Brand New Programs at Villa Le Balze for Summer 2020

Posted in News Story

Explore new program offerings in Journalism and Biology

November 5, 2019 –

In addition to its semester-long living and learning programs, Villa le Balze is home to a variety of shorter courses each summer. This year, the Office of Global Education (OGE) is offering two new academic programs at the Villa. One of the new programs, International Journalism- Reporting from Florence (JOUR-355), invites students to take on the role of a reporter gathering multi-platform information to create a holistic understanding of current events on a local Florentine level and connect them to national and global events. Students studying biological sciences may consider another new course, A Microscopic View of Tuscany (BIOL-351), which delves into the microbiological processes behind Italy’s famous wine and cheesemaking industries. 

If you enroll in the International Journalism- Reporting from Florence (JOUR-355) program, you will not only report on current events in Florence, Italy, but will gain intercultural competencies in journalism and interviewing. You will gain experience in approaching a story from different angles and will gain insight on how to interview locals from another culture, keeping in mind cultural differences and other peoples’ experiences. Program advisor and Director of the Journalism Department, Ann Oldenburg, shares her thoughts for this upcoming program, “My goal is for students to gain a deeper understanding of Florence through this ultimate learning-based experience, as they interact with local citizens, tourists, experts, retails, government officials and whatever other sources they might need for their stories. They will be discovering the city and the region and telling the stories they find there.”  While on this academic program, you will complete field work in the city of Florence and go on field trips to offices of local newspapers, thereby gaining first hand experience of the inner workings of the journalism world. You can expect guided visits to the Medici Archive Project, the Accademia, Scuola del Cuoio leather school, and the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation. The course is open to all students, regardless of major or prior coursework or journalistic experience.

As a student participating on the A Microscopic View of Tuscany (BIOL-351) program, you will learn about the biological processes that create wine and cheese, focusing on aerobic versus anaerobic lifestyles of microorganisms, the production of ethanol, and prokaryotic versus eukaryotic organisms in wine and cheese making. You will visit local vineyards and dairy farms to apply see your classroom knowledge come to life. It will be an exciting and brand new experience for the Villa.  

In addition to these two new programs, three popular programs will be returning in Summer 2020: The Machiavelli Seminar (GOVT-486-62), Plague, Tuscany, and the Globalization of a Disease (HIST-147 or BIOL-268), and Encounters in Italy Language and Culture (ITAL-111). Each program offers a unique opportunity to deepen or expand your learning, gain GU credits during the summer, and take part in one of Georgetown’s most cherished undergraduate traditions.

Applications for these programs, as well as OGE’s many other summer programs, will be available starting November 1 until February 13, 2020. If you have any additional questions or would like to learn more, please visit the Office of Global Education appointment page to get started.