ECU Tuscany: Academics
Today, more than ever, the world demands that our future leaders have life experiences to help them understand other countries, cultures and how we are linked together. Studying in Italy equips our students with knowledge and skills to effectively engage with local and global communities helping them become more culturally perceptive citizens. Employers increasingly seek graduates who have had international education experiences, so a semester abroad looks great on your resume!
Our ECU Tuscany program offers opportunities for ALL students, from ALL majors to take academic classes from OUR OWN ECU catalog. The curriculum each term is based on student demand, available faculty, and courses that take advantage of our location in Tuscany. Courses are planned for students from the entire ECU campus, targeting primarily Freshmen and Sophomores who need fine arts, humanities, science, foreign language, kinesiology, and social science credits from the general college foundation core.
All classes are taught in English by our own ECU faculty, taking advantage of our location in Tuscany with supplemental field trips and experiential learning outside of the classroom. A detailed list of offerings can be found on the information page for each semester on this website. Courses offered in the past include Digital Photography, Art Appreciation and Art History, Geology with lab, Roman History, World History, Literature, Italian Language, Drawing, Color and Design, Jewelry Design, Enameling, Book Arts, and Kinesiology 1000 (Yoga or Walking).
We know that once in college, about 75% of students change their proposed major. Through studying abroad, students learn about themselves and their place in the world, in turn, gaining self–awareness that leads to clarity about their course of study as they reflect on their global experience and its relationship to future career goals. It is also important to understand that once students have begun classes in an upper level major, they may find it more difficult to spend a semester away from their own professors, without falling behind. We do offer some upper level and graduate classes for students in the fine arts area and some juniors and seniors from al majors have studied with us, having saved some of their general college classes to take abroad! Don’t miss this chance to take the classes you would be taking on campus, in Italy!
How many students can participate in the program? With current options, we can house a maximum of 33 students each semester. Each class is small, less than 18 students. As of January 2021, more than 1,000 students have studied on our ECU Tuscany program!
What is special about our classes? Our teachers are engaging and committed to helping students succeed. We live, travel and eat together in the evenings so students have many opportunities outside of class to interact with their professors, and receive extra help outside of class time.
