Study Abroad: Destinations
Brunnenburg invites a return to the Early Poems, written when Pound himself was still a student.
The Program in Brunnenburg
The Brunnenburg Semester offers students a unique opportunity to combine study and work while living in a 12th century castle in the Italian Alps. Each Tuesday students participate in a workday on the farm and surrounding vineyards, which belong to the castle. The castle is situated above the spa town of Merano near the Austrian border. This location puts students within weekend reach of Munich, Vienna, Verona, and Venice, among many other places,. The castle belongs to Mary de Rachewiltz, the daughter of American poet, Ezra Pound, and serves as an international Pound study center as well as the home of a museum of alpine agricultural history. Students study Pound's poetry with Mary, and Agro-archaeology and Medieval Saints and Heroes with her son, Siegfried de Rachewiltz, to take advantage of the castle's setting in the historically rich, bilingual and multicultural South Tyrol region. There is no foreign language requirement, but students are encouraged to study German or Italian on their own before going.
The castle "croft" can accommodate fourteen Guilford students. For meals students shop in the village of Dorf Tirol, using a stipend provided by the program, and do their own cooking.
The semester involves many short trips, often by foot, in the South Tyrol region. In addition there are excursions to major cities such as Rome, or Florence, or Vienna or Venice depending upon the plans for a particular year.
NOTE: At present, this program operates every other year only (spring semester of odd-numbered years).
The Courses
Students must take a minimum of 13 credit hours from the following list:
Orientation : (GST 250) Introduction to the historical background of the area, the problems related to the German-Italian cultures in the South Tyrol, and issues pertaining to Ezra Pound. Also focuses on observation skills, coping with culture shock, and adapting to another culture. (1 credit; required )
Saints and Heroes of the Middle Ages : (HIS 250) An examination of medieval culture through a study of the cult of the Saints, Christian iconography and epic poetry. This course uses the Brunnenburg Castle as well as surrounding churches, cathedrals, monasteries and other castles for the study. (4 credits, required ) Siegfried de Rachewiltz
Agro-Archeaology : (SOAN 250) An introduction to the history and prehistory of agriculture, drawing from the resources of the Tyrolean Alps. Biweekly field trips. An examination of the impact of changes in agriculture on the social and religious realm as reflected in myth, legends, customs, and beliefs. (4 credits, required ) Siegfried de Rachewiltz
Ezra Pound's The Cantos : (ENG 250) A study of Pound's poetry with special emphasis on his epic poem, The Cantos . The analysis relates history to the various cantos, and addresses questions about the relationship between The Cantos and Pound's vision of politics and economics. (4 credits, required ) Mary de Rachewiltz
An additional course will be offered in the faculty leader's area of expertise. This course will change with each semester program. (4 credits)
Expenses
The basic cost of the Semester in Brunnenburg, from late January through early May, is usually the equivalent of a full residential semester at Guilford in Greensboro, plus airfare. (Unfavorable exchange rates may require the addition of a surcharge in order to maintain the quality of the program.) This includes all instruction, fees, housing, program-related travel, and meals. Additional expenses will depend upon your own preferences. All federal, state, and college financial assistance, with the exception of work-study funds, is applicable to the Spring Semester in Brunnenburg. Competitive Board of Visitors scholarships are available to defray travel expenses.
Application *
If you will be a sophomore, junior or senior next spring, you are invited to pick up an application form from either the Guilford faculty leader or the Office of Study Abroad Programs located in the International Center. The faculty leader will begin interviewing applicants after the application deadline of September 15.
* Students must have special permission from the Study Abroad Director to participate in more than one semester abroad program.
The Program in Siena
Located in the central Tuscany region of Italy, Siena lies about 30 miles south of Florence. Siena became an important center for banking for a time in the 13th century, and relative prosperity despite wars and plague outbreaks allowed the city to build the numerous beautiful churches, towers, palaces,
and fountains that still grace its central portion. The city’s ancient character remains unspoiled; building within the city walls was essentially suspended in the 16th century. A provincial town (population 54,147 in 2006) characterized by its beautiful art and architecture, the city serves as a market town for the surrounding agricultural region.
Our program in collaboration with the Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci offers Guilford students a unique opportunity for twelve and one half weeks of focused arts education in Siena, a medieval city in the heart of Tuscany, which has carefully preserved its art, architecture, and old traditions. Set apart from the more frenzied life of larger urban centers, Siena is renowned for its "atmosfera particolare,” and also ideally situated for the fuller exploration of Italy: 1 hour from Florence, 3 hours from Rome, and less than 5 hours from Venice. This location guarantees an experience rich in primary source material and conducive to extensive experiential learning.
Students live with carefully selected local host families in double rooms with half-board (breakfast and dinner). In this intimate setting, they are able to practice the language in a real life situation and interact socially and culturally with their hosts. Students are responsible for their own lunches and a modest stipend is provided for this purpose, as is the case in other study abroad programs.
The Siena program is open to students majoring in any field, though at least two of the course offerings have an arts focus. Students study Italian, becoming proficient at the level of a first-semester college course. Courses taught by Guilford faculty-in-residence incorporate the history and resources of Siena and its environs.
Information about the Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci is available on Facebook (search for "Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci: Learn Italian in Siena") and on their own website.
The Courses
Art History -- Art and Spirituality: Treasures of Florence and Siena.
Throughout centuries, Tuscan artists have created works to celebrate the sacred, overcome fear of the unknown, and rejoice in the beauty of life and faith. This course studies spirituality through the physicality of the arts in an interdisciplinary way. We examine frescoes, sculptures, paintings, music, festivals and landscapes and look at the question, “How did artists from different social, religious, and 
political backgrounds express the battle between mind, body and soul?” This course is a journey through the mystery of faith and spirituality and their material representation, both theoretical and practical. The lessons ‘sul campo’ (in a real context) are essential part of the course. (4 credits.)
Music History
This course will take advantage of the numerous concerts at Music Academy housed in Palazzo Chigi Saracini or other locations in nearby Tuscan towns. The instructor surveys upcoming offerings and weaves together a course of instruction that provides students with an historical and aesthetic context for live concerts, which the class would attend. The course engages students in critical listening shaped by knowledge of artistic trends, influences, and techniques with a dawning awareness of the developing and evolving literature of music across time. (4 credits).
Italian Language Study
Classes at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci develop all language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) so that students have a complete language experience. The school’s approach uses a natural, interactive environment guided by grammar, and rooted in conversation and reading. Teachers conduct all lessons in italiano from the beginning, but students receive the tools necessary to participate and to ask questions. Proficiency is divided into five levels (Principianti, Elementare, Intermedio, Avanzato, Superiore) with two steps in each level. Given the absence of Italian language study at Guilford College, the Siena program assumes that all students will begin language study at the entry level, with possible exceptions for students with a history of prior study. Fulfills the college foreign language requirement. (4 credits.)
Expenses
The basic cost of the Semester in Siena, from late August through early December, is usually the equivalent of a full residential semester at Guilford in Greensboro, plus airfare. (Unfavorable exchange rates may require the addition of a surcharge in order to maintain the quality of the program.) 
This includes all instruction, fees, housing, program-related travel, and meals. Additional expenses will depend upon your own preferences. All federal, state, and college financial assistance, with the exception of work-study funds, is applicable to the Fall Semester in Siena. Competitive Board of Visitors scholarships are available to defray travel expenses.
Application *
If you will be a sophomore, junior or senior next spring, you are invited to pick up an application form from either the Guilford faculty leader or the Office of Study Abroad Programs located in the International Center. The faculty leader will begin interviewing applicants after the application deadline early in February.
* Students must have special permission from the Study Abroad Director to participate in more than one semester abroad program.