Hard Classes?
People have been hearing that the classes in Florence are exceptionally hard, so this is to try and help clear some of that up and answer some questions about that.The first thing you have to know is that all the classes that are not taught by the visiting faculty members are taught by Italians (unless Elizabeth still teaches a class here and there). The Italians will teach Humanities, Italian, Sociology, Astronomy, and pretty much anything else that's not Religion for our year. The teachers speak good English, but it is by no means perfect, because it is their second language. This won't matter too much in Italian where most of the conversation will be in Italian, but it could be a problem in something like Humanities. Leonardo, the main Humanities teacher is good, but I'm fairly sure that each year at least one student complains about him for some reason or another. Most people just think he's a hard teacher, but I think their real problem is that it is difficult for them to learn from him because they are either not putting in the time, or because they don't learn well from his style of teaching. It shouldn't be that much of a problem to get a decent grade if you put the work in, and it definitely is not harder than the Malibu equilivent.
The reasons I think the classes in Florence are actually easier than those in Malibu are pretty simple. Italian is easier there because you should be more motivated to do well and learn the language when you are actually in Italy. That just makes sense to me. Religion, or anything taught by Dr. Willis will probably be the same as it is in Malibu, just in a different setting, and hopefully we will be more like family rather than students to him, so that may make the class more fun. Humanities is easier because we are learning about art history in the world's capital of art. You can literally walk down the street and see things you are studying about. And, on that note- there are organized museum visits where Pepperdine pays your admission price (which is pretty cool) and you spend class time in a museum, not a classroom. Apart from all this- I think there are gonna be 4 day weeks, with Friday off for traveling.
People think classes are hard because they think that they are in Florence to be in Europe and have fun rather than study. You need to find the balance between work and play in your life over there and don't try to be an academic overachiever there.
Just know that in Pepperdine's eyes, the Florence Program is first and foremost an academic institution, so their main goal is to have good classes offered there. The classes will not be incredibly easy, but at the same time they won't be hard.
posted by Daniel Williams @ 09:06
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