Greenhouse to Grapevine – Ana’s Semester in Perugia
Written by Mia Miller – Center for Global Programs Off-Campus Study, Assistant Director
Known as the “Green Heart of Italy,” Umbria is the region where Ana Gerhardt dove into food and sustainability studies in the Spring of 2025. Read along to learn more about Ana’s Semester in Perugia.
Finding the Right Program
As a Sustainability and Environmental Studies major with a concentration in sustainable business, Ana initially started exploring OCS programs that were highly experiential and very specific to SES. She was hoping to find a program offering courses that lined up with her major and had a close-knit learning environment similar to Denison.
While working with a professor at a greenhouse over the summer, Ana met a student who had participated in Arcadia Abroad’s ISI Perugia: The Umbra Institute program. The student was also working at the greenhouse and had the same major. Although Ana hadn’t thought of studying in Italy before, she became curious about Italian food culture and systems. She liked the idea of a more traditional classroom experience with experiential learning elements sprinkled in, so she decided to go for it. This program turned out to be the best of both worlds.
Classes and the FSE Track
The Umbra Institute is small and has similar class sizes to Denison. Taught in English and catering to study abroad students, the program offered a familiar learning environment but with a new and exciting curriculum and class excursions. Even the terrain felt similar, as Perugia is also on a hill!
While many students did the General Studies courses, Ana chose to do the Food, Sustainability, and Environment (FSE) track. She took Global Sustainable Business, Digital Marketing and Wine in Central Italy, Green Infrastructure, Experiencing Sustainable Italian Foodways, and an Italian language course. These courses worked well for her concentration and featured unique activities like observing truffle hunting dogs. As part of the FSE track, students also completed a capstone trip where they traveled as a group for a week. They spoke with local farmers, wineries, and food production facilities. In Parma, they visited the cows whose milk produces parmigiano cheese, toured the cheese factory, and saw prosciutto and balsamic production facilities. The FSE track comes with an additional fee that covers these visits and courses, which Ana believes was worth it.
Building Community in Perugia
She enjoyed Fridays off and had a bit more free time then she was accustomed to, which she used to engage with the local community and travel. While there were students on the program who felt that the city was too small and travelled most weekends, Ana took it as an opportunity to explore locally and make deeper connections. Looking back, she says that her favorite part of her time abroad was actually the community she built on the street she lived.
A 5 minute walk from her classes, her apartment was in a historical manor where royals had previously lived. Her street had a cafe, a local butcher, and a fruit shop. She would often buy fresh groceries for her meals or visit the cafe after class for 1€ cappuccinos. People eventually began recognizing her and her friends, would greet them warmly, and knew their orders. Although she didn’t know any Italian before studying abroad, she learned in class and practiced as she went. If she got stuck, the locals would help her in English. Through these daily interactions, she came to know the people around her and found a sense of belonging.
With that said, she still took the opportunity to travel on occasion. She started by visiting other parts of Italy, including Florence, Rome, Venice and Verona, before later visiting Spain and Switzerland. Even with all of her travel experiences, she is glad she spent so much time in Perugia because it taught her how important it is to build community.
Becoming an Arcadia Abroad Ambassador
After Ana’s Semester in Perugia, she chose to become an Arcadia Abroad Ambassador. Ambassadors share their experiences through blogs, social media, campus events, and conversations with prospective students. Ana became an ambassador to help and inspire others to consider Perugia, just like her greenhouse coworker did for her. Now, Ana is a recent graduate looking towards the future. As she plans her next steps, she believes that her time in Perugia helped her to narrow in on her focus within sustainability and learn how to build community.
Advice for Future Study Abroad Students
For students considering studying abroad, Ana encourages them not to overlook smaller cities. Places like Perugia allow students to easily visit larger cities, but come back to smaller communities that feel more like home. “If you love Denison because of the small community feeling, you can find that same sense of community in Perugia.”
To learn more about other study abroad stories, check out more blogs on our site here.