Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Summer Study Abroad

The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) offers four academic tracks during the summer program: Business, Media & Communications, Italian Language & Culture, and Agribusiness & Food Sciences. Each track offers one course per 2-week session. Students apply to the program for two, four or six weeks, and take one course during each two-week session. It is possible to take courses from different tracks. For example, you might take the Business track course during Session A, and the Media & Communications course during Session B, or the Beginning Italian course during Session A, followed by the Business couse Session B. It is not, however, recommended to take courses at both the Milan and Piacenze campuses, as the Piacenze (Summer Agribusiness & Food Sciences) campus is located 60 kilometers from the city of Milan. UCSC recommends 3 U.S. semester credits per course (44 contact hours). The Survival Italian Language Course is a no-credit course offering 20 hours of instruction over the two-week period. All content courses are taught in English. For specific course information, please see below. An overview of the tracks, courses, dates, and campus locations for 2013 is:

Session A:

16 June - 27 June

Session B: 30 June - 11 July

Session C: 14 July - 25 July

Business Milan campus

Media and Communications Milan campus

Italian Language and Culture Milan campus

Agribusiness and Food Sciences Piacenza campus

Extra/optional course Extra/optional course Extra/optional course

Milan & Piacenza campus

Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship: the Italian Perspective

Course description

It is of common knowledge that SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) are the pillars of the Italian economic system, but few are aware of just how they are run, what their main characteristics are, and how they differ from MNEs (Multinational Enterprises). During the course, students will discuss case studies of Italian firms operating in the traditional Italian industries, to become more familiar with the Italian entrepreneurial environment and develop possible solutions to management problems that may arise. Main topics

Approaches to entrepreneurship: personal traits vs. process perspectives Opportunity recognition Business model design and analysis The main industries of the Italian economic system

Objectives

1. To point out the main issues related to running a business, with a specific focus on SMEs 2. To explore the main dimensions of entrepreneurship 3. To deepen knowledge about some distinct Italian sectors

Teaching methods

Seminar (with group activities) Field trips

Area: Business Session A: 16 June – 27 June Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

Social and Eco Entrepreneurship in Italy

Course description

This course deals with the concepts of social and eco and environmental entrepreneurship, which are receiving increasing attention from all over the globe – with no exception in Italy. In this course, the Italian trend of establishing and scaling up entrepreneurial initiatives with social and environmental purposes is presented and analyzed through case studies, guest speakers and field visits to selected Italian best practices. Main topics

Setting the boundaries of social and eco entrepreneurship Opportunity recognition in the social and environmental sectors Most successful social and eco entrepreneurship business models The main social and environmental issues facing Italy today Strategies for scaling up the impact

Objectives

1. To become familiar with the notion of social and eco entrepreneurship 2. To develop a deep sensitivity and knowledge towards the most critical social and

environmental issues which affect Italy and Europe 3. To acquire an entrepreneurial mindset in order to overcome such issues

Teaching methods

Class discussions Group activities Guest speakers Field trips

Area: Business Session B: 30 June – 11 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

The Luxury Market: Structure, Players and Success Factors

Course description

The course provides an overview of the fashion and luxury industries. The aim of the course is to address the main strategic and managerial characteristics related to fashion and luxury with a global focus, whilst analyzing the new challenges that fashion and luxury are facing nowadays: the digital and the sustainability revolution. Main topics

Managing fashion and luxury businesses Branding as positioning Stylistic identity and product strategies Image identity and communication strategies Retail identity and distribution strategies New challenges: branding and sustainability New challenges: social media and e-commerce in fashion

Objectives

1. Get acquainted with the concept of fashion and luxury brand management 2. Understand the main differences among the market segments 3. Understand seasonal strategies at product level, distribution and communication 4. Analyze the new challenges which are reshaping nowadays the fashion and luxury

industries:the digital challenge (social media communication, e-commerce) and sustainability

Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Guest speakers Field trips

Area: Business Session C: 14 July – 25 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

New Frontiers in Brand Communication and Consumer Engagement

Course description

This course provides an overview of the latest trends in the brand communication scenario with a particular focus on the role experience, emotions, and entertainment played in building consumer-brand relationships. The course explores the opportunities offered by innovative and unconventional brand communication strategies in engaging and activating consumers as dialogical partners.

Main topics

Dialogue and relationships in conversational markets The new postmodern consumer Key factors in brand communication (experience, hedonism, entertainment and

gamification) Consumer-brand engagement Unconventional brand communication

Objectives

1. To go beyond traditional brand communication models focused on market control 2. To reflect on the role of consumers as owners of brand communication 3. To understand what consumer-brand engagement is about 4. To bravely adopt the unconventional brand communication path as a way to relate with

consumers

Teaching methods

Lectures Practical assignments Field trips

Area: Media & Communication Session A: 16 June – 27 June Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

From Taste to Glamour: Luxury Goods and Fashion Brands in a Visual Culture

Course description

This course will explore the evolution of the category of luxury and its connections to the categories of taste and glamour. The course will then concentrate on current definitions of luxury by investigating the characteristics of the objects that are considered luxury and the ways in which they are used by consumers. Although most luxury brands are global, the course will attempt to specifically define what luxury means in contemporary Italian culture. Finally, the course will analyze the communicative processes through which some Italian brands are successfully presented as luxury in today’s increasingly visual-dependent culture, how they design their communication strategies and use the new media to reach a larger number of potential consumers. Main topics

Brief history of luxury in western culture Cultural definition of luxury in relation to taste and glamour The socio-cultural origins of luxury as a lifestyle in modernity Luxury goods and personal/social identity Italian luxury brands Communication strategies and luxury consumption

Objectives

1. To understand the cultural origins of luxury 2. To analyze the evolution of the idea of luxury in the western world 3. To explore the connection between luxury, taste, and the idea of glamour 4. To explore how Italian brands communicate in a visual culture

Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Guest speakers Field trips

Area: Media & Communication Session B: 30 June – 11 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

Television, Advertising and Music. The Italian Approach to the Media

Course description

Television, advertising and music have had and still have great influence on everyday life, habits and behavior in Italy. Since its beginning in 1954, television molded popular culture; in the 1980s advertising proposed a new lifestyle for a generation and music provided the ever changing sound track for youngsters and adults. The course will focus on these three different industries that will be studied from the point of view of history and theory, and from a practical and productive perspective. Main topics

The impact of Tv on the italian popular culture and society (1954 – nowadays) The geography of media production in Italy: historical overview and description of media currently operating in Milan and in Italy. The "economic miracle" and the role of Tv in transforming of popular culture: a brief history from the ’50 to the present day.

Tv production: genres, production stages, what people do in Tv production What television is and how it works: genre, narrative, scheduling. Compared analysis of program schedule in the most popular Italian TV networks. Tv production: types of programmes. The different phases and the different professional roles involved in Tv production.

Tv news as a genre: the italian Telegiornali

Newsmaking on Tv: codes and conventions. What’s news and news values. News sources, news agencies and alternative media: what they are and how they work. Citizen journalism, blogs and social media.

Ad: basics of marketing and product communication strategy

What advertising is and types of ad’s classification. Marketing, target and media as basic elements of ad’s communication and strategy

Ad: the creative process. What people do in an Ad agency

Area: Media & Communication Session C: 14 July – 25 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

The advertising agency: account – research – creative - production dept. Creative strategy and the creative process. Analysis of international tv campaigns and commercials. Music supervising in tv commercials: the us of pop music in advertising. Ad: Carosello and the history of italian Ads The history of italian Tv commercials from the ’60 to the present days.

Music as a product: marketing mix, communication tools and strategies Recorded music as a product: what placement, press release, promotional touring are: how radio, TV, music videos and strategic marketing work to communicate music.

Music as a product: the role of the web and the social media in promoting music The new millennium: from new fruiton of music to new strategies for promote it. A general overview and the Italian peculiarities.

REQUIRED READINGS

The course package will contain parts of the following books: AA.VV., Television studies. The Key Concepts, Routledge, 2002

Anderson C., Bell E., Shirky C., Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present,

Columbia Journalism School, 2012

Arens William, Contemporary Advertising, McGraw-Hill, 1999

Bignell Jonathan – Orlebar Jeremy, The Television Handbook, Routledge, New York, 2005

Fenton Natalie, New Media Old News, Sage Publications, 2009

Foot John, Milan since the Miracle, Berg, 2001

Forgacs David - Lumley Robert, Italian Cultural Studies. An Introduction, Oxford

University Press, 1996

Holland Patricia, The Television Handbook, Routledge, New York, 1997

Hutchinson Tom - Macy Amy – Allen Paul, Record Label Marketing, Focal Press, 2010

Klein Bethany, As Heard on TV; Popular Music in Advertising, Ashgate, 2009

McQuail Denis, Mass Communication Theory, Sage Publications, 2010

Stovall James Glen, Journalism. Who, what, when, where, why and how, Pearson, 2005

Objectives

1. Consider the local, cultural-socialeconomic context in which the Italian media operates 2. Analyze different ways in which different media work in presenting news and

programmes 3. Discuss the purposes of Italian national and commercial TV channels 4. Explain how advertising communication differs from basic human communication 5. Analyze the creative process of an advertising campaign 6. Compare Italian and international TV commercials 7. Describe how various media collaborate in communicating music the best way

Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Project works Field trips

Italian Language - Beginners

Course description

The course will present the basics of spoken and written Italian. Students will be introduced to the key structures of the language with the emphasis placed firmly on communication. Authentic listening and reading materials will be used extensively for a wide range of activities based on everyday situations in Italy. Students will also be introduced to some aspects of Italian culture. Main topics

Greeting people Asking and giving personal information Asking and giving directions Ordering food and drink in a café and restaurant Booking a room at a hotel Organizing free-time activities

Objectives

To enable students to communicate in simple, everyday situations and to learn the language they need to interact with Italian speakers in real life situations. Teaching methods

Role playing Pair & group work Oral Listening Reading and writing activities

Area: Italian Language & Culture Session A: 16 June – 27 June Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

Italian Language – Lower Intermediate

Course description

This course is aimed at students with a basic knowledge of Italian and will introduce them to new key structures of the language with the emphasis placed firmly on communication. A wide variety of authentic listening and reading materials will be used extensively to provide insights into the customs and culture of Italy. Main topics

Talking about daily routine Talking about past events Expressing tastes and preferences Making, accepting, and refusing invitations and suggestions Talking about free time and holidays

Objectives

The aim of the course is to help students consolidate and expand their knowledge of Italian grammar and vocabulary, and build up their confidence to cope in everyday situations and to communicate effectively with Italians. Teaching methods

Role playing Pair & group work Oral Listening Reading and writing activities

Area: Italian Language & Culture Session B: 30 June – 11 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

Italian Language – Intermediate

Course description

This course is aimed at students wishing to consolidate and improve their knowledge of Italian. The new structures of the language will be introduced with the emphasis placed firmly on communication. A wide variety of authentic listening and reading materials will be used extensively to provide insights into the customs and culture of Italy. Main topics

Talking about past events and experiences Giving orders and suggestions Expressing opinions Comparing things Talking about future plans Making proposals and discussing arrangements

Objectives

The aim of the course is to help students consolidate and expand their knowledge of Italian grammar and vocabulary and to improve their communicative competence in dealing with Italians in real-life situations. Teaching methods

Role playing Pair & group work Oral Listening Reading and writing activities

Area: Italian Language & Culture Session C: 14 July – 25 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan

The Heart of Italy: Food Tradition and Production

Course description

After providing an overview about biochemical background, nutritional value and health-related issues linked to the Mediterranean diet, the course will cover the “farm-to-fork” pathway of typical food types of the Po Valley and, in particular, of the Piacenza district, including tomato sauce, Grana Padano, salumi and wine. Theory and practice will be delivered via taste testing. Main topics

The Italian food tradition and the Mediterranean diet Tomato sauce: from the field to the pasta dish Grana Padano and salumi: unique itineraries to excellence Grape growing and wine making: a trade-off between tradition and innovation

Objectives

1. Get acquainted with the concept of “we are what we eat” 2. Understand the close link existing between the territory and the different typical food

types 3. Perceive how “tradition” can benefit from technological innovation without losing its

“charm” and peculiarities 4. Understand that a “unique,” non-duplicable product is a blend of optimal genotype for

environment interaction and man’s ability Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Guest speakers Taste testing and industry/vineyard/winery visits

Area: Agribusiness & Food Sciences Session A: 16 June – 27 June Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Piacenza

Feeding the Planet: Managing Risk and Safety in the Food Chain

Course description

Principles of food safety such as the hazard and risk analysis and risk management will be provided. An overview about E.U. Regulations on Food will follow, with a focus on the Alert System. A second view about food safety will be covered by guest speakers from industry. Students will then learn about emerging risk in the food safety area with special attention paid to microbiological risk. Main topics

Food: law principles and innovation Food safety: the industrial approach Food safety: preventing problems and governing food emergency Microbes and food: pathogens, spoiling and beneficial bacteria

Objectives

1. Be introduced to safety management in the food chain 2. Get informed about E.U. regulations on food safety 3. Understand the roles of bacteria in the food chain 4. Learn how to manage a food safety crisis

Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Guest speakers Field trips

Area: Agribusiness & Food Sciences Session B: 30 June – 11 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Piacenza

The Global Wine Market: Trends and Strategies

Course description

The course will present an overview of the most important policies and economic trends affecting wine production, consumption and trade, with specific emphasis on the evolution of the role of Italy and of the European Union (E.U.). Main topics

Evolution of E.U. regulations of the wine market: past, present and perspectives Supply, demand and trade of wine: Italian, E.U. and world markets Quality: Evolution of E.U. regulation and its implications for businesses, consumers and

trade Wine guides and media

Objectives

1. Make the participants aware of the role of E.U. policies in shaping E.U. wine production and trade

2. Analyze the most important trends of the wine market 3. Illustrate how the quality issue may be addressed in the wine sector

Teaching methods

Lectures Class discussions Guest speakers Taste testing and industry/vineyard/winery visits

Area: Agribusiness & Food Sciences Session C: 14 July – 25 July Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Piacenza

Survival Italian Language

All students have the option to add the Survival Italian Language Course to their selected program during any session. Course description

In this short course you’ll pick up the language you need for most everyday situations – from meeting and greeting people to asking directions and buying food and drinks - and get a flavor of Italian culture. Objectives

You’ll learn the basic vocabulary for: Introductions Finding your way Entertainment Shopping Eating out

Teaching methods

Strongly focused on communication Role playing Pair-work Oral and listening activities

Area: Extra/Optional courses Session: A, B, C, Duration: 2 weeks Campus: Milan & Piacenza