Study Abroad Opportunities

The Bishop Anthony M. Pilla Program in Italian American Studies fulfills John Carroll University's goal to internationalize the curriculum. To this end, the Program has developed annual study trips to Italy. John Carroll students are encouraged to travel abroad to understand the depth and the richness of the Italian culture. Classes are taught in various regions of Italy.

Upcoming Study Trips

Fall Semester 2008: John Carroll University at Vatican City

This study abroad program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to study in Vatican City, while earning John Carroll University credits, just as if courses were taken on the John Carroll campus. Classes held specifically for JCU students meet at the Università Pontificia Urbaniana and are taught in English by both Urbaniana and John Carroll professors. This one-semester program (12-15 credit hours) is ideal for sophomore and junior students, who can use the courses offered to fulfill the requirements of the JCU academic core and/or an Italian Studies Concentration. In Fall 2006, 21 students enrolled in JCU at Vatican City.

Click here to view the photo gallery from the Fall 2006 program. For details about the Fall 2008 program, see the Center for Global Education website.

Past Study Trips

Spring Break 2007: Mosaic of Sicily: Art, History, Literature (ML 280)

A culmination of the Mosaic of Sicily course that Dr. Santa Casciani developed when she traveled to Sicily in the summer of 2000; students toured the many treasures of the island, exploring the wealth and depth of history, literature, art, and culture in Sicily.

Click here to view the photo gallery.

Fall Semester 2006 John Carroll University at Vatican City

This study abroad program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to study in Vatican City, while earning John Carroll University credits, just as if courses were taken on the John Carroll campus. Classes held specifically for JCU students meet at the Università Pontificia Urbaniana and are taught in English by both Urbaniana and John Carroll professors. This one-semester program (12-15 credit hours) is ideal for sophomore and junior students, who can use the courses offered to fulfill the requirements of the JCU academic core. In Fall 2005, 19 students enrolled in JCU at Vatican City.

Click here to view the photo gallery.

Spring Break 2006: Italian Humanism and the Renaissance (ML 325)

The study of the writings of Petrarch, Alberti, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Vittoria Collonna, and Leonardo da Vinci culminated with an intensive, on-site learning tour in Italy. Click here to view the photo gallery.

Fall Semester 2005: John Carroll University at Vatican City

This study abroad program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to study in Vatican City, while earning John Carroll University credits, just as if courses were taken on the John Carroll campus. Classes held specifically for JCU students meet at the Università Pontificia Urbaniana and are taught in English by both Urbaniana and John Carroll professors. This one-semester program (12-15 credit hours) is ideal for sophomore and junior students, who can use the courses offered to fulfill the requirements of the JCU academic core. In fall 2005, 19 students enrolled in the JCU at Vatican City. Click here to view the photo gallery.

Spring Break 2005: Dante's Cities: Florence, L'Aquila, Siena (ML 350)

Students studied the Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova, and how the works reflect the social, cultural, and artistic representation of late medieval Italy. Their study culminated in an intensive, on-site learning tour of the cities which influenced Dante's art. Click here to view the photo gallery.

Spring Break 2004: Baroque Sicily (ML 280)

Students, faculty, and community members explored the richness and splendid architecture of the best of Sicily, discovering the beauty of Sicilian cities and towns of the Spanish period (1600-1700's) that were completely rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1693. Click here to view the photo gallery.

Spring Break 2003: Magna Graecia

The Bishop Pilla Program in Italian American Studies organized a trip to Southern Italy and Sicily during the first week of March 2003. The trip's theme was "Magna Graecia", a title given to Southern Italy and Sicily by the Romans. In conjunction with an exhibition held at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Mrs. Giuseppina Mileti developed enrichment classes on the splendor of Magna Graecia whose civilization and culture, beginning in the 8th Century B.C., are the foundation of the western world.

John Carroll University students, faculty, alumni, and many members of the Italian American community participated in the trip, which started in Rome. The group visited Saint Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and Rome's other major sites.

The journey then continued to Naples, visiting Cuma, the first Greek colony in Italy, Poseidonia, Paestum, the Magna Graecia Museum in Reggio Calabria where the Bronzi of Riace have their home. Finally the group reached Sicily, where Greek civilization had its greatest influence, visiting places such as Giardini-Naxos, Taormina, Syracuse, Agrigento, Selinunte, and Segesta. The trip ended with a visit to Palermo and to the enchanting mosaics of Monreale and Cefalù. Click here to view the photo gallery.

Spring Break 2002: The Mosaic of Sicily: Art, History, and Literature (ML 280)

The Bishop Pilla Program in Italian American Studies organized a trip to Sicily during the first week of March, 2002. John Carroll University's students, faculty, staff and many members of the Italian American Community in Ohio toured the many treasures of the island.

The trip was a result of Professor Casciani's course ML280, The Mosaic of Sicily: Art, History and Literature. Professor Casciani had traveled to Sicily in the summer of 2000 to see the sights used to develop the course. The course explored the depth of wealth of history, literature, and art in Sicily. Mrs. Giuseppina Mileti offered a similar course for the Office of Continuing Education. Through lectures and slide presentations, students saw the rich cultural heritage of Sicily spanning over 3,000 years.

The group visited the many sites which display the influence of the Spanish, Arab, and Greek cultures. Among the many places they visited was Palermo, Sicily's largest city. They also toured the Palatine Chapel, the city's historical center, and Erice, a medieval town filled with myth and history. Click here to view the photo gallery.