Sorrento Winter

SORRENTO – WINTER 2025
Several Programs
Scenic picture of Florence Italy.

WINTER 2025 APPLICATION OPEN

DEADLINE: OCTOBER 25, 2024

APPLY NOW
Program Information

Location & Dates:​

Location: Sorrento, Italy

Course Dates: January 4-25, 2025 (3 weeks)

Arrive in Sorrento on January 5th

Course Information:​

Title: Study Abroad in Sorrento (pick one of the course offerings below)

Course: 3 credits

University: Sant’Anna Institute

Housing: On or off-campus dorms OR off-campus shared apartments

Students can take one course this winter at the Sant’Anna Institute, located in beautiful Sorrento, Italy. The Sant’Anna Institue is located on the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast and overlooks the village of Marina Grande. Students can choose from a variety of courses including Italian language and history, among others. All courses are taught in English except language courses and Medieval Literature. Knowledge of the Italian language is not needed. Many courses feature field trips to relevant local sites. ***A recommendation letter and a one page statement of purpose is required for this program. Please submit them directly to the program coordinator Olivia Tursi via email at olivia.tursi@qc.cuny.edu. Students must also complete Sant’Anna’s application on their website.***

Please contact the program coordinator Olivia Tursi at olivia.tursi@qc.cuny.edu for more information.

Pick one of the following courses:

History of the Mafia
The course examines the history of southern Italian organized crime syndicates from their origins to the present day. It also focuses on how these mafias work and have succeeded, on their activities as well as on modern-day approaches to combating the criminal presence in Italy, including the reaction of civil society organizations.

Attention is paid to examples of Mafia enterprises, its past and present role in politics, and its evolution from a regional organization to one with an international reach. A research project, with both a paper and an oral presentation, is required in addition to two written exams.

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

  • discuss the historical origins of the Mafia
  • describe how the Mafia works and the tactics it has used to succeed
  • discuss past and present Mafia enterprises
  • describe the role the Mafia has and does play in Italian politics
  • critically examine the different approaches used to combat the Mafia
  • describe the evolution of the Mafia from an organization that was regional in scope to one today that has international reach
  • employ basic research techniques to locate, evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources
Human Nutrition
Students will examine evidenced-based relationships between nutrition and the promotion of long-term health and well-being. They will become familiar with food-related policy and recommendations, including Dietary Guidelines, Food Labels, and evidence-based nutrition programs, and gain practical skills to make healthful dietary choices. Moreover, students will learn health promotion strategies to help influence other people’s food choices and apply these strategies to a specific modifiable chronic disease such as diabetes and heart disease.
Introduction to Marine Biology
This course focuses on the biology of organisms residing in the sea, from the diversity of planktonic communities to marine megafauna, taking into consideration the ecological principles that govern marine life. The course aims to provide a solid educational background in basic and applied marine biology. Emphasis will be placed on marine environment issues and the adaptive and evolutionary mechanisms of organisms that allow them to occupy marine habitats. In particular, the Mediterranean Sea will play a central role in the course subjects, profiting from the availability of unique ecosystems and a nearby renowned marine research institute to conduct thematic field trips and practical tutorials.

REQUIREMENTS: Bring a mask and a snorkel for Marine Bio field trips

Product Management: Food Marketing
This course covers principles and applications of food marketing, focusing on current trends related to food production, distribution, consumption, and the dynamics characterizing food systems. The course will center on the importance of understanding consumer behavior as a key factor in strategic food marketing and on the role of different agents in the food channel, particularly food producers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and marketers. This course also highlights the interface between producers and consumers (e.g. farm to table). As a result, part of the course will be dedicated to assessing the importance of issues related to food sourcing, including alternative venues such as local and regional sourcing, and food access. The delivery of this course includes live lectures, class discussions, case studies, field trips, and the creation of a marketing plan for an agricultural or food product. 
Global Business: Italy and Tourism
The course presents concepts of tourism relating to food and geography, using Italy as its example. The course is relevant to students of all backgrounds but was designed specifically for students studying hospitality, business, and culinary arts. Students will study international organizations operating in tourism (i.e. WTO) and the different types of tourism with particular attention paid to sustainable tourism. 

Students will be asked to investigate the tourism geography of Italy, becoming familiar with the most important tourist sites in Italy and Campania through several excursions. The third module of the course will be dedicated to a very important kind of tourism in Italy and the Campania region: Food and Wine Tourism. 

History of Italian Cinema
The course introduces the student to the world of Italian cinema. The first part the class will be analyzing Neorealism, a cinematic phenomenon that deeply influenced the ideological and aesthetic rules of film art.

In the second part, we will concentrate on the films that mark the decline of Neorealism and the talent of “new” auteurs such as Fellini and Visconti. The last part of the course will be devoted to the cinema from 1970s to the present in order to pay attention to the latest developments of the Italian industry.

The course is a general analysis of post-war cinema and a parallel social history of this period using films as “decoded historical evidence.” Together, with masterpieces such as Open City and The Bicycle Thief, the screenings will include films of the Italian directors of the “cinema d’autore” including The Conformist, Life is Beautiful, and Le conseguenze dell’amore.

Contemporary Italian Literature
In this course, you will study Italian literature of the 20th century. You will critically analyze these internationally renowned literary texts in their original language. This course’s focus is to give a general overview of literary developments during the 20th century and to deepen the relationships between literature and forms of power. You will read pages of the selected works in Italian and you will be able to debate on them in the classroom. You will try to understand the role of literature in the contemporary world and its value in the lives of humans.
Medieval Italian Literature - Dante
In this course, you will study the most important Italian poet, the father of the Italian language, and the principal figure of medieval literature in Europe—Dante Alighieri. You will examine Dante’s Divine Comedy and some other minor works of his (i.e. “Vita Nuova” and “Convivio”). You will read excerpts from these works and engage in a historical, literary, and rhetorical analysis of these texts while determining techniques of poetic composition. You are expected to actively participate and contribute to class discussion. You are also expected to do all the exercises assigned daily. This course’s aim is to allow you to study Dante’s internationally renowned literary texts in their original language (you must have earned at least 12 credits of Italian language as this course will be instructed in Italian).
Italian Language (all levels)
Elementary 1 & 2, Intermediate 1 & 2, and Advanced 1 & 2 offered.
Human Rights
In this course, you will examine the history, development, structure, and efficacy of international human rights law. You will investigate the legal framework of the United Nations and regional systems relating to the promotion of, among other things, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, women’s rights, the rights of migrants and refugees, cultural rights, and the emerging field of environmental rights. You will assess existing remedies for violations of human rights law in various systems and you will examine practical case studies where relevant.

Through taking this course, you will be able to:

  • Compare the international human rights law system and regional human rights law system;
  • Evaluate the various mechanisms and procedures for human rights law enforcement;
  • Critically assess specific areas of international human rights law with reference to relevant legal instruments and contemporary cases;
  • Acquire basic competency in legal writing and research.
European Literature and Gender
In this course, you will read Italian and European literary texts of the 20th century by both male and female writers from a feminist perspective. The definition of a “feminist reader” is a reader who assumes that there is no innocent or neutral approach to literature and that all interpretation is political. Feminist readers do not necessarily read to praise or blame, to judge or censor. More commonly, they set out to assess how the text invites its readers, as members of a specific culture, to understand what it means to be a woman or a man and encourages them to reaffirm or to challenge existing cultural norms. You, as a feminist reader, in this course might ask how the text represents men and women, what it says about gender relations, and how it defines sexual difference.
Religions of the Classical Antiquity
In this course, you will explore the religions of ancient Greek and Roman society from their earliest beginnings to the end of paganism and the emergence of Christianity. You will try to understand questions such as: How did Greeks and Romans conceptualize the divine and their relationship to it? How was ancient religion actually practiced? How does religion relate to myth and ritual? How did religion and politics interrelate? What exactly were the alternatives to civically practiced religion that modern cultures call “mystery cults?” Who were the critics of ancient religions, and what was the substance of their criticisms? What was the distinction between magic and religion? These fundamental questions (and many others) will occupy your thoughts in this course. While this class follows a broadly chronological outline, individual lectures concentrate on specific themes, such as forms and places of worship, philosophy and religion, death and afterlife, magic and the concept of conversion. This course is designed to introduce the tenets, beliefs, and certain spiritual practices of Classical antiquity and to investigate the social, cultural, and political background of which ancient religion was part. In this class, you will benefit from attending your study abroad program in Sorrento, in the middle of ancient Magna Graecia. On-site lessons in Paestum and Pompeii will be organized throughout the course of the semester.
Program Cost

Cost paid to Study Abroad Office: $1,795

Consolidated Fee

(includes housing)

 $1395
Application Fee $400

 

**Not included in the above cost:

CUNY tuition​ for in-state, matriculated undergraduates: 3 credits: $915
Airfare: $900 – $1800 (estimate)
Insurance: $61
Minimum Budget for Meals and Personal Expenses: $25 to $30 per day
Please keep in mind

– Programs are open to undergraduate students only from all CUNY campuses with one semester completed

– Minimum 2.5 GPA required and no financial/academic holds

– Some programs may require travel on Fridays and weekends

– Students receive both credit and grade

– Students are encouraged to apply early

How to Apply

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Deadlines

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Scholarships

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Study Abroad Office

King Hall, Room 203

Queens College, CUNY

65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, New York 11367-1597

718-997-5050

718-997-5055 (FAX)

Email: studyabroad@qc.cuny.edu