Summer: Rutgers- Global Journalism in Italy
The Program
Practice working as a foreign correspondent or travel writer in Italy!
You’ll have an opportunity to write stories about cultural, historic and political issues while exploring a sophisticated university city known for its gorgeous medieval architecture, extraordinary food, music, film festivals, street art and beautiful environs.
Program Location
Italy
Bologna
Home to the oldest university in the western hemisphere, elegant Bologna is known in Italian as “la dotta” (referring “knowledge”), “la grassa,” for its extraordinary food, and “la rossa,” for its leftist politics. This gorgeous university city is magnificently located in one of Italy’s most exciting regions, with Florence, Venice, Rome, Milan, the Apennine mountains, Italian lakes and the Adriatic coast all a short train or bus ride away
The surrounding Emilia Romagna region is also well worth exploring: it’s home to some of Italy’s top food destinations and restaurants; to the luxury car empires of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati; and to the sophisticated Renaissance cities of Ferrara and Ravenna, known for their palaces, artistic heritage and bike-friendly medieval roads.
Italy
Ravenna
The Travel Writing course will take a day trip to Ravenna, to see the city’s famous mosaics, visit Dante’s tomb, enjoy a typical meal and report and write about the city. This excursion is included in your course fee.
Italy
Parma
The travel writing course will visit Parma, to explore the city’s internationally famous food culture. This is the home of Parma ham and Parmesan cheese, and a center of both pasta making and basalmic vinegar production. The trip, meals and excursion costs are included in your course fee.
Academics
Benvenuti! Get ready for a two-week adventure in one of the world’s greatest cities, where you’ll have a chance to practice working as a travel writer.
Earn 3 credits towards the Journalism and Media Studies major and the department’s Global Media Specialization. This short-term, intensive course helps budding writers understand the process of gathering research on the road and turning their travel journals, memories and photos into crafted works suitable for publication. You will end the class having written a high-quality travel article, with ideas for many more!
Working with University of Bologna students in interpretation and translation, you’ll be organized into teams, and will have an opportunity to write and shoot stories of your choice under the guidance of Rutgers Journalism and Media Studies Prof. Regina Marchi and Italy-based faculty and staff.
Classes will meet Monday through Thursday, around two modules: basic “survival” Italian for one hour per day, and daily travel writing classes. You will read and analyze examples of successful travel writing and engage in exercises designed to inspire passionate, original writing about your favorite sites and experiences in Bologna. Class sessions involves writing exercises to encourage creativity in storytelling.
After the customary long Italian lunch break, you’ll put your morning studies into action: you’ll go out reporting in teams each afternoon, accompanied by your interpreters, and sometimes, by your professor or assignment organizers, who will rotate among the various teams.
The course fee includes accommodations, all instruction, travel health insurance, several lunches and dinners, and a range of cultural excursions to museums, concerts and vineyards. It also includes a day trip to a nearby gorgeous Byzantine city. This two-week course also includes a free weekend for traveling on your own to nearby cities in Italy, such as Venice, Florence, Parma or wherever else you may want to visit. (Weekend travel must remain inside of Italy.)
Arrival weekend will be devoted to orientation and local excursions within Bologna. Your second weekend – Friday and Saturday – will be free for traveling within Italy. For more pictures and videos of the JMS Bologna experience, please see Rutgers_Global_ Journalism Instagram and scroll down for photos of last year’s class. (If you scroll down even further, you will also see photos of last spring’s JMS short term study abroad course in Ireland, too. The Ireland course will be offered in Spring 2023 and you may want to take both courses!)
Course information:
Travel Writing (3 credits) 04:567:451
See some sample student publications:
Our Happiest Hour (Aperitivo Hour in Bologna)
Bologna: Where gay (and other open-hearted) travelers are welcome:
Does Street Art Belong in a Museum?
The Multimedia World of Giovanni Pelagalli (video story)
See a past Travel Writing course syllabus.
For more information, please contact Dr. Regina Marchi at: rmarchi@rutgers.edu
Housing and Meals
Students will live in a centrally located residence hall in the city center. The program covers group welcome and farewell dinners, and a number of local cultural activities and excursions. The rest of meals are on your own.
Financial Information
Program Costs
| NJ Resident | non-NJ Resident | |
|---|---|---|
| Undergrad | $3,420 | $3,730 |
| JMS Undergrad | $2,920 | $3,230 |
| Grad | $3,610 | $3,910 |
| JMS Grad | $3,110 | $3,410 |
Program Cost includes:
• Tuition
• Housing
• Excursions
• Administrative Fees
• Emergency Medical Access Abroad
Out-of-Pocket Costs
| Airfare | $1,100 |
| Meals | $400 |
| Personal Expenses | $200 |
| Total | $1,700.00 |
Out-of-Pocket Cost includes:
The above costs are estimations and represent the known out-of-pocket costs students encounter during their time abroad.
Some of these expenses will be paid for prior to going abroad, such as an airline ticket, while some of these expenses, such as meals and personal expenses, will be paid in-country as part of your daily expenses. As you plan, you will need to budget these costs and spend wisely throughout your time abroad.
Scholarships
Faculty Leaders
Regina Marchi is Associate Professor in Rutgers' Department of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS), where she teaches and conducts research about media, culture and politics. An award-winning author and researcher, she studies communication processes of populations historically marginalized from formal politics and/or media because of their race, ethnicity, immigration status, social class, gender or age. She also studies how media can advance or hinder possibilities for democratic participation. Dr. Marchi is the co-liaison of the Global Media Specialization in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies and one of the founders of the JMS short-term study abroad initiative.