta. 
If you would like to go to a full-service restaurant for lunch, the prices will generally be higher and you will pay for service. A cover charge is automatically added to your bill and you are also expected to tip your waiter. Sitting down in a restaurant means possible waiting times, as food in Italy is cooked only after you order it. In Cortona, smaller family-run restaurants are usually fairly inexpensive and provide an opportunity to make friends with the Cortonese. 

 

Meals While Traveling:
Breakfasts and dinners while in Naples and Rome; Breakfasts and some dinners while in Florence; only breakfast is serviced while in Venice. Please refer to specific itineraries for program travel.

Program Costs

The summer 2016 estimated program cost is $8,100. This cost is subject to change based upon budgetary approvals. Tuition is not included in this cost. See bursar.uga.edu for tuition rates. Students generally take 9-10 hours in the summer. The cost of the program includes:
 

• Application fee (due at time of application) - refunded if you are not accepted, applied towards total program cost if you are accepted
• International Health Insurance (UGA requirement)
• Charter bus transportation on all planned field trips
• Charter bus transportation from beginning cities to Cortona, and from Cortona to program ending city
• Shared hotel accommodations when traveling and dorm in Cortona
• Breakfast and dinner while traveling with the program (Breakfast only while in Venice)
• Dinner 5 days a week while in Cortona
• Breakfast 7 days a week while in Cortona
• Program t-shirt

Students who are not residents of Georgia or do not attend a University System of Georgia University or College pay an additional $250.00. If you elect to stay more than one semester, the cost of the second consecutive semester is reduced by $500. Please contact us if you wish to take advantage of this opportunity for an extended time in Cortona. Should you require additional material, please contact us by e-mail at cortona@uga.edu or by phone at 706-542-7120.
 

Accommodation Statement

UGA education abroad programs strive to provide reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.  Areas of disability include, but are not limited to visual, hearing, learning, psychological, medical, and mobility impairments. If you receive disability-related accommodations at UGA or at your home university, or if you anticipate needing accommodations at your overseas site, you will arrange for them with your study abroad program director and the staff in the Disability Resource Center. Examples of accommodations include note taking assistance, extended test time, a quiet testing location, alternative text/media, and accessible housing. Please provide information about your accommodation needs at least 4 weeks prior to departure in order to allow time to arrange for accommodations. Students are asked to disclose disability-related needs prior to the start of the program to help ensure that there are no delays in accommodations and that the student can enjoy the full study abroad experience.