Study Abroad in Italy with IFSA

IFSA Summer Internships in Rome

Program Overview

Spend your summer building your resume with an eight-week internship in Rome. With stunning ruins, fountains, and piazzas, Rome’s appeal is legendary. Work and live amidst this amazing backdrop, where the term “good food” is redundant, as you gain global work experience and build valuable intercultural skills.

Add an optional elective class in either one or both sessions and earn extra credits toward your degree.

Details in a Glance

Application deadline

March 15

Minimum GPA

2.00

Credit load

3 - 10

Housing

Apartment/Flat

Instruction language

English

Prerequisites

Some placements may require previous Italian language experience

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Academics

Enhance your learning and develop marketable skills with an eight-week Summer Internship in Rome.

Essential Italian 

If you’ve never studied Italian before, you’ll take this introductory seminar taught intensively at the beginning of your summer session to complement the IFSA internship experience. By introducing key words and phrases in the classroom—and venturing out into the city to practice them—this class also provides insights into local customs and daily life in Rome. (1 U.S. semester credit hour)

International Internship Seminar 

All internships include participation in the International Internship Seminar, which uses a blended learning framework with online and in-person components. Online modules provide structured opportunities to reflect on the practical experience of the internship, learn more about your host country’s business culture, and further develop the professional skills needed for a successful transition from undergraduate coursework into a career or graduate school. Plus, you will engage with an online global cohort of IFSA internship participants, gaining exposure to business cultures around the world. At your IFSA location, you will meet in-person with fellow interns to participate in exclusive field visits, learn from guest speakers about working across cultures, and attend workshops on leveraging your strengths for your future job search at home or abroad. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

OPTIONAL CLASSES

You may enroll in one additional class per four-week session. All classes are worth 3 U.S. semester credit hours and a supplemental fee is applicable per class.

SESSION 1 CLASS

Forced Migration, Refugees, and Change 

More than 60 million people are displaced by war, violence, and environmental destruction today. This class analyzes the ways that governments, NGOs, citizens, and researchers seek to solve problems associated with forced migration. Using ethnographic approaches, students will investigate the sociological and political forces behind the current increase of refugees and forced migrants currently impacting Europe. This class aims to provide a theoretical and empirical understanding of the phenomenon that can be employed as a guide for action. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

SESSION 2 CLASS

Sustainable Tourism 

In the past few decades, the global tourism industry has been increasingly criticized for its disruptive impact on local communities and the environment, while a growing trend of sustainable tourism has begun promoting more responsible, eco-friendly approaches that can help preserve nature, customs, and lifestyles. This class explores how local cultures can better absorb short- and long-term tourism, the benefits of eco-tourism on natural habitats and landscapes. Through a series of field visits and meetings with experts, students will learn how a more sustainable approach to tourism can help make tourist destinations better places to live in and to visit. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

PLACEMENT PROCESS

Once you submit your application, including your resume and an IFSA Internship Intent Form, our experienced advisors will connect with you individually to identify your professional strengths, review your goals, and refine your internship interests. We will also provide internship preparation resources and interviewing tips to further set you up for success.

Our team will match you with meaningful and credible internship opportunities tailored to your interests, strengths, and background. You will interview with your internship match before your placement is confirmed. Keep in mind, final placements are highly dependent on the prior experiences and skills you may have to offer, availability of companies, and the local environment for these positions.

PLACEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Interns are engaged for 15 or more hours per week with their host organization. All internships are credit-bearing and unpaid opportunities. Interns are jointly supervised by a site supervisor and seminar instructor, and coordinated by IFSA resident staff.

The following list showcases the variety of potential internship opportunities in Rome. While some of these internship opportunities may be available for upcoming terms, internship placements do vary from term to term. We will work with you individually to identify a placement that meets your unique personal, academic, and professional goals.

Placements are conducted in English, unless otherwise noted. If you have at least four semesters of Italian language experience, ask your IFSA Admissions Counselor about opportunities to conduct your placement in Italian.

Organization: This historic Italian association focuses on the protection of the environment and landscape. The local chapter, based in the Garbatella neighborhood, organizes initiatives to raise awareness on environmental issues and urban sustainability, including exhibits, “Clean the world days,” and park maintenance.

Subject Areas: Environmental Science/Studies, Film Production, Marketing

Potential Projects: You would help create and edit short videos and other materials about the association’s activities, with a special focus on urban gardens and beekeeping.

Language: Italian

Organization: This Rome-based, independent, English-language, online magazine covers everything Italy-related, offering news and opinion about politics, economy, culture, and sports.

Subject Areas: Communications, Journalism, Marketing

Potential Projects: You will help with content creation for the magazine and promotion.

Language: English, Italian

Organization: This English-language event and lifestyle magazine is targeted to tourists and expats visiting or living in Rome. It includes a daily listing of the latest and most diverse cultural and lifestyle events in and around Rome.

Subject Areas: Communications, Journalism, Marketing

Potential Projects: You will help with content creation for the magazine and promotion. You can also be involved in the creation of a new Florence branch of the magazine.

Language: English, Italian

Organization: This is an historic Rome-based association, one of the first in Italy, that offers support to the LGBTQ+ community and organizes cultural events and initiatives, including the big annual Pride event.

Subject Areas: Communications, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Politics

Potential Projects: You will help with the organization of cultural events and contribute to the social media presence of the association.

Language: English, Italian

Organization: This is a small private museum in the very heart of the historic center, focused on interactive reproductions of inventions and machines designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

Subject Areas: Communications, Museum Studies, Art History, Marketing

Potential Projects: Interns will help with front desk operations, English-led tours, as well as with promotional initiatives and social media campaigns.

Language: English, Italian

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
  • You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university.
  • You must have completed at least one (1) semester of study at your home institution before the beginning of the term.

Recommendation Letter

Not required.

Visa Requirement

Not required.

Start your application now by clicking the Apply Now button.

TRANSCRIPT

Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.

Excursions

Program Activities:

Activities and excursions are an important piece of your IFSA experience, designed to pull you into the fabric of the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. That said, at times, circumstances beyond our control — including local government regulations and health protocols — could impact our ability to hold these events as planned.

Know that we’ll make every effort to run the activities, trips, and excursions slated for your program. You’ll see detailed examples of previous outings offered during this program below. Keep in mind that the options could look different for your program, and that we cannot guarantee these activities, trips, and excursions.

Activities are optional, but they are included in your total program fee. They vary each term based on availability, but activities may include:

  • Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatino Hill Tour: Offered during orientation, this activity allows you to visit some of the most iconic monuments in world history and to explore the very heart of the eternal city.
  • Eataly and Mercato di Testaccio Visit: Eataly is a premium food market for Italian products and restaurant hall associated with the Slow Food Movement. After the visit, you will continue to the Testaccio neighborhood market and experience the Roman street food tradition.
  • Clean Up the World with Legambiente: Raise awareness on environmental issues and sustainability by volunteering with Legambiente, a historical Italian association focused on protecting the environment and landscape. You will participate in a day of activities in the community garden of the Garbatella neighborhood.
  • FAO Headquarters Visit: Learn about sustainability across agriculture, forestry, and fisheries through a guided tour of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
  • Riserva della Cascina Winery Visit: Riserva della Cascina is a family-run, organic winery in the outskirts of Rome, immersed in the archaeological park of the old Roman way “via Appia.” Explanation of sustainable practices will be followed by a tasting.
Program Excursions:

IFSA excursions are included in your total program fee. They are co-curricular experiences, linked to the topics studied in class, but they also allow for independent time while visiting some of the most renowned Italian destinations. Excursions vary each term based on availability, but may include:

  • Orvieto Day Trip: Orvieto is a medieval hill-top town with a stunning gothic cathedral and an underground series of caves dug by the Etruscan civilization.
  • Parco dell’Uccellina Day Trip: Day trip to the protected area of Parco dell’Uccellina, a regional forested park along the Mediterranean coast with opportunities to hike, rent bikes, or enjoy relaxing on the beach.
  • Tarquinia Day Trip: Tarquinia is a small town on the coast of Lazio that is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of Etruscan tombs, paintings, and artifacts.
  • Castelli Romani Day Trip: Enjoy a day visit to the hilly area known for its papal palace-turned-museum, lush nature preserves and lakes, and wine and olive oil production.

Housing and Meals

Housing

Apartment/Flat

Meals

Self-Catering

Details

You will live in centrally located, fully furnished flats in Rome. You will share a bedroom and bathroom. Apartments include a common dining area and kitchen with a microwave, refrigerator, oven, and stovetop. There is no meal plan. You will purchase your meals or cook for yourself.

Dates and Fees

Term

Term begins

Term ends

Program costs

Application deadline

Summer 2023

May 29, 2023

July 21, 2023

$6,475

March 15

Term

Summer 2023

Term begins

May 29, 2023

Term ends

July 21, 2023

Program costs

$6,475

Application deadline

March 15

Program Counselors

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