Academic Year Abroad Siena at the Università degli Studi & the Università per Stranieri

The Duomo, as seen from San Domenico

To encourage its students to profit from the rich history and culture of Siena and the surrounding region of Tuscany, which contains an extraordinary treasure of the world's greatest art, Academic Year Abroad offers an optional program of cultural activities which each semester includes an exceptional sequence of events. Several times during the term, AYA students attend museums, concerts, films, and theatre, go on excursions to sites of interest in and outside of Siena: for example, Florence and the Uffizzi Gallery, the view from Fiesole, Pisa and the Leaning Tower, the towers of San Gimignano, Petrarca's home town, Arezzo... to mention only a few. For all students, whether or not they elect the Activities Option, there are meetings, activities and an occasional festa with Italians. AYA students are encouraged to join young people in Siena in sports, or teach English to Italian children, or even adults. They are urged to participate as much as possible in Sienese cultural and social life.