Full Immersion Rome Experience (FIRE)

The Department of French and Italian is pleased to announce the Full Immersion Rome Experience (FIRE).   Students will have the opportunity to spend ten weeks in Rome, fully immersed in Italian language (Italian 1 and Italian 2) and culture (Italian 4). The immersion experience will include visits to significant Roman monuments such as the Colosseum, Roman Forum, St. Peters and Vatican Museums, and the Borghese Gallery, as well as other towns and cities of Italy, and to participate in co-curricular activities such as visits to piazzas and markets, trips to the opera and sporting events, and more. Participants are housed in student apartments in the lively and charming neighborhood of Trastevere.  The program will be directed by a Dartmouth faculty member in Italian.  Contact Professor Nancy Canepa for more information.  

In the FIRE program, students will have the opportunity to experience Rome at its best and the diverse cultural and natural wonders in other areas of Italy, as well.  And by participating in the program, students will complete two-thirds of the Dartmouth language requirement!  Click here for more information.

Click here to read the article published in the Dartmouth News, December 2023.

This full-immersion language course covers the basics of Italian, with an emphasis on active, hands-on use of the language and the acquisition of the skills necessary to manage and feel comfortable in basic communicative situations. Topics will include meeting and greeting, school, food, and travel and free time. Students will also begin to investigate the many cultural riches of Rome and of Italy … all in  Italian! One class day per week will be devoted to putting new skills to use in markets, shops, etc. The course is taught by faculty from Italiaidea Language School in Rome and TA (drill).

This full-immersion language course is a continuation of Italian 1 in which students pursue their study of the basics of Italian, with an emphasis on active, hands-on use of the language and the acquisition of the skills necessary to manage and feel comfortable in basic communicative situations. Topics will include food and eating habits, shopping, houses and home life, leisure activities and social life, health and medicine, and city life.  Students will also deepen their exploration of the many cultural riches of Rome and of Italy …all in Italian! One class day per week will be devoted to putting new skills to use in various sites in Rome. The course is taught by faculty from Italiaidea Language School in Rome and TA (drill).

This course introduces students to various topics of Italian culture through specific examples taken from the context of Italy’s capital, largest city, and one of the West’s most complex symbols: Rome. Topics include stereotypes and the idea of national identity, society and politics, youth culture, family and gender roles, the arts, and gastronomy. Students will learn to engage with Italian cultural phenomena through inclass lectures and discussions, frequent visits to sites pertinent to the material studied, as well as six half-day guided tours of important monuments and museums of Rome.  This course is taught by the Dartmouth faculty director of the program.