Fall in love with the flavors of Italy as you take in the historic sites of Rome, learn to cook in Asti, and wander along the enchanting canals of Venice. Receive language and culinary training from renowned institutions.
Program Description
Explore local foods and the Italian communities, traditions, and cultures to which they are connected. Spend several days in a gorgeous Tuscan town, where you take Italian language lessons and explore the art and landscape of the surrounding area. Focus on the Slow Food movement and the importance of seasonal, organic, and locally grown food of different regions. Spend eight days at a prestigious cooking school in Asti, preparing traditional Italian dishes under the guidance of a skilled chef. The program’s culinary excursions include visiting organic farms, the famous University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, and an agrigelateria to see how artisanal ice cream is made.
Continue to practice your Italian language skills, particularly as you share daily life with an Italian family during the program’s homestay. Use your new language skills to buy fresh food in outdoor markets and to engage in daily interactions with host family members and other Italians. Discover the stories behind the unique foods of different regions of Italy while having hands-on culinary experiences. Whether it’s sampling homemade chocolates, conducting olive oil tastings, or making pizza, the program is designed to deepen your understanding of the intimate links between food, sustainability, and culture, within the context of Italy and beyond.
Conclude the program with two days of exploration and reflection in Venice. Visits to Rome, with its beautiful fountains and monuments, the Cittá del Vaticano, Florence, Piedmont, and other areas of cultural and historic significance in Italy are incorporated into the program.
Language Certificate: At the conclusion of this program, each participant will earn a language certificate noting how many hours of language classes s/he completed.
About The Experiment
The Experiment in International Living is a nonprofit organization that has been offering immersive experiential learning programs abroad since 1932. Today, The Experiment offers three-, four-, and five-week summer programs for high school students in more than 20 countries around the world.
Programs are designed to equip participants not only with essential cultural skills and, in many cases, language skills, but also with a deeper awareness of and sensitivity to critical global issues shaping the diverse communities and regions we visit. Each year, hundreds of Experimenters come away from their summer abroad with invaluable new skills, connections, awareness, and knowledge that help them to thrive—and lead—in diverse, intercultural environments.
The Experiment is committed to providing participants from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds with access to The Experiment’s immersive cross-cultural programs through its partnerships, scholarships, and other initiatives.
The Experiment places the highest priority on health, safety, and security. Each program follows a comprehensive structure designed to maximize the well-being of all participants while they engage in dynamic cross-cultural experiences. We have implemented specific risk management strategies that include a 24-hour emergency on-call service and regular safety reviews. We hire and train experienced adult group leaders and maintain longstanding partnerships with in-country offices to support each of our programs.
