Arcadia Italy

By Professor Paola Cascinelli

The Arcadia Rome Internship Program is directed to students interested in combining academics with work experience while abroad. Thus, it is not just a job experience but also a credit-bearing course that combines classroom discussion and academic theory with meaningful community service. In class, the students are encouraged to exercise their critical thinking skills with a heightened sense of community, civic engagement, and personal responsibility.

In the field, the placements are with reliable and socially responsible institutions, organizations or professionals who are dedicated to achieve positive change in the community. Each placement, to greater or lesser degree, involve students in meaningful projects. They each require resourcefulness, responsibility and a mature work ethic on the part of the intern.

Some of our internship opportunities relate to: Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Media), Organizational Behavior, Computer Science, Cultural Studies, Business, Economics and Development Studies, Education and Education Management, Performing Arts, Psychology, Human Rights and Engineering.

In this Fall 2016 we have 5 students with us.

Bridget is interning at Roma Tre Radio. Roma Tre Radio is the college web-radio of Università Roma Tre, where Arcadia University is based. The college station was launched in December 2014 and runs a regular daily schedule of talk shows, entertainment and educational programming. The programs are mostly designed and hosted by students and geared towards the Roma Tre learning community. Bridget, under the supervision of Roma Tre Professor Marta Perrotta, is being trained as a director and conductor of radio programming. She is learning her way around radio production and live webcasting. She will also conduct her own show every Wednesday afternoon for the delight of the English-language populations of Roma Tre and beyond! Listen to her at Roma 3 International.

Lauren and Paige are working at St. Stephen School, an international high school for boarding and day students located at the foot of the Aventine Hill, one of Rome’s Seven Hills and a stone’s throw from the city’s great sites. The students come from all over the world to pursue their high school education in an atmosphere of scholarly endeavor, creative exploration and multicultural exchange.

Lauren’s work with Dr. Lauren Pope, the Director of The Lyceum, an academic forum dedicated to the Classics, matches her hopes to join the academic world as researcher. Lauren is compiling a sourcebook on the architecture of Rome, Ostia and Pompeii for a new unit in Classical Greek & Roman Studies.

Paige is assisting Eric Mayer, the Head of School, helping him and his staff find the best way to attract day and boarding students from international backgrounds, so as to further the school’s mission and dedication to truly international education.

Andrea works as an assistant at Joel Nafuma Refugee Center, a day center in Rome that provides services for refugees. The wide range of services provided there includes basic assistance, settlement services, legal support, therapy and interfaith services. The goal of the Center is to address the immediate and urgent needs of this vulnerable population. Andrea is assisting in the creation of a survey on Quality of Life for Refugees in Rome. As such she recruits participants, explains the purpose of the study to them and assists guests in its completion. In the final phase of her project she will help compile and analyze the data and leave the Managing Director of the Center an initial report of the findings.

Last but not least, Ethan is helping an American start-up in Rome. Young entrepreneur, Oliver Page, recently founded two dynamic companies: NutKase and Scooterino. Nutcase designs and manufactures cases and accessories for tablets and laptops; it is now an international company with sales to hundreds of companies and schools in over 35 countries. Scooterino, a new app to share rides on scooters throughout Rome, is a brand new project. Ethan is helping Oliver in defining his marketing and business strategy. Acting as Junior Sales Manager, Ethan helps sell Nutkase products to international corporate customers. Acting as Social-Media Manager, he assists in the launching of creative social media campaigns for both products.