Five CHC students and a CHC faculty member recently returned from what is hoped to be the inaugural summer study abroad trip to Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy.
David Cardamone (SUS, ’21), Dominick Fratto (SUS, ’21), Joseph Goodman (SCPS, ’20), Mykayla Milchling (SUS, ’21), and Takima Wilkins (SUS, ’20) earned 3 credits at Cattolica in a two week accelerated course called “International Order and World Politics.” 
The course was co-taught in English by the chaperone of the trip, CHC Associate Professor of Political Science, Dr. Jacqueline Reich, and Cattolica Lecturer in International Relations, Dr. Alessandro Quarenghi.
Reich and Quarenghi have an on-going online pedagogical relationship where each semester they develop an interview experience for the students in their respective courses. In this way, they are expanding global learning via electronic media at CHC and Cattolica’s campuses. Given Reich and Quarenghi’s already-established familiarity with each other’s teaching styles, Cattolica reached out to CHC’s Global Education Office in August 2018 to request that Reich inaugurate the first of what is hoped to be yearly trips by CHC to Cattolica’s campus for a summer study abroad experience.
“Students have an interest in studying abroad,” said Reich, “but cannot always afford to be away for an entire semester. This two week study-abroad opportunity is a useful option for students to study in an international setting, all while still having time to work and earn money during the summer.”
Student athletes, who often are committed to team practices and games for the entire academic year, also find this summer study-abroad opportunity to be enticing, as was the case for Mykayla Milchling on CHC’s volleyball team.
Students from all majors were encouraged to apply for the study abroad trip, and the group of five students who participated in this year’s Milan trip came from the majors of business administration, global affairs, political science, and psychology.
Università Cattolica is an articulation partner with CHC, and so the study-abroad credits easily transferred to CHC. Class was held at Cattolica’s beautiful campus in Milan’s city center which was established in 1921 on the grounds of a former Catholic monastery. Cattolica’s campus retains the cloistered squares and various monuments of bygone days, some of which date back to the time of the Roman Empire, which added to the beauty and international character of the study experience.
In the classroom, students benefitted from hearing the views of other Americans as well as international students from Australia and Mexico. They also had the chance to absorb insights about world politics from both an American (Reich) and a European (Quarenghi) perspective.
Reich and the students stayed in student housing that included kitchenettes, so they were able to keep the cost of their meals down. They had fun shopping for ingredients at the local supermarket and soon became masters of the Milan Metro for commuting to and from campus. In their free time, CHC students bonded with other international students studying at Cattolica. They took in the sites of Milan as well as made day trips to destinations in Milan’s province of Lombardy, including nearby Lake Como.
“All in all, it was an intellectually invigorating and culturally wonderful time,” said Reich, “If we had a complaint, it was that the trip was too short!”
Reflection and photos provided by Jacki Reich
