The university leads the teaching. We handle everything else.

FACULTY-LED PROGRAMS · MILAN - THE BUSINESS HUB

Faculty-led in Milan - Italy's capital of business, fashion and design.

Milan is our city hub for business, fashion, design, finance and the disciplines of contemporary Italy. Our Academy is located on elegant Via Durini, 7, a short walk from the Duomo and the San Babila metro station, right in the heart of Milan's design quarter. For U.S. partner universities, Milan is the city where contemporary Italy works at full capacity: the Stock Exchange, the headquarters of every major Italian fashion house, the design weeks of global reach (Salone del Mobile, Milan Fashion Week), Bocconi University, the Politecnico, the Italian banking sector and the contemporary-art scene (Fondazione Prada, Hangar Bicocca, Pirelli HangarBicocca).

Milan runs on a city model, different from the campus model of Florence and Mantua. Faculty members teach in our Academy classrooms on Via Durini; the cohort is accommodated in selected external facilities (host families, shared student apartments, studios, partner hotels) within 30 minutes' travel of the venue. There is no in-house canteen, but the city around you is one of the most varied gastronomic settings in Europe. The visiting faculty member retains full academic authority (syllabus, instruction, assessment, grading), while our Partner Desk handles housing logistics, ground transport, cultural programming, company visits and approval-ready documentation.

Considering other cities? See Faculty-led in Florence (campus model · primary hub) · Faculty-led in Mantua ("Deep Italy" campus model) · Faculty-led in Turin (city model, design and Slow Food) · Faculty-led overview (all four locations).

How a faculty-led program works with us

Your faculty members lead the academic vision. The visiting faculty member designs the academic content, teaches the discipline-specific course, defines the assessment criteria and assigns student grades. We are not co-instructors and we do not interfere with the academic plan: the credits belong to your institution. We handle everything that surrounds it. Classrooms and study spaces, on-site or affiliated accommodation, ground transport, field-activity logistics, Italian-language teaching at the appropriate level (where the project provides for it), on-site student services, cultural programming and integration with our resident operations team. Approval-ready documentation. See the Academic Approval Pack, the structured set of documents we issue to support curriculum approval, risk-management review, insurance review and your institution's study-abroad office sign-off. One Partner Desk, one point of contact. You work with a dedicated Partner Desk contact across the entire program lifecycle: pre-departure planning, on-site delivery and post-program reporting. No chain of vendors to manage, no fragmented communication.

Three phases of program support

Our Partner Desk operates across the entire lifecycle of a faculty-led program, from initial scoping to post-program reporting. The structure mirrors the standard expectations of U.S. study-abroad offices and accreditation reviewers.

Pre-departure. Academic Approval Pack tailored to your institution, integration of the teaching program with our facilities, faculty briefing, draft program calendar, risk-management documentation, health and safety brief, accommodation inventory and assignment plan, pre-departure orientation materials for students, visa documentation guidance, advance cultural-immersion planning. On-site delivery. Arrival welcome, airport-transport coordination, check-in to on-site or affiliated accommodation, on-site welcome and orientation, access to classrooms and laboratories, day-to-day operations support, weekly cultural programming, workspace for faculty members, 24-hour emergency contact, ongoing health and safety supervision, mid-program check. Re-entry and reporting. Final student debrief, attendance and participation records issued in the format required by your registrar's office, feedback session with faculty members, post-program report to the home institution, transcript-compatible documentation where required, partnership-renewal conversation for future cohorts. Continuing accountability. Each program is reviewed against the original academic and operational plan agreed during scoping. Variations are documented and shared with the home institution, together with proposed mitigation measures. For us, post-program reporting is the seal of the partnership, not a bureaucratic formality.

Program types we have run or can run

Summer programs of 2-4 weeks. Intensive faculty-taught programs on a single discipline: Italian civilisation, art history, architecture, design, food studies, contemporary politics, fashion, music. Cohort accommodation on-site or nearby; full cultural programming included. Study abroad semester with an Italian-language component. A full 12-16 week semester in which your faculty members teach the core disciplinary course and we deliver Italian-language teaching in parallel at the appropriate CEFR level. Optional integration with our long-stay study-visa documentation framework. Pre-semester language intensive + main program. Students arrive 2-4 weeks before the main faculty-led semester for an Italian intensive, then the discipline-specific program begins. It is the most common pattern for "Italian + discipline" cohorts aiming for B1/B2 competence by mid-semester. Custom short courses (1-2 weeks). Executive-education cohorts, MBA short courses, professional-development groups, alumni programs. Compact, high-density academic content, scheduled around the home institution's calendars. Full academic year. For institutions wanting a continuous study-abroad presence in Italy: a year-long program with cohort rotation between the autumn and spring semesters, with optional summer continuity. Hybrid and rotating models. Cohorts moving between two or more of our four cities during a single program, for example Florence (historical heritage) + Milan (contemporary Italy), or combining on-site weeks with online pre-departure preparation.

What we coordinate on-site

Beyond classroom delivery, the Partner Desk coordinates the program's entire operational footprint. The list below is what is included as standard; further services are available on request and defined during program design.

Arrival and logistics. Airport-transfer coordination · arrival welcome · check-in to on-site or affiliated accommodation · local SIM and connectivity guidance · public-transport orientation · welcome kit. Accommodation. Cohort accommodation in our on-site residences (Florence, Mantua) or in selected partner facilities (Milan, Turin) · faculty accommodation options · meal-plan integration · cleaning and maintenance coordination. Visa and immigration administration. Enrolment certificates valid for consulates · program and hours documentation for visa applications · post-arrival residence-permit support · liaison with consulates and the Questura when needed. Risk management and safety. Full risk-management documentation · health and safety brief · emergency-response protocol · 24-hour emergency contact · alignment with U.S. State Department travel advisories where required. Health insurance and medical assistance. Coordination of medical-insurance documentation compliant with the requirements of Italian consulates and the university · local healthcare orientation · general-practitioner guidance for longer programs. Academic operations. Classroom and laboratory management · IT and audio-visual setup · library and study-room access · printing and reproduction support · attendance recording · grade delivery to the home institution.

Optional academic enrichments

Beyond the core faculty-taught course, programs can be enriched with additional learning experiences in line with the discipline, designed by your faculty members together with our Partner Desk.

Guest lectures and conferences. Local academics, industry professionals, curators of cultural institutions delivering focused lectures, in line with the faculty member's syllabus. Joint sessions with Italian partner universities where relevant. Excursions and field visits. Visits in line with the discipline: museums, archaeological sites, company headquarters, design studios, regional excursions (Siena, Pisa, Bologna, Rome, the Langhe, Verona, Cremona). Logistics, transport and entry tickets coordinated by us. Internships and service learning. Credit-bearing or co-curricular placements at local Italian organisations (cultural institutions, NGOs, design studios, small businesses, schools), defined according to the program's academic objectives. Conversation partners and teaching placements. One-to-one or small-group conversation pairings with Italian university students for cohorts with a language component · teaching-assistant placements in local schools where relevant to the academic plan. Hands-on experience and community engagement. Practical workshops, studio activity, laboratory work, volunteering at local cultural and social organisations · structured community-engagement activities defined by discipline. Cultural-immersion calendar. Weekly evening and weekend programming: cinema, opera (La Scala, Teatro Comunale), regional cuisine, walking visits, food and wine excursions, sport, designed for the cohort's interests and Italian level.

Disciplines we have hosted, or can host

Our four locations, together with our network of academic and cultural partners, support a wide range of disciplinary areas. Below are the disciplines we have worked with most often, matched to the location where the surrounding city offers the best field-study environment. Other disciplines are welcome on request: we have run programs from environmental policy to opera studies.

Humanities and cultural studies. Italian civilisation · art history · architecture · Renaissance studies · museology · classical and medieval studies · religious studies · history of science · heritage conservation. Primary hub: Florence · also Mantua. Languages and linguistics. Italian language (A1 → C2) · sociolinguistics · translation and interpreting · L2 teaching · comparative literature · Italian cinema studies. All four locations; primary hubs: Florence and Milan. Business, management and finance. International business · management · entrepreneurship · finance · marketing · luxury and fashion management · sustainability strategy · Italian economic history. Primary hub: Milan. Design, fashion and communication. Fashion design · industrial and product design · graphic design · advertising · media studies · digital communication · visual culture. Primary hubs: Milan and Turin. Food, agriculture and territory. Italian food studies · Slow Food · wine studies and sommellerie · food anthropology · sustainable agriculture · regional terroirs · culinary history. Primary hub: Turin · also Mantua. Social sciences and contemporary Italy. Political science · contemporary Italian politics · sociology · migration studies · European studies · public policy · gender studies · urban studies. Primary hubs: Milan and Turin. Arts, music and performance. Music history and opera studies · performance studies · theatre · creative writing · contemporary art (the gallery scene, Castello di Rivoli, Fondazione Sandretto). All four locations, defined by disciplinary focus. Other / interdisciplinary. Engineering field visits · automotive history · environmental policy · healthcare-systems comparison · gerontology · historic-conservation architecture · service learning and community engagement. Defined for each program.

Sample weekly schedule - a typical day in Milan

Indicative schedule for a 14-week faculty-led semester in Milan with an Italian-language component, delivered at our Academy on Via Durini, 7. The visiting faculty member teaches the discipline-specific course at the Academy; our team delivers the Italian-language module and the Milan-specific cultural and corporate programming that revolves around it.

Morning, Monday to Friday. 09:30 - 11:00 · Faculty-taught course (visiting faculty member, classroom 1 - Academy on Via Durini)
11:00 - 11:15 · Coffee break at a partner café in the Quadrilatero del Silenzio or on Via Durini
11:15 - 12:45 · Italian-language lesson (CEFR level group, classroom 2) Afternoons (vary by day). Mon and Wed: individual study, faculty office hours, access to partner-university libraries (Bocconi, Statale) on request
Tue: guest lecture or curatorial visit - Fondazione Prada, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Triennale, Museo del Novecento, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Pinacoteca di Brera
Thu: company visit in line with the discipline - fashion atelier (Brera / Tortona), design studio, financial-services headquarters, advertising agency, contemporary-art gallery
Fri: city walk - Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Quadrilatero della Moda, Navigli, Brera, the Porta Nuova business district (scheduled according to the teaching program) Evenings (optional). Every week: aperitivo in Brera, Tortona or Navigli - Milan's signature social ritual, with the cohort in Italian
Every two weeks: cultural-programming event - opera at La Scala (in season), Italian-language cinema, design event
Every month: Lombard regional dinner with the cohort and faculty members Weekends. Saturday: optional day excursion - Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, Bergamo, Mantua (our "Deep Italy" location, 2 hours by train), Verona, Pavia, Cremona (roughly every other weekend)
Sunday: free for individual travel and rest. Mid-program trip (3 nights in Rome, Florence or the Italian-Swiss Alps) once per semester.

This is an indicative schedule for Milan. The final calendar is designed together with the visiting faculty member during scoping, to align with the home institution's credit-hour requirements and the discipline's specific learning objectives.

Pricing model

Faculty-led programs are quoted on a per-cohort basis, defined according to the institutional requirements agreed during partnership development. We do not publish fixed per-student price lists because cohort size, duration, discipline, language component, accommodation model, breadth of excursions and faculty housing needs all affect the package. The structure below describes what is included and how the model works; the concrete price is shared in a detailed worksheet during scoping.

Standard inclusions (all programs). Cohort accommodation in our on-site residences or selected partner facilities · meal plan where applicable · classrooms and laboratories · Italian-language teaching (where the project provides for it) · workspace and support for faculty members · airport-transfer coordination · welcome kit · 24-hour emergency contact · ongoing student-services support · Academic Approval Pack and risk-management documentation · post-program report. Optional add-ons (defined for each program). Guest lectures, local academics or curators · excursions beyond the standard threshold of 2 per semester · multi-day trips (Rome, Amalfi, the Alps) · internship placements · service-learning partnerships · conversation-partner pairings among Italian university students · faculty familiarisation visit in advance · custom recruitment-support materials. Models we adopt. All-inclusive per cohort - a single invoice covers everything in the standard inclusions plus the agreed add-ons. Per-student rate - fixed fee per enrolled student, useful when cohort size is uncertain. Academic + à la carte hybrid - discounted academic-only core with optional services invoiced separately. The choice is negotiated at MOU signing. Payment terms. Payment terms align with U.S. institutions' fiscal calendars · typical structure: 25% deposit at MOU signing, 50% at 60 days before arrival, 25% at program close · invoices issued in EUR with a USD reference rate · bank transfer or institutional payment methods accepted · final reconciliation 30 days after the program.

Past programs in Milan and representative cohorts

The faculty-led programs we have run in Milan with U.S. partner institutions span the business, design and contemporary-Italy disciplines listed below. Specific institution names and references are shared during partnership development on a confidential basis: contact the Partner Desk for a list of Milan references in line with your discipline.

Business and Fashion executive program. 3-week executive program for a graduate business school, 18 participants. Faculty-taught luxury and fashion management + lectures from Milan-based industry professionals + company visits in the design and fashion districts (Brera, Tortona, Quadrilatero della Moda). Accommodation in a selected partner hotel near Via Durini. Design and architecture summer. 4-week summer program for a U.S. design school, 20 students. Faculty-taught Italian design history + visits to Triennale, Fondazione Prada, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Salone del Mobile pavilions, design studios in Tortona and Lambrate. Workshop sessions at the Academy. Contemporary Finance and economics semester. 13-week semester for a Mid-Atlantic university business school, 16 students. Faculty-taught Italian and European finance + Italian language at B1 level + company visits in the Porta Nuova business district + joint sessions with Bocconi University faculty (where the partnership allows). Media, communication and marketing. 5-week summer program for a U.S. communication school, 22 students. Faculty-taught Italian and European media landscape + visits to advertising agencies, publishing houses, RAI and Mediaset headquarters + analysis-based field activities. Italian + Business pre-MBA intensive. 2-week pre-MBA program for an Ivy League business school, 28 students. Intensive Italian language (morning) + Italian economic and business context (afternoon) + field visits on Italy-China supply chains in Lombardy. Accommodation in selected student apartments near Porta Romana. Contemporary Italian art and curatorial studies. 4-week summer program for a U.S. graduate program in curatorial studies, 12 students. Faculty-taught contemporary Italian art + visits to Fondazione Prada, Triennale, Hangar Bicocca, Fondazione Cini · Brescia and Bergamo Capital of Culture sites.

The programs above are representative and anonymised. References, detailed partnership-scope descriptions and direct contacts at past partner institutions are available under the usual confidentiality terms: request them through the Partner Desk.

What our partners say

A selection of feedback from visiting faculty members and study-abroad office directors at past partner institutions. Full reference list and direct contacts available on request.

How to start a partnership - timelines

The typical path from a first conversation to the arrival of a cohort. The concrete dates are negotiated to align with your institution's curriculum-approval and admissions cycles; the steps below are the standard sequence.

1 · First contact. You contact the Partner Desk with a brief outline: institution, faculty member leading the program, target dates, cohort size, discipline, language component required, main constraints. We respond within two working days with an invitation to a first call. 2 · Intake call. A 45-60 minute call with the Partner Desk and (where relevant) the academic coordinator on our side. Goal: understand the academic vision, the institutional context and the operational requirements. We document the call in a structured brief that we send back to you within five working days. 3 · On-site visit / faculty fam trip. The visiting faculty member and (optionally) a study-abroad office representative come to Italy for a 2-4 day visit to the venue. We arrange walkthroughs of the classrooms, sample lessons, meetings with our academic team and a tour of accommodation options and excursion destinations. 4 · Scoping document. A detailed scoping document is developed together: program structure, calendar, integration of the teaching program, language-component design, housing plan, excursion calendar, risk-management plan, Academic Approval Pack outline and a draft pricing worksheet. Iterated until both sides are aligned. 5 · MOU signing. The Memorandum of Understanding (or equivalent partnership agreement) is drafted and signed. It covers academic scope, operational responsibilities, pricing and payment terms, risk allocation, intellectual property, data protection and exit clauses. Reviewed by both institutions' legal offices. 6 · Operational setup and recruitment. Joint launch of student recruitment at the home campus (information sessions, marketing materials, application platform). On our side: Academic Approval Pack delivered, accommodation bookings confirmed, Italian-language placement test scheduled, faculty pre-departure pack issued, risk-management protocols finalised. 7 · Arrival and program delivery. The cohort arrives. The three phases of support activate as described above (pre-departure, on-site, re-entry). A single dedicated Partner Desk contact throughout. 8 · Post-program review and renewal. End-of-program debrief, post-program report to the home institution, satisfaction-survey results, accounting reconciliation. The partnership-renewal conversation usually happens within 30-60 days of program close, in time for the next academic cycle.

Milan's regional context - excursion and trip network

Milan is at the centre of Italy's economic, design and contemporary-art networks, and it is the country's most internationally connected city (Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo airports). Programs can integrate excursions to any of the destinations listed below as standard inclusions or tailored add-ons.

In Milan (day visits). Duomo · Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II · Pinacoteca di Brera · Museo del Novecento · Museo Poldi Pezzoli · Fondazione Prada · Pirelli HangarBicocca · Triennale · Castello Sforzesco · the Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie · Quadrilatero della Moda · Navigli · the Tortona and Lambrate design districts · the Porta Nuova business district · La Scala (in season). Lombardy and Northern Italy (day-trip radius). Lake Como · Lake Maggiore · Bergamo · Brescia · Pavia · Cremona · Mantua · Verona · Modena · Parma · Bologna · the Italian and Swiss Alps · Lugano (CH, 1 hour). Easily reachable by high-speed rail from Milano Centrale and Milano Porta Garibaldi. Italy beyond Lombardy (weekend-trip radius). Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, all reachable within 3 hours by high-speed rail from Milano Centrale. Standard mid-program trip: Rome, Florence or a long weekend in the Italian Alps. Want a focus on another Italian city? For the Florentine campus model (primary hub), see Faculty-led in Florence. For Deep Italy semesters, see Faculty-led in Mantua. For design and food in the Northern alternative, see Faculty-led in Turin. Overview: all four locations.