Brown in Italy
The exchange program between Brown University and the University of Bologna provides an opportunity for undergraduates to study at the oldest university in Europe, and for graduate students and faculty to come to Brown each year.
The Brown Program is a full immersion program; participants take their final exams with their Italian peers. Brown does maintain an office in Bologna where student support is provided and group activities are planned.
The University of Bologna, which began as a law school in the Middle Ages, recently celebrated its ninth centennial. Founded in 1088 (or earlier!), it is the oldest continuing institution of higher learning in Europe and possibly the world. Among its alumni are Thomas Aquinas and Italy’s most famous writers, Dante, Petrarch and Torquato Tasso. Part of the national system of higher education, the University is a large public institution with over 90,000 students. The University buildings and the student life are an important part of the city.
Bologna, Italy
Bologna is in the center of Italy at the heart of its extensive railroad system, making it an ideal base for short excursions. Florence, Ferrara, Ravenna, Venice, Milan and Rome are in close proximity and easily accessible by train. During the summer months, a train journey of less than two hours takes you to the Riviera of Romagna, where the famed resort beaches of Rimini and Riccione are located.
Bologna dates back to the 6th century BC when the Etruscans first settled there and founded the city of Felsina. The name Bononia (from which comes the modern Bologna) was bestowed by the Romans when they colonized the city in 189 BC. Bologna still retains much of the flavor of its Roman and medieval legacies though, today, it is a thriving city of half a million people and the capital of the fertile and prosperous Emilia-Romagna region.
Bologna has several wonderful characteristics associated with it. The city’s celebrated University has kept Bologna’s cultural traditions alive and earned it the title of dotta (learned). Bologna has also earned the nickname of grassa (fat) due to its world renowned gastronomical specialties, of which the good-natured Bolognese are rightfully proud. Its third nickname, rossa (red), comes not from the political leanings of its municipal government, but from the fact that most of the city's buildings were built with red brick rather than stone. Bologna shares this characteristic with most of the cities in the Po valley; it is what distinguishes them from the marble and granite cities on the other side of the Apennine Mountains. Unique buildings -- houses and palaces, churches and monuments -- together with many other works of art can be admired today along the porticos which line nearly every city street.
Updated: October 1, 2008