Make your freshman year extraordinary. GO GLOBAL!
The FFE is a program designed for highly motivated first-year students who wish to pursue foundation course work in a study abroad environment. Students pursue coursework in writing, introduction to philosophy, and other content areas similar to those found in Poughkeepsie. Students are also required to study Italian language (no previous language skills are necessary to join the program). Students will have access to the vast resources of Florentine life: museums, festivals, music, opera, and an unrivaled architectural history. Excursions, workshops, and events have been designed for Marist freshmen to build a sense of community, encourage cultural immersion, and foster travel opportunities to other parts of Italy and beyond. Students live in apartment-style housing in the heart of the city along with resident directors.
Florence is one of the most enriching study environments in the world. For centuries, students have traveled to Florence to discover its history and traditions in art and philosophy. Modern Italian culture, high fashion, extraordinary cuisine, and creative arts have provided a stimulating environment for Marist undergraduates for over twenty years.
Students will take 12-16 credits each semester. The FFE is a study abroad program, so all Marist tuition and pricing remains in effect for the duration of the academic year. All financial aid and fellowships are also available while in Florence. No meals plans are available, but residential life staff will assist students with learning to adjust to their new lifestyle. Students enrolled in this program are also granted a $1,000 airfare voucher, a range of excursions and activities, and a comprehensive orientation to that will make their stay more comfortable.
About the Program
Want to participate?
Email the staff at ldmitaly@marist.edu or call (845) 575 3330 today! A staff member will contact you right away for an interview.
About Marist-LdM Programs
The Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici (LdM) opened in 1973 as one of the first centers in Florence to specialize in teaching Italian as a foreign language. Later the school branched out into studio art courses, and has now become Italy's leading study abroad institution, with centers in Florence, Tuscania, Venice, and Rome. Marist College partnered with LdM to create four-year degree programming in the fine arts to complement its highly successful study-abroad offerings. Freshmen have been studying at the Marist College branch campus in Florence for several years now.
At the branch campus, approximately 150 dedicated and qualified professors from Italy and the rest of the world teach over 400 different courses in arts, humanities, social sciences, business, economics, political science, mathematics, studio and performing arts, and Italian language. Classroom-based liberal arts courses supplement traditional teaching methods by using the unrivaled opportunities that Florence offers. Professors lead students in investigating the history and cultural heritage of Italy in galleries, palaces, gardens, churches and museums.
About Florence, Italy and the branch campus
Located in the heart of Tuscany, Florence is the ideal destination for those interested in studying art, Italian language and culture, and history. The city, with its world-famous artistic heritage, offers the student a wide spectrum of cultural events throughout the year. The city is also known for its exceptional cuisine, characteristic restaurants, ice-cream parlors, wine bars, elegant shops, artistic workshops and traditional markets. As an economic and tourist hub, the city of Florence also offers its inhabitants the chance to explore the contemporary Italian world in a uniquely historic context. In addition, Florence is an excellent location for access to other sites and cities in Tuscany, Italy and Europe.
LdM in Florence is located in ten campus buildings (totaling 4800 square metres) mainly in the lively San Lorenzo district of the historic city center. The main building, situated on Via Faenza, dates back to the 13th century and originated as a convent connected to a medieval church, San Jacopo in Campo Corbolini. This now-deconsecrated church was founded in 1206, and for its first hundred years belonged to the Knights Templar. Rich in medieval frescoes and sculpture, the church has recently been restored to its original splendor, and serves as the setting for LdM conferences and receptions. Students and professors from LdM's restoration department were fully involved in the restoration of the church interior.
Academics
The Marist branch campus has an international faculty, including practicing artists, professional photographers, business professionals, designers, theorists, and more. Art restoration faculty have worked on major artworks and buildings across the globe and in Florence, including the Duomo and Medici Chapels. Fashion faculty have designed for major labels. Freshman students also take college writing with a full-time Marist visiting professor from the Poughkeepsie campus. Freshmen in this program have ample access to full-time faculty and enjoy a smaller faculty-to-student ratio at the Florence campus. Students can choose from a large array of elective courses to complement their foundation programming, and many courses draw strengths from the characteristic Florence "city as classroom" environment.
Sample Elective/Core Courses:
Student Life
Residing in Florence, students have the opportunity to experience the current Italian way of living in a Renaissance ambience. Marist-LdM offers freshmen a unique apartment-style living arrangement in the city center. Two resident directors are assigned to live in the freshman residence and maintain an active schedule of workshops, activities, and student life sessions for FFE participants. The freshman residence is a five-minute walk from the branch campus' academic buildings in the San Lorenzo district of Florence. All apartments are fully furnished. Each facility is composed of a kitchen equipped with utensils, one or two bathrooms with shower (depending on the number of students), bedrooms with two twin-beds, a desk and a wardrobe, and a common area.
Marist College and LdM are committed to encouraging all students to develop their intellectual, spiritual, cultural, social, vocational and physical capabilities. The clubs coordinator, in collaboration with the academic advisors and the dean of students, coordinates and promotes leadership and community development opportunities, and participation in a wide range of student clubs and societies, including the Dance Club, the Writing Club, the Cinema Club, the Photography Club, the Drama Club, the Athletics Club, the Volunteer Club, and the Slow Drink Club. Together with organized weekend tours of the Italian regions and other occasional events such as lectures and conferences, these activities are an integral and vital part of the educational life of the branch campus, advancing academic and personal development.
Tuition and Financial Aid
This program is a freshman study-abroad program. Therefore the rate of tuition and all fees associated with this program will be the same as if student had attended their first year in Poughkeepsie. Students enrolled in this program will be eligible to receive all forms of Marist financial aid that have been offered. No meal plans are available but the approximate cost of meals will be comparable to what would have been spent on a meal plan in Poughkeepsie. To offset the cost of airfare, the College will be granting a $1,000.00 travel voucher to freshman students towards their airfare expenses.
Admission Guidelines - How do I join?
Interested students should send an interest email/inquiry to the Marist-LdM Programs office at ldmitaly@marist.edu. You may also call the office. Staff members will follow up with a telephone interview. Student qualifications will be examined by the Marist-LdM Program staff, including your Marist applications materials. Certain eligibility requirements must be met. Students in certain programs and majors may find it difficult to spend a semester or year abroad, even in the freshman year. Please see our eligibility requirments and contact the Marist-LdM staff if you have questions about whether the FFE program is right for you by calling (845) 575 3330.
Eligibility Requirements
Students must demonstrate academic excellence in their high school transcripts, maturity, and leadership skills. Most majors work well with the FFE program, but certain highly specialized programs, such as computer science, lab and biomedical sciences, special education, athletic training, information systems and technology, and others with a high number of courses offered only in Poughkeepsie will find it challenging to spend a semester or a year abroad. In general, most liberal arts, communication, business, and fine arts majors will match very well with the FFE program and promote new opportunities in those majors. Students must demonstrate a willingness to learn a foreign language. A background in another romance language or Italian is NOT required, however. Certain athletes and special program participants may also not be able to find the same services in Florence. Please contact the staff with specific questions.
Admission Deadline - Due to limited availability, students who have been invited to participate in the FFE program are required to commit to the program by the date listed below.
The 2010-2011 Deadline for invited students to accept is: July 1, 2010.
Marist-LdM - Poughkeepsie,
New York, USA
3399 North Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone: +1-845-575-3330
Marist-LdM -
Florence, Italy
Via del Giglio 6 50123 Firenze Italia Phone: +39-055-289200
Email:
Marist LdM Program
