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Santa Reparata International School of Art

About

Santa Reparata International School of Art (SRISA) is an art, liberal arts, and design school in Florence, Italy. For students looking to study abroad in Florence, SRISA provides a rewarding studio art, photography, printmaking, fashion design, liberal art, and internship program.

SRISA offers an accredited semester, summer, and year-long study abroad program. The curriculum is enhanced by field trips throughout Italy, art and culture seminars, student show and activities.

Our students become a part of a community, and are able to engage their professors in and out of the classroom. The city of Florence is our campus, and we take learning out of the classroom so that students participate in art exhibits, fashion trade fairs, museum visits, culinary tastings and more.

Website
srisa.org
Founded
1970

Reviews

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Hristina
9/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Unforgettable Semester

I spent the spring semester of my Junior year at SRISA. I studied cinema and photography at my home institution so I really enjoyed the photography class, but all the classes were interesting and the professors are even better! The school is very small so there is a chance to get to know almost everyone. Florence is an amazing city to get to live and learn in (though it got a bit colder in the winter than I expected!) Many classes brought us around the city and the school also had lots of great optional trips around Italy.
I couldn't recommend this school highly enough!

What would you improve about this program?
Maybe having a few more options for classes.
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Ann
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Great experience

It was wonderful. I was able to learn and study all while exploring he great city of Florence. The school was wonderful. The professors were amazing, knowedgable, helpful, and friendly. The housing was great. We had various apartments throughout Florence that were spacious and nice. The school was informative about safety and gave tips for exploring the city. As well as having a few optional trips planned for students to attend.

What would you improve about this program?
I thought it was great.
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Allison
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Best study abroad program in Italy!

I attended SRISA for the Spring 2017 semester. It was an absolutely unforgettable experience. The classes were intriguing and the professors were even better. The SRISA facilities are extremely nice and I thoroughly enjoyed developing photos in the photography lab. The school offers a lot more other than just classes. There are excursions, speaker series, and so much more that the school offers to make sure you feel comfortable and acclimated to life in Italy. I recommend SRISA to anyone wanting to study abroad in the beautiful city of Florence.

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Olivia
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

My Swim Surrounded by Mountains

One of my favorite experiences while abroad, and in my entire life, was my trip to Cinque Terre, specifically Monterosso. It was like walking in a dream, even to this day the whole experience feels like a dream, but it was most definitely reality. In Monterosso, we were dropped off by a ferry and went straight for the beach. The town had beautifully colored houses that were compactly arranged up the mountains of Cinque Terre. What we didn't know was how "out of this world gorgeous" it was going to be. We went in the salty Ligurian Sea, which was vast and surrounded by over grown, green mountains. The water was a perfect temperature for the warm day and once you walked a few feet in there was a deep drop off you could swim freely in. What an experience, it filled my heart with unimaginable joy.

What would you improve about this program?
I would have liked there to have been more help with the visa process and also a more social experience with the local Florentine people.
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Mari
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Incredible Experience

The staff is extremely caring and supportive through whatever you need. The teachers expect a lot from you, challenge you, but are also understanding and caring. Preplanned field trips are well worth the money and an incredible experience. I started in the fall and loved it so much I stayed for the spring semester.

Programs

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Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Mikayla Lofton

Mikayla Lofton is a junior studying Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota, Mikayla loves yoga, visiting museums, learning new things, and experiencing new cultures.
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Why did you decide to study abroad with SRISA?

I decided to study abroad with SRISA because I wanted a study abroad program that fit with my major and my time constraints. As an Art History major, I knew that studying abroad in Italy would provide me with a wide variety of opportunities to see art from the Italian Renaissance right before my eyes.

During the academic school year, I have a job on campus that made it difficult for me to study abroad for a full semester. While this seemed like a disadvantage at first, I soon realized that it was actually an advantage. SRISA provided me with the perfect opportunity to study abroad for eight weeks -- during the summer!

Over the course of my eight weeks in Florence, Italy, I was able to take four different courses with four dedicated and caring professors. In the end, my decision to study abroad with SRISA was one of the best decisions of my life.

Did you run into a language barrier? Did you ever think you knew more/less of the language?

I definitely ran into a language barrier in Florence. Coming to Italy, I only knew about three words in Italian. Going to school was not a problem because all of my classes were taught in English. When I went out into the city though, I was faced with the challenge of communicating with Italians around me.

I found out right away that the zones of the city that drew in the most tourists contained a high volume of English-speaking individuals. When I ventured into areas that contained fewer tourists, I was faced with the challenge of interacting with individuals who did not speak English either at all or very well.

This did not inhibit my experience though. I focused on being polite and cordial in Italian to the best of my ability and became a professional at telling people that I was a student studying abroad in Italy.

Tell us about an experience you had that you could not have had at home:

Fridays at SRSIA meant two things -- no class and field trips. One particular Friday we went on an excursion to Castello Di Verrazzano, a vineyard in Chianti. This experience was totally unique and something that I would never have had at home.

Upon arriving at the vineyard, we were welcomed by our lovely tour guides who walked us around the grounds and explained to us the process of making wine. Afterwards, to make the day truly incredible, we were given a delicious meal and wine tasting in which we were able to try many of the wines we were told about during our tour.

The day was filled with intriguing information, incredible wine, fine dining, and an overall sense of relaxation that can only come from spending a day in Chianti!

What made this study abroad experience unique and special?

My study abroad experience was unique and special for several reasons. I’d like to highlight two -- first, the class sizes at SRISA were small and intimate. This allowed me to truly interact with my professors in class. I had never been in a class of three people until coming to SRISA and could not speak more highly of it after the fact. I received valuable feedback and knowledge from these small class sizes.

Secondly, I entered this study abroad adventure not knowing anyone else who would be attending SRISA. While this was daunting at first, I made sure I had confidence and put myself out there in order to make new connections.

While your friends back home will be waiting for you when you get home, it is hard to stay in touch when you are abroad. I made wonderful friends at SRISA including students from my own university. I'm so glad I wasn't attached to social media, but rather, chose to interact with the new individuals around me -- definitely no regrets!

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Lorenzo Pubblici

Job Title
Liberal Arts Professor
Dr. Lorenzo Pubblici is a Liberal Arts Professor at SRISA. His specialization is in the Middle Ages and in particular on the relationship between Western Europe and the Slavic world during the 13th and 14th centuries. Dr. Pubblici is also an author, having published various books, essays, and articles, and written book reviews on an Italian and international level.
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What position do you hold at SRISA? What has been your career path so far?

Currently I'm a professor of Italian History. I received my Doctorate in Medieval History in 2005. During my Doctorate studies I lived in Moscow, Russia, where I received a scholarship at State University "Lomonosov". Then I came back to Italy in 2004. I became Professor of Eastern European History at University of Florence, then at Sarah Lawrence College, since 2005. I joined the SRISA faculty team in 2006.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

Teaching in both the Italian and the American system has shaped me tremendously. SRISA provides a wonderful, familiar environment where everybody cares about the students and their personal and academic growth.

I have learned to listen to the students and do my best to understand them and their needs. I have learned to put the human growth of the student before everything else, and that's why I love this job, in this school.

Which study abroad destination is most underrated? Conversely, which is most overrated?

I think that Italy is, paradoxically, a very underrated destination. Most students today spend a summer here thinking that it can be enough for their CV. The issue is that Italy is a very complex country that should be seriously studied and lived during the less touristy season.

The social networks have threatened the effectiveness of the so called "cultural shock", so that when a student spends a summer or 4-5 weeks here, unfortunately he/she does not live Italy and thus cannot understand the complexity of Italian society and Italian culture. The ideal time to live a full experience abroad is a semester, especially the fall semester, when you can actually enjoy the city, its social dynamics, its museums and interact with the locals.

Why is language learning and cultural immersion important to you?

A foreign language broadens your mind, makes you see things under a different perspective and gives you the tools for maturing as a person, which is the goal that every educational system should have. Learning a foreign language opens you up to other people and places you in a mindset of understanding other cultures. It makes you a better individual and thus contributes in building better societies.

What language have you always wanted to learn and why?

Russian and German. Both because of the terrific literary tradition of these countries. I’ve made it halfway: I speak Russian fluently, but I don't speak any German. One day, maybe, I will fully accomplish this "mission"; I won't give up.

What unique qualities does your company possess?

Many. SRISA is much more than a school. SRISA is a family that cares about you. All the students who come here to study appreciate our environment and the people who work in it. The staff is always available, nice, helpful and friendly.

The faculty is young, but experienced, made up of scholars who continue studying and improving day by day to offer the best education affordable to everyone.

SRISA is an enriching community where students are explore their new environment and push themselves academically and personally, yet feel at home. At the end of the semester, none of the students ever want to leave.

What changes would you make to the study abroad industry?

Education in general and study abroad in particular are too focused on the monetization aspect today. Education is not a commodity, you cannot buy it. Education is a social elevator, it makes you a different person. Good education builds good civil consortiums and makes the world a better place to live.

How can we hope to improve our societies, to correct the things we don't like around us if we don't make good education accessible for everybody? How can we complain about the social dynamics of our times, about the "social disorder" if we keep good education as a luxury product? One of the philosophies of SRISA is exactly this: fight with all our means against this mentality and to offer the best international education we can to everyone.

Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of the SRISA team.

Every time I see a colleague speaking with a student out of his office hours; every time the emergency phone rings in the middle of the night and the person in charge of it does not complain and hurries to fix the problem; every time I look around me and think of how the school has grown from being an art school to offering world-class courses in Liberal Arts and Design, with such a dedicated staff, faculty, and administration - I'm really proud of being a part of this group.

What does your home-country's culture value that is taught in your program?

The culture of beauty in the differences. Italy is a very old country and a very young nation; our culture is a mix of influences from everywhere and you can see it clearly in the amount of art, monuments, archaeological sites we have here. Italy can change you. Just open yourself up to it.

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