Imagine learning Italian in a place where you live, eat, and socialize with local Italian townspeople. Columbia University locates its six-week summer program in Scandiano to provide students with the kind of complete linguistic and cultural immersion that cannot be found in larger Italian cities. Originally based in Florence, which receives more than fifty thousand visitors each day during the summer, the program was moved in 1995 to this small town in the Emilia-Romagna region in order to offer students a true look into Italian ways of life. As the only study abroad program located in Scandiano, Columbia University provides an environment in which students naturally reinforce their academic study through daily conversational and cultural exchanges with host families and townspeople. Planned excursions and activities extend students' experience of Italian life and culture.
Students are able to explore neighboring provinces of Italy on their own during free weekends.