Program Overview

Business and Food Cultures of Italy: Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, and Heritage in Florence and Tuscan Parks

Program Overview

This multicultural and excursion-rich food business/planning program offers intensive study and numerous field trips in a major European business and architecture center—Florence, Italy, and the surrounding Tuscan countryside. The program focuses on environmental, economic, and social movements, agroecology, ecogastronomy, and design.

Course Details

• Syllabus: Business and Food Cultures of Italy Syllabus
• Instructional Dates: June 21, 2026 - August 15, 2026
• Travel Dates: June 21, 2026 - July 08, 2026
• Credits: UEPP 437, Total Credits: 8

Program Highlights

• Experience lectures and excursions with Italian faculty
• Hands-on culinary intensives in Italy
• Visit Fiesole (Florence) Etruscan sites and ruins
• Visit San Gimignano in the Tuscan countryside
• Complete a course in Italian cooking
• Guided tours and museum visits
• Practice sensory taste science of balsamic vinegars in Modena, Italy
• Study natural animal breeding and biodynamic farming
• Guest lectures
• Program in language and culture at the Istituto Galileo
• Sketching tour in Florence
• Experience integrated farm and food economies at Camporbiano
• Visit the Mercato Centrale and artisan food retailers
• Three days in the Maremma Regional Park (agritourism, cycling, swimming on the coast)
• Stay at Montebello villa with most meals provided
• Geo-thermal hike and geo-thermal-powered craft foods
• Optional excursions to performances of dance, opera, and music
• Optional participation in carbon offsetting at "Inspiration Farm" in Whatcom County

Expectations of Participants

Participants must be able to walk, sit, or stand for one to two hour stretches/day in museums and cultural sites, with optional hiking. Refrigeration is available for the duration of the program. Students must work with the WWU Disability Access Center for service eligibility. It is recommended that all students traveling on this Global Learning Program are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Participants are expected to abide by all attendance policies and adhere to the program schedule.

Faculty

• Gigi Berardi: Professor, Department of Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy
• Kate Hermenet

Scholarships

• Liz Partolan-Fray Memorial Scholarship for Education Abroad
• Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

Program Status

Please note this program is confirmed and full. New applicants will be put on a waitlist.