Prerequisites

Students who will have completed the language sequence (1027, 107, or 108) are encouraged to apply. Applicants will need a letter of intent in Italian, unofficial transcript and the availability for an interview.

Application Process

Applications for the Summer Intensive Program in Pisa must be completed in the Global Programs System (GPS) by the final deadline of Sunday, February 9th, 2025. 

*Early application begins Friday, November 1st, 2024 and is strongly encouraged. 

Letter of intent and unofficial transcripts must be submitted via GPS.

*After you have completed your application through GPS, you will be contacted to schedule an interview. Interviews will run from Monday, January 27th, 2025, until the deadline. 

The selection of participants will be announced Friday, February 14th, 2025. Those selected must attend two pre-departure meetings (one from FIT and one from OIP), where they will be provided with information to prepare them for the program. 

Pre-Departure Phase Instructions:

Students selected to attend the Princeton in Pisa program will be required to attend a mandatory OIP pre-departure meeting as well as a departmental one, where they will be provided with important information to prepare them for the program. These meetings will take place in April 2025. Details about date and time of pre-departure meetings will be provided to attendees by the end of March via e-mail. Students will be required to complete course modules in Canvas related to international travel before the pre-departure, including information about health, safety, organizing travel, and identity resources. The program will comply with all regulations and travel guidelines provided by the University. 

Program Fee

Students on financial aid may apply to the Dean's Fund for Study Abroad through SAFE to cover the costs of participating in the ITA 207I program; select the opportunity “Dean's Fund for International Faculty-led Programs.” Dean's Fund applications will open on December 1st, 2024. Students may also request a loan from Financial Aid or reach directly out to the Department of French and Italian if part of their budget remains unmet. 

*Application deadlines for these funding sources may be earlier than departmental decisions on admission to the course.

The following is the breakdown of approximate costs for the Pisa program for Summer 2025:

Housing and food will be organized by the program and will include housing in a dorm (single room) at the Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) as well as daily lunch and dinner. There will be multiple cultural activities and excursions organized by the program. The costs for room and board, as well as for organized cultural activities, will be covered by the program.

Tuition: $3,660, for a one credit Princeton course for summer 2025 (which includes your $500 deposit)

Fees: $0

Housing: $0 (covered by the program)

Food: $0 (breakfast, lunch, and dinner covered by the program)

Books and course supplies: $0

Transportation: $1800 ($1650 for flight and $150 for extra bags)

Estimated personal expenses: $450

• $50 toiletries
• $100 local phone
• $300 required cultural activities, local transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses

Total cost of attendance: $5,910

Add approximately $200 for visa and/or U.S. passport (for those who need one)

_________________________________________________

Expenses billed by Princeton University:

• Tuition: $3,660

Estimated out of pocket expenses:

• Transportation: $1800
• Personal expenses: $450

Please email Leslie Champouillon for any questions - [email protected]

ITA 207I is an intensive, four-week, language immersion program, held at the Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa. The course will meet five days a week and provides 90 hours of overall classroom instruction: 3 hours of daily instruction in the morning with the Princeton faculty member and 1.5 hours of writing laboratory in the afternoon with the SNS faculty member. During the week, students will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Italian culture through interaction with the surrounding environment in the city of Pisa, while every Friday, they will participate in field trips to other historic, art-filled cities like Florence, Siena, Livorno and Lucca. 

The core objective of ITA 207I is to present students with a wide variety of writing situations and styles in Italian, and to elevate their language proficiency level while interacting with the territory of the host city. The course is also a journey into four crucial topics: Beauty, Landscape, Migration and Subversion. These four themes are analyzed through a transnational lens that gives particular emphasis to the concepts of alterity, diversity, language and identity, street art, multiculturalism, race and Afro-Italian issues. Students acquire a better and deeper understanding of Italian literary and cultural trajectory across the centuries through a global perspective on society. 

*The final syllabus and course materials will be made available to students prior to departure from Princeton. 

Studying and living abroad with access to the instructional resources of the Scuola, provides students with unique formative experiences while enabling progress in the study of Italian and other disciplines at Princeton. 

Pisa: City of the Leaning Tower and More…

The province of Pisa is in central-western Tuscany. Its landscape includes beaches, broad plains and rolling hills. Lying on the banks of the Arno, Pisa is the repository of a glorious past as a maritime republic, but it is also a modern city. The old town encompasses Renaissance architecture and churches: the Campo dei Miracoli complex, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the most representative structure of the city. The Piazza del Duomo, renowned for being Galileo’s scientific laboratory, is the ideal starting point to retrace the footsteps of this revolutionary Italian scientist through the city. The central Piazza dei Cavalieri (Knights’ Square) is a magnificent sight, home to such intricate 16th-century architecture as the Palazzo della Carovana, and the house of the distinguished Scuola Normale Superiore, commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to be based on the model of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Many of the most celebrated Italian writers and professors studied here, like Antonio Pacinotti (Astronomy), Giosuè Carducci and Giovanni Pascoli (Literature), and Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia (Physics).

The city of Pisa is surrounded by little towns, like San Miniato and Volterra, overlooking the picturesque Valle dell’Arno. San Gimigniano, the wine territory of Chianti, and the beautiful Tuscan countryside and beaches are nearby. From Pisa, it is easy to travel to cities such as Florence, Lucca and Siena to spend the day admiring the richness of Italian art and culture. Pisa international airport, “Galileo Galilei,” connects the city to the major European capitals. The train is a convenient way to reach Italian cities like Bologna (1.45 hrs.), Rome (2.30 hrs.), Venice (3.15 hrs.), and Cinque Terre (1.30 hrs.).