The Office of Global Education will offer a four-week study abroad trip to Florence, Italy, as part of the new Florence Summer Institute beginning summer 2014.

The Florence Summer Institute varies from Kent’s existing Florence study abroad program. The existing program gives students the opportunity to study in Florence for a semester and is major-specific. The Florence Summer Institute is available to all majors.

The faculty-led program will give students the opportunity to earn six to seven college credit hours. Students will take classes in two palaces in the middle of the city.

Assistant Italian professor, Kristin Stasiowski will be teaching the Modern Italian History and Culture course at the Florence Summer Institute. Stasiowski said that transferring credits between Florence and the main campus is not an issue.

“Attending the Florence Institute is just like taking classes at the main campus because it is a Kent State campus,” Stasiowski said.

Students will attend classes, taught in English from Monday to Thursday. Students have the weekend to explore.

Students will also have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities. Some of these activities include a day trip to Siena, rafting on the Arno, an opera performance and a medieval rugby match.

The program costs approximately $3,129 for an Ohio resident, according to the program’s website. The fee covers round-trip airfare, housing, medical insurance and other program costs, such as extracurricular activities. The only out-of-pocket expenses are meals, independent travel and any personal expenses.

Senior crafts major, Margalit Schindler spent a semester in Florence in 2013. Schindler said that her experience was “incredibly humbling and monumentally overpowering.”

“Florence made me realize how much there is in this world,” Schindler said.

Schindler said that she realized that she is one in seven billion, not just one among the population at Kent State.

Schindler said she plans to travel to the Florence Summer Institute this year and encourages other students to go so they can experience something completely new and learn from it.

Stasiowski said that she hopes program will give students a better sense of the world.

“I want students to leave Florence and be more open-minded and accommodating,” Stasiowski said.

Stasiowski said that students would get a sense of what it’s like for foreign-exchange students in America.

“Kent State has a large presence of international students, and I think spending a month in Florence will make students realize what it’s like for the International students at home,” Stasiowski said.

The program will take place between May 29 and June 29. Applications for the Florence Summer Institute are available now, and the deadline to apply is April 1, 2014. More information on the program can be found here .

Contact Danielle Hess at [email protected].