All students will enroll in 4 - 5 courses for a total of 16 - 21 quarter credits. All courses offered in Siena are recognized and approved for academic credit by various UO departments and GEO partner institutions. Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office.
Please visit the Food, Culture, and Sustainability in Siena program page to see how the food and wine courses count toward the Environmental Studies major and the Food studies minor at University of Oregon, and the Politics in Italy program page to see how the politics courses count toward the Political Science major.
Fall 2025 Required Courses:
Winter 2026 Required Courses:
Spring 2026 Required Courses:
Courses are taught by Italian faculty who have experience teaching US students, including supplementary language tutoring offered by the site director. In addition, visiting US faculty may teach up to two courses. You will attend classes with other US students, and as part of the Cross-Cultural Communications/Cross-Cultural Perspectives course, you will meet with Italian students from the Università di Siena at the Language Lab.
Students should pay special attention to the Italian language level offered by term, as the courses are offered in sequence (i.e., Fall 101, Spring 103). However, Italian 101 is also offered each term to provide students without Italian language experience the opportunity to start learning as well.
Optional Service Learning Placement:
The service learning experiences are not offered for credit, but are an optional extracurricular activity of the Cross-Cultural Communications/Cross-Cultural Perspectives course.
An optional service learning placement is an exciting opportunity for students studying in Siena to become more immersed into Italian culture and give back to the local community. As part of the Cross-Cultural Perspectives course, you will design a project in partnership with your organization host, conducting a needs and skills assessment. Over the course of the term, you will continue to develop your project while reflecting on your involvement and the cross-cultural context in which you are participating. At the conclusion of the program, you will present a portfolio of reflection papers, resumé, and project analysis.
If you opt for the service learning placement, you will be making both a personal and a professional commitment. A service learning placement requires flexibility and commitment to the schedule and entailed responsibilities. Because of the time commitment required, you may sometimes have to forgo a program activity or excursion in order to fulfill your responsibilities to the organization. Placements vary by term. In the past students have volunteered at local pre-school and elementary schools, retirement homes, ceramic arts programs for community members with disabilities, and rescue and social services.
