Liberal Arts & Sciences

SRISA’s Liberal Arts & Sciences Department offers courses in subjects including politics, history, psychology, sociology, and contemporary Italian culture. Experienced faculty teach small classes in English, connecting classroom study to Florence and the broader Italian context.

SRISA offers a rigorous liberal arts program with a rich curriculum in varied subjects, including politics, history, and contemporary Italian culture. Students studying these subjects will experience various aspects of Italian society while living in Florence.

Facilities

Liberal Arts & Sciences courses are taught in classrooms equipped for lectures, presentations, and discussion. Many courses also use Florence as a site for study, taking students into museums, historic sites, neighborhoods, and other locations connected directly to their coursework.

Instruction and structure

SRISA liberal arts courses are 3 credits totaling 45 contact hours, combining in-class lectures and on-site lessons. Courses are taught in English except for Italian language courses. All courses require reading, writing, and research. We encourage students to actively participate in class and provide them with opportunities to engage with content through group projects, presentations and written assignments, taking students out into the city to explore and research directly in the field. 

On-site Learning

On-site learning allows students to connect the theoretical work of their courses with the places and subjects they study. In Florence, museums, monuments, neighborhoods, and historic sites can become part of the classroom.

Faculty may also organize course-related field trips to destinations throughout Italy, including Siena, Rome, Naples, Venice, Verona, Rovereto, Lucca, and Bologna. These visits are tied to specific course material and give students the opportunity to study subjects directly in their historical and cultural contexts.

Every two years, art and art history students may also have the opportunity to attend the famous Venice Biennale, one of the most important events in the art world.