Italian Language and Culture Conference: Connections
Department of Italian, Georgetown University – 15 Oct ’22
Virtual Internships and Intercultural Competence in Italian Studies
Bruno Grazioli, PhD – Resident Director and Faculty
Italian Studies Program in Bologna, Dickinson College
Website – Instagram
Connecting the Dots
Jake’s experience
Why an Online Intercultural Seminar?
Keep students’ motivation to study abroad alive
Keep them engaged with the abroad center
Encourage students to reflect on their skills and build upon them
Offer an experience students could “publicize”
Combining Theory and Practice
Goals and objectives
Topics and guided reflections
Types of internships
Evaluation v Self-evaluation
The End: Students’ Perspectives
My takeaways:
Experiences are meaningful when designed with a before/after in mind
Students’ learning is at its best when it is self-directed
Self-evaluation empowers students