Fall: Florence, Italy

Program Dates

• August 24 - September 3: Program starts at PCC 
• September 4: Group flight departs U.S. for Italy
• September 5: Group flight arrives in Florence, transfer to accommodations
• September 6: On-site orientation 
• September 7: Classes resume in Florence
• October TBA: Fall Break
• November 28: End of program. Group flight departs Florence for the U.S.

Program Fees

$10,690 (airfare included)

Excludes airline taxes (est. $500) & PCC tuition. Based on a minimum enrollment of 20 students.

Program Fee Includes:

• Roundtrip airfare between Los Angeles (LAX) and Florence (FLR) 
• Roundtrip transfers in Florence between the airport and student housing
• Accommodation in shared self-catering apartments within the historic center of Florence
• Welcome & farewell dinners
• Pre-departure and on-site orientation program
• Guided walking tour of Florence
• Guided visits to select historical sites and museums in Florence & Rome
• Full-day excursion to Siena & San Gimignano
• 3-day/2-night excursion to Rome
• Access to on-site Student Center and the services of experienced Student Advisors
• On-site faculty, student support staff, and 24-hour emergency contact service
• Medical insurance policy
• Liability insurance

Program fee does not include:

• Mandatory U.S. government and airline-imposed departure taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges of $500 (subject to change)
• Optional meal plan ($515) consisting of 25 vouchers for use at select Florence restaurants
• Optional Extra Protection Insurance Coverage, including increased medical insurance ($65) 
• Optional trip interruption or cancellation insurance 
• Passport and visa fees, if applicable
• PCC course registration fees
• Textbooks
• Personal expenses

Item:	Fee:	Deadline:
Enrollment Deposit	$450.00	Due immediately upon acceptance into the program
Remaining Balance of Fees	$10,240.00	July 10, 2026
Airline Taxes (estimate)	$500.00	July 10, 2026
Total	$11,190.00
Optional Components:	Fee:	Deadline:
Trip Interruption or Cancellation Insurance	varies	Within 21 days after deposit is paid
Extra Protection Insurance Coverage	$65.00	July 10, 2026
Meal Plan	$515.00	Before departure

All students must submit a $450 deposit upon acceptance into the program and when completing the online enrollment form.

Program fee payments, including the deposit, will be made directly to our partner American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS Abroad). Program fees will not be collected by the Pasadena City College Study Abroad Office or by program faculty.

Payments may be made by check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to “AIFS”. American Express, MasterCard, and Visa are accepted.

Please note: A $35 returned check fee will be charged on all checks returned by the bank for insufficient funds.  

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Group Airfare Package

The group airfare package includes roundtrip airfare between LAX and FLR in economy/standard class, and roundtrip transfers in Florence between the airport and student housing, on the regularly scheduled program dates. 

Participants wishing to purchase the airfare package (which is included in the program fee, excluding airline taxes) must select this option on the online enrollment form. Tickets cannot be arranged for students enrolling after June 11, 2026. Land-only packages, without airfare, may be offered to students enrolling in the program after this date. 

Tickets are exclusively on scheduled airlines (not charters). They are not endorsable to another carrier. Flights are not necessarily direct or non-stop, they cannot be rerouted, and frequent flyer miles are not applicable. No refunds are available for any unused portion of the ticket. Once airline tickets have been issued to students, they can only be changed directly with the issuing agent, and airline-imposed penalties apply. 

A minimum of 10 participants is required for the group airfare package to be offered.

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AIFS Refund Policy

If a participant withdraws on or before Thursday, June 11, 2026, they will receive a refund for all fees paid less a $150 processing fee.  

If a participant withdraws after Thursday, June 11, 2026, but on or before Friday, July 10, 2026, they will receive a refund for all fees paid less the $450 deposit and any non-refundable deposits paid by the student or by AIFS on the student's behalf.

If a participant withdraws after Friday, July 10, 2026, they will receive no refund, and the total program fee is due.

After the final payment deadline, the full program fee is due to AIFS even if an individual has not yet paid and no longer plans to participate in the program.

Non-refundable financial commitments have been made to secure your spot. If a participant withdraws once the program has begun, there is no refund.

This refund policy applies whether a participant pays AIFS Abroad directly for all, part, or no program fees. 

Course Offerings

Participants must enroll in one Italian language class (5 units) plus at least 6 additional units of Florence coursework selected from the following list.  

Course No.	Course Name	Units
Select one language class:
ITAL 001, 002, 003, 004	Elementary & Intermediate Levels	5
Select a minimum of 6 units:
ITAL 010	Italian Civilization	3
MUSC 021	Music Appreciation	3
MUSC 028	History of Opera	3
MUSC 041A	First Year Piano 1	2

* All non-language classes are taught in English
* All courses are CSU/UC transferable* Honors Program credit for those who qualify

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ITAL 001 through 004 Elementary or Intermediate Italian: The purpose of these courses is to enable students to develop skills in understanding and speaking everyday Italian in different common situations; to read and write with accuracy using correct grammatical points; to learn about Italy, its history, and its culture. The language instruction is a central part of the students' experience in Florence, and learning the language is an integral part of exposing oneself to that culture. Language and culture are inextricably intertwined, and at the end of the trip, students will not only have improved their knowledge of the Italian language but they will also have acquired a greater appreciation for Italian culture. There is no better way to learn a language than in the target country. In Florence, the students will be able to practice every day what they learned so they will improve much faster.

ITAL 010 - Italian Civilization: This course is an overview of history, politics, literature, and arts of Italy from the fall of the Roman Empire to present. We will look closely at the historical, political, and artistic evolution of Italian society, and explore the major contributions of Italians to the arts and world culture with a particular emphasis to the Renaissance period, being Florence the center of Renaissance. Upon successful completion of this course students will have acquired knowledge of Italian politics and institutions, of historical events and artistic movements, of major trends in the fields of music and art which will help explain present-day Italy. We would like our students studying in Florence to not only improve their knowledge of Italian language but also to acquire an in-depth knowledge of, and greater appreciation for Italian culture.

MUSC 021 - Appreciation: On a daily basis we hear music-as we drive, in the coffee shop, from our phones. We “hear,” but do we “listen?” Music Appreciation explores the experience of listening to music by studying a survey of important pieces from the Western classical music tradition with a special focus on music that would have been heard at specific sites in Florence such as the Duomo, San Marco Monastery, or the Palazzo Pitti. In an age when music is just another source of background noise, this course offers the opportunity to gain a deeper experience of listening.

MUSC 028 - History of Opera: Just as one could say that Hollywood is the birthplace of the cinema, Florence is the true birthplace of opera. From Florence, opera grew as the dominant form of entertainment across Europe with Italian cities the size of Pasadena having 17 theaters where public opera could be performed. In Florence there are two extant functioning public opera houses dating from the mid-1650s. If you think opera is irrelevant and elitist, this class will give you a taste of the most important form of entertainment prior to movies.

From sampling operas from many historical periods and exploring the vast varieties of opera genres including romantic comedies, tragedies, social commentaries, historical dramas and fantasy, you will discover the history of public entertainment and experience opera’s power to entertain.

MUSC 041A - First Year Piano 1: For most generations, prior to the accessibility of recorded sound, if you wanted to hear music, you performed music yourself; it was not left to professional musicians. First Year Piano Course gives you an opportunity to develop your musical side. In this course you will learn the fundamentals of reading music and learn to master 20 pieces, including beginning pieces by Italian composers. Playing the piano is intellectually and emotionally satisfying, and this group piano course will help you start the life-long pleasure of creating music for yourself.

Program Faculty

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Professor Rita D'Amico, Languages 

Dr. Rita A. D’Amico is a Professor of Italian at Pasadena City College. She is a native Italian, born and raised in Milan. Rita received a Doctorate degree in Political Science with a major in International Relations from the University of Milan and a Ph.D. in Italian Literature from UCLA. She has taught a broad range of courses in contemporary Italian literature, culture, cinema, literature in translation and language at all levels. She is a specialist in nineteenth and twentieth century Italian Literature, and her teaching and research interests are also in Italian culture and cinema, pedagogy, and methodology in second language acquisition and instructional technology. She is the co-author of a textbook on Italian Civilization, and she is a member of several professional organizations.

Professor D’Amico has been teaching Italian at Pasadena City College since 2001. She has taken PCC students to Florence several times, and has had a memorable, mutually enriching experience with her students. She looks forward to sharing the artistic treasures of her native country with her students and to exposing them to the unique experience of “living” in the country, interacting with Italian people, and getting acquainted with Italian culture and society.

• Email: radamico@pasadena.edu
• Spring 2026 Office Hours (email for Zoom access)
  • Tuesdays 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm (Zoom)
  • Wednesdays 9:00 am - 10:30 am (Zoom)
  • Thursdays 10:30 am - 12:00 pm in C-149

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Professor Phillip Young, PERFORMING & COMMUNICATION ARTS

Professor Young is a music faculty member at Pasadena City College. He has been teaching at PCC since 1994, and for the past eighteen years, as a full-time faculty member, he has taught general education course in music as well as many courses specifically in his field of expertise, classical piano. He holds graduate piano performance degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Southern California. His excellence in teaching has been recognized with the 2025 installation into the Steinway Piano Teacher’s Hall of Fame.

Prior to his college years, Professor Young rarely left his native state of California. As a graduate student, he had the life-changing experience of studying abroad at the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria. With colleagues from that music conservatory, he founded a chamber group that allowed him to perform and teach in Europe, Japan, China, Taiwan, Africa, and throughout North America. He counts it a privilege to have had the opportunity to experience and gain a greater understanding of the world through travel and interacting with people through music.

Eager to share his love of experiencing new cultures and languages with students, he prepared and took a group of 8 PCC students to Germany to participate in an international piano ensemble competition. The PCC ensembles won third place. In addition, he has traveled as a faculty advisor with musical ensembles to Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Professor Young is excited to be teaching courses in one of the most music culturally important cities in Europe and to offer to students the opportunity of a richer experience of the art form in the context of Florence.

• Email: pdyoung@pasadena.edu
• Spring 2026 Office Hours
  • Schedule an appointment using this link https://calendly.com/pdyoung-pasadena/30min

Meals & Accommodations

Accommodations in furnished, self-catering apartments located within the historical center of Florence. You will stay in twin rooms with typically 4 to 6 PCC students sharing a two or three-bedroom apartment. Apartments include kitchens for meal preparation, with cooking equipment, plates, glasses, and utensils. Laundry facilities are available on-site. Linens and free wireless internet are provided. 

If available, single rooms will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis for an additional supplement of $2,150.

Optional Meal Plan:

A package of 25 meal vouchers for use at select Florence restaurants is available for an additional fee of $515.

Excursions & Activities

Orientation Program

• A series of pre-departure orientations covering topics such as "To Do" action items, banking, cell-phone options, adaptors, what to pack, airport security, customs & immigration, and more.
• On-site orientation upon arrival covering topics such as general acclimation to Florence, safety and security issues, cultural differences, travel, and cultural activities.
• Local walking tour covering housing and classroom location, and local amenities.
• Sightseeing walking tour of Florence with a professional, English-speaking guide. 

Local Activities

Guided visits to a number of historical sites and museums, including the Palazzo Vecchio, Duomo, Uffizi Galleries, Galleria Dell'Accademia, and more!

Additional activities will be available in Florence, either at no additional cost or for a subsidized fee. Activities may include a cooking class, opera, and a soccer match. 

Excursions

SIENA & SAN GIMIGNANO

Guided day-trip to the enchanting Tuscan towns of Siena, famous for its Palio horse race, and San Gimignano, the medieval city of beautiful towers. Round-trip transportation and a local guide are included.

ROME (3 DAYS/ 2 NIGHTS)  

In Rome, there is visible evidence of the two great empires of the Western world: the Roman Empire and the Christian Church. Home of the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican, history comes alive as you stroll through the piazzas of Italy’s ancient capital. Your time here will include a guided sightseeing tour, entrance to the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, and a guided tour of the Vatican museums. Round-trip transportation, twin-room hotel accommodations, and breakfast are included.

Independent Travel

Use your free weekends and Fall Break to travel around Italy and to Europe’s great cities. Local staff will assist you in choosing destinations and transportation. Student favorites include Rome, Venice, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, and Berlin. 

ITALIAN-AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP
The Italian American Scholarship Fund offers awards and scholarships to PCC students studying Italian. To be eligible, students must be fully enrolled in the Florence program and must have completed an Italian language course at Pasadena City College prior to the start of the program. Qualified students are invited to apply. 

Visit https://pasadena.academicworks.com/opportunities/4795 to learn more about the scholarship.

To begin your application, go to https://pasadena.academicworks.com/users/sign_in and log-in with your LancerPoint credentials.

Application Period: TBA

Financial Aid may be available to those who qualify. Grants, loans, and scholarships may be used to pay program fees.

Apply immediately. You should allow up to eight weeks for your financial aid request to be processed.

More About Financial Aid options at PCC