The Course of Italian Language and Culture is the first step of your university experience in Italy. It is mandatory, starts the week after your arrival in Bologna and ends at the end of September/February. This course gives you the opportunity to get to know the city of Bologna through a total language and cultural immersion. The topics – the Middle Ages, Italian Opera and the Bologna Resistance – are introduced in their historical, artistic, and linguistic contexts both in class and during guided tours. The course also includes a review and practice of grammar structures.
The first part of the course, dedicated to the Middle Ages and to the University of Bologna, includes the visit to main artistic places, such as Saint Stephen Basilica, Piazza Maggiore and the Archiginnasio. In the second part of the course, during the fall semester, we study the history of of anti-Fascism and the Bologna Resistance, and we visit the Montesole Historical Park with the guide of UniBo professors Cinzia Venturoli. During the spring semester, we enjoy a performance in the Bologna Municipal Theatre in order to familiarize with Italian Opera and its links with Italian cultural history. The study of vocabulary and grammar rules is always linked to the topics of the course, in order to develop comprehension and communication. In this course, students take two written exams, prepare an oral presentation (in pairs or in group), and write two essays. The main goal of the Intensive Course is to prepare students to attend E.C.Co. and UniBo courses.
