Gap Semester/Year brochure

Gap Semester / Year

John Cabot University, Rome, Italy

Photo by Lauren Neumann

About SAI Since 1995, SAI has provided students with exceptional cultural and educational experiences abroad, offering the opportunity to enroll in some of the finest schools available to English speaking students in Europe. By encouraging students to explore the complex intersections between self, community, and creativity, SAI aims to provide an inspiring and transformative experience for all participants. All of SAI’s services, in the U.S. and overseas, are geared toward ensuring student safety and maximizing the student experience; both in terms of providing a framework for academic inquiry, and offering each student opportunities for personal growth and development.

We pride ourselves on our guiding principles: • Personal attention We build relationships with our students throughout the study abroad experience.

• Community emphasis Our programs are designed with the community in mind.

• Immersive experience Our volunteering, internships, homestays, and unique activities help students immerse themselves in their host culture.

• Safety and support We provide support in all areas of the student experience, offer on-demand emergency assistance, and the comfort of knowing that experienced staff are always on hand.

About Rome It has been said that more than a lifetime is needed to experience all that the capital city of Rome has to offer. It is a city layered with art and antiquities encompassing 2,500 years of history – from the Coliseum, the Imperial Forum and the Roman Pantheon, to Vatican City, with the Sistine Chapel and Vatican museums. Regarded as a birthplace of Western civilization, Rome is a major tourist destination, although it maintains an authentic and traditional atmosphere in the peace of its small streets and the splendor of its piazzas bursting with life.

Why Complete a Gap Semester?

Our world is becoming smaller and we are more interconnected than ever.

Students must be prepared to face this reality as they enter college and the professional world. By experiencing the world in a broader global perspective through study abroad, gap students are able to build critical thinking and problem-solving skills that they will bring to their future studies and communities, and eventually to the workplace. Students who study abroad in a gap program gain confidence and thus enhance their competitiveness for their next steps in life. Often on their own for the first time, students develop organizational, leadership and interpersonal skills, along with a sense of responsibility. Meeting new people, breaking out of their comfort zones, solving new and different problems – this allows students to function in complex situations with multiple perspectives and to become more culturally sensitive. They better understand their place in a global society and are able to successfully face the issues of today.

SAI Gap Semester Program in Rome, Italy SAI and John Cabot University (JCU) are pleased to offer high school graduates from all backgrounds the possibility to enroll in college-level coursework while nurturing their knowledge and talents in a safe and supportive environment. The SAI Gap Semester at JCU is ideal for students who are interested in a preliminary exploration of undergraduate studies, or those who are deferring four-year enrollment at a university.

Academic Overview JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

Since 1972, John Cabot University (JCU) has offered students from around the world the opportunity to pursue an exceptional academic and cultural education in the heart of one of the most inspiring cities in the world. JCU is accredited in the U.S. by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and offers a liberal arts curriculum taught entirely in English. The school draws professors from around the world who are committed to a multicultural environment, and to imparting a global understanding.

Students studying abroad at JCU are integrated into the diverse and international degree-seeking student body. JCU is located in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, which is one of the city’s oldest and most lively areas, abundant with art and excellent outdoor restaurants enjoyed by both Romans and visitors. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Accademia dei Lincei, the National Science Academy where Galileo was a member. This historic building takes full advantage of Rome’s mild climate, opening onto patios, terraces and a spacious courtyard where students regularly congregate to study and socialize. JCU’s Tiber building, located on the banks of Rome’s famous Tiber river, is a spacious, state-of-theart building with smart classrooms, a student lounge and offices such as Student Services and Counseling.

SAI GAP SEMESTER PROGRAM Students enrolled in the SAI Gap Semester at JCU have access to university-level learning paired with unique exposure to the local community and culture. These students enroll in one Italian language course, one elective course with a focus on developing global awareness, and additional elective courses for a total of 12 - 15 US credits (12 recommended). We are happy to provide a list of suggested courses that will help to prepare students for their degree-seeking college coursework.

Students benefit from program services geared toward gap students, including the Global Leadership Exploration Program, in which students complete community service, gain exposure to a range of career fields, and receive personalized guidance and mentoring from SAI staff on leadership, cultural competency, and value setting.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP EXPLORATION PROGRAM The Global Leadership Exploration Program (Explore Program) is designed to enrich students’ experiences abroad and to provide additional support and structured exploration of global themes to students completing a gap semester program.

Students enrolled in the Explore Program broaden their awareness of global issues and explore various career fields and themes, through research, engagement in community service, and interaction with experts and leaders.

Students enrolled in the program must: • Enroll in one (or more) global awareness course; • Engage in community service during the semester for a minimum of 15 hours; • Participate in four exploration activities, in which students join local leaders in various career fields in discussions about their field in a global context as well as their career path; • Maintain a journal of activities, observations and reflections on how their study abroad experiences may inform their understanding of global issues; • Meet with their SAI mentor to discuss leadership and career exploration topics; • Submit a 350-word career exploration paper that delves into a career field of interest and its evolution in a globalized world, and identifies one or two leaders in the field who are engaged in globally aware action.

Upon successful completion of the program, students receive a reference letter that confirms completion of the certificate and related activities, along with a certificate suitable for framing.

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SAI Housing Learning to live in a new environment is an important part of the study abroad experience. SAI recognizes the importance of safe and comfortable living spaces that help students make new friends and build community. Therefore, Gap Semester students are housed in SAI Rome student apartments that are located in buildings and areas shared by local residents. This grants students exposure to everyday life in Rome, and offers opportunities to establish relationships with other locals in the building and area.

What’s Included This is an SAI Signature Services Program; it includes our full services to ensure that students are well supported throughout their experience.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Program tuition and U.S. academic credit Accommodation in carefully selected student housing Airport pickup and transportation on arrival day Welcome reception and events SAI orientation to the host city and school SAI staff on-site dedicated to providing personal assistance Student health insurance providing full coverage and medical emergency evacuation Access to and assistance with international cell phone plans SAI weekend excursion Frequent SAI cultural activities and day trips 24-hour on-site emergency support Global Leadership Exploration Program with certificate and letter of recommendation 24-hour on-site emergency support 20 meals at Tiber Cafe Farewell event with all students

Pre-departure and Re-entry services • • • • • • • • •

US-based admissions counselor assigned to you, providing friendly assistance Helpful pre-departure tools and resources Online student groups to acquaint you with other SAI students Assistance with student visa application Assistance with financial aid processing Need-based SAI scholarships Paid registration fees for national re-entry conferences SAI Ambassador Program for SAI alumni, with paid internship opportunities SAI alumni network

Student apartments are convenient and well equipped, with shared occupancy bedrooms (option to upgrade to private bedroom, if available). Typical residences house 2 - 8 students and contain a combination of private and shared bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and living areas. Furnishings, a washing machine, basic kitchen supplies, bed linens and towels are provided. All apartments are equipped with wireless Internet. Housing assignments are single gender; other housing configurations may be available under limited circumstances. SAI on-site staff is available to respond to any maintenance needs that may arise.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS • • • •

Age: 18+ Academic Year: High school graduate High School GPA: 3.0 English Language: Non-native English language speakers must submit TOEFL with a score of 85+ or IELTS with a score of 6.5+

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS • • • • • • •

Complete online application Personal statement (300-500 words) Official high school transcript Academic letter of recommendation Passport scan (photo page) Italian privacy consent form Supplemental JCU privacy consent form

Please see our website for cost and date details: www.saiprograms.com/jcu After all application materials are submitted, students complete a phone interview and consultation with their admissions counselor. This call is meant to help admissions counselors get to know students and their interests, as well as for students to ask questions about the program and get assistance with determining what courses might be best suited for them.

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Sample of Courses Following is a sampling of courses available to SAI Gap Semester Students. For a full list of the 100+ courses please see the SAI website.

Ethics What is right and wrong, good and bad? Where do ethical ideas and standards come from? How do we make ethical decisions? And why should we be ethical at all? This course introduces students to ethical thinking by studying both concrete issues and more abstract moral theories. Students will explore theoretical ideas like “virtue”, “duty”, and “utility” and philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, Singer, and Nussbaum. These will be considered in relation to concrete issues such as abortion, charity, climate change, free speech, and genetics.

Legal Environment of Business This course provides the student with an overview of the law in general, beginning with the foundations of the legal and regulatory environment, the law making processes, and the implementation of the legal rules. Students examine some areas of substantive law, including bodies of law that are regulatory in nature. Particular attention is given to aspects of business transactions in an international context.

Microeconomics

Business Communications This course considers management problems of founders, owners, managers, and investors in small business. Acquisitions, location, organization control, labor relations, finances, taxation, and other topics of interest to entrepreneurial business management will be analyzed.

Made in Italy: The Italian Business Environment The course analyzes the Italian Business environment, the characteristics of its culture and its inner workings. Students will be able to understand the different types of Italian corporate cultures and the role of family businesses in Italy. The course allows students to assess some of the most popular Italian brands and learn why “made in Italy” is a leading brand in the world, despite recent influences and threats from foreign investors. Company cases and special guests will be an important part of this course and will allow students to relate theory to practice.

Public Speaking: Oral Rhetoric and Persuasion This course provides students with an introduction to the fundamentals of rhetoric and how they are applied in oral communication. In addition, Students should begin to acquire basic skills in critical reasoning, including how to structure a thesis statement, support it through a specific line of reasoning, and organize their support effectively and efficiently.

Intercultural Communications An exploration of some of the historical and political conditions that make intercultural communication possible, the barriers that exist to effective intercultural communication, and possible solutions to the problem of intercultural misunderstanding. The course examines examples of differences in communication styles not only between cultures but also within. As a result, issues of race, nation, class, gender, religion, immigration, and sexual orientation will be of significant concern. The course stresses the notion that knowledge of human beings is always knowledge produced from a particular location and for a particular purpose. As a result it encourages students to think carefully about the discipline of Intercultural Communication, its conditions of possibility, its assumptions, and its blind spots, as well the need to be mindful of the limitations and interests of our positioning as investigating subjects.

Managerial Accounting This course focuses on the role of accounting in the management process and where accounting can provide critical support to management decision making.

Cost-volume relations are introduced, along with identification of costs relevant to management decisions. Process costing and job costing systems are covered. The development of a master plan, preparation of flexible budgets, and responsibility accounting are covered, and the influences of quantitative techniques on managerial accounting are introduced.

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This course introduces the students to the basic principles of microeconomics and the study of the behavior of individual agents, such as consumers and producers.

The first part of the course reviews the determinants of demand and supply, the characteristics of market equilibrium, the concept of social welfare, and the consequences of price controls, taxation, and externalities on social welfare.

The second part of the course deals with market theory, with a review of cost concepts and market structures: competition, monopoly, oligopoly and imperfect competition.

Macroeconomics An introduction to the basic principles of the macroeconomy such as: national income accounting, determination of national income, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy, macroeconomics in the open economy, and economic growth.

Financial Accounting Introduction to basic accounting methods and concepts; preparation of principal financial statements; application of accounting principles to the main asset, liability, and owners’ equity accounts.

Writing Across the Media The course introduces students to the various kinds of writing they will encounter in the media professions and in digital multimedia production, and prepares them for more advanced media courses in the Communications and Media Studies program. Students will also be introduced to basic legal and ethical issues, such as libel, copyright, privacy. Activities include writing for online media, press releases, strategic campaigns, and short scripts for visual and audio media as well as exercises to pitch their ideas. They will also explore issues concerning style, communicability, and effective storytelling.

Microcomputer Applications An introductory course covering the most commonly used microcomputer applications, including the DOS operating system, Windows, word processing, and spread sheets.

World Art III: Visual Culture of the Early Modern World This survey course focuses on the art and architecture of Europe, South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the Americas from the late 1200s to c. AD 1750.

The course investigates a range of media including painting, woodcuts, sculpture, and architecture, while considering materials and methods of production. Special attention will be given to the socio-economic and political contexts in which these artifacts were commissioned and produced. The course will also assist students in cultivating basic art-historical skills, in particular description, stylistic analysis, and iconographic and iconological analysis

Introduction to Italian Renaissance Art A survey course covering the innovations of the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance (14th into the 16th Century). The works of Brunelleschi, Alberti, Donatello, Ghiberti, Masaccio, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pollaiuolo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bramante and Raphael and others will be studied.

Ancient Rome and Its Monuments

Introduction to Graphic Design It provides an introduction to visual communication and problem solving, and complements other courses including business, management, marketing and communications. This course offers practical and useful advice on how to work with graphics in reports, presentations, newsletters, and proposals in sophisticated, professional, and interesting ways. It demonstrates how to create PowerPoint slides that support and enhance rather than weaken a presentation. It presents an overview of how graphic design firms further business objectives and create effective management communications.

Drawing: Rome Sketchbook

This on-site course considers the art and architecture of ancient Rome through visits to museums and archaeological sites. The course covers the visual culture and architecture of Rome beginning with the late Bronze Age and ending with the time of Constantine. A broad variety of issues are raised, including patronage, style and iconography, artistic and architectural techniques, Roman religion, business and entertainment. On site activity fee may apply.

Video Art In the digital era, independent, experimental, self-produced video art has become a widespread, even dominant, phenomenon that is visible in art galleries, museums, and other venues throughout the world. This course in video and video art will greatly increase students’ awareness of the possibilities offered by new inexpensive technologies not only to create simple clips to post on various social network sites, but also to make true, creative, artistic works. The course includes in-depth study of the basic aspects of both video shooting and subsequent elaboration at the computer using software such as Final Cut.

This course makes use of the unparalleled resource that is the city of Rome itself; each class meets at a different site around the city. Students work in sketchbook form, creating over the course of the term a diary of visual encounters. Instruction, apart from brief discussions of the sites themselves, focuses on efficient visual notetaking: the quick description of form, awareness of light, and the development of volume in space.

Introductory Italian This course is designed to give students basic communicative ability in Italian. By presenting the language in a variety of authentic contexts, the course also seeks to provide an introduction to Italian culture and society. Students work on all four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing.

Intensive Italian I This course is designed to give students basic communicative ability in Italian. By presenting the language in a variety of authentic contexts, the course also seeks to provide an introduction to Italian culture and society. Students work on all four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing. This sixcredit course meets four times per week and covers the equivalent of a full year of language study (Introductory Italian I and Introductory Italian II). The course is designed for highly motivated students who wish to develop communicative ability in Italian in a relatively short time.

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SAI Activities SAI offers activities, at no extra cost, for students to get to know their community, city and country. Following is a sample of the activities included in this program.

Please note that actual activities may differ.

Ostia Antica and Welcome Lunch SAI welcomes students to Rome with a visit to the famous Ostia Antica archaeological site. The group follows a guided tour of the site for a glimpse into the life of ancient Romans. Following the visit, students enjoy lunch of a traditional Italian farm.

Survival Italian Language Students are offered two 3-hour survival Italian lesson during orientation week.

Each lesson covers basic Italian conversation taught both in the classroom, and out and about in the city. Students learn to shop at local fruit vendors or order cappuccino at the local cafe.

A Taste of Rome Evening Food Tour Students get to know their new home by explore the Trastevere neighborhood and tasting some of Rome’s most celebrated culinary traditions.

Colosseum Night Tour Students visit the Eternal City’s most important monument by moonlight. The group is guided through the Colosseum’s history, and explores the most important areas, including the underground chambers and arena floor, both of which are usually closed to the public.

Gelato Workshop Students learn to make gelato with a professional Roman Gelataio (Italian for gelato maker). The workshop provides an inside look at one of the yummiest Italian traditions.

Weekend Excursion to Umbria, the Green Heart of Italy Students experience the beautiful and unspoiled hill towns in the verdant region of Umbria, full of olive groves, sunflower fields and emerald pastures. Students stay in an historic local farm with a rich history dating back to the 1300s, and participate in a chocolate workshop and a tour of the Frassasi caves, and then travel to the beautiful medieval town of Assisi. The weekend ends with a visit to the amazing Marmore Falls built by the ancient Romans.

Italian Cooking Lessons Students join Italian cooking lessons taught by local Roman Chef Andrea Consoli.

Each lesson covers how to make a traditional Roman three-course meal that is easy to recreate independently. At the end of the lesson, students enjoy their own homemade Italian meal.

Vineyard Tour and Wine Tasting Students are led by award-winning winemaker Sergio Mottura in a tour of his vineyard and a lesson on wine-growing techniques. After a visit to the wine cellars, students enjoy in a delicious wine and food pairing.

Opera Night Students dress up and spend an evening at the world famous opera house Teatro dell’Opera to see one of the seasonal performances.

Ancient Appian Way Bike Tour Students enjoy a guided bike ride down the Appian Way, an ancient Roman road that went to the eastern tip of Italy. After a morning of biking, the group stops for lunch in the Roman countryside.

Farewell Evening Students celebrate the end of a successful term abroad and say their goodbyes over a delicious Italian meal.

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“I am so glad I chose SAI Programs and studied abroad in Rome. If it

STUDENTQUOTES

wasn’t for SAI, I probably wouldn’t have met the people who have become my life-long friends.

The staff were extremely helpful in aiding my transition from the United States to Italy.

I enjoyed orientation and the excursion

“As a fashion lover and someone who enjoys

trip that was included

eating foods that are difficult to pronounce, Rome

in our program.”

was the perfect place to gain valuable knowledge and experience new adventures.“

“My favorite part was the small class sizes that allowed my classmates and I to engage in great discussions about our subjects.”

“SAI has given me the opportunity to grow in so many ways after studying in Rome, Italy. They have influenced me to be more culturally sensitive, adventurous, and humble. It was a great way to see the world, experience a different learning environment, and to meet new friends.“

“Going to John Cabot University through SAI has made my abroad experience so much better. The program is well organized and has a caring staff.

Great activities for SAI students and I appreciate knowing there is always someone here to help

“The SAI staff are exceptionally personable and accommodating.

I have greatly appreciated their openness to my every question (big or small) I’ve had throughout the experience. “

me if I need it. “

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7160 keating avenue • sebastopol • california • 95472 tel: 800.655.8965 email: mail@saiprograms.com

@SAIPROGRAMS

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