Preparation
This page contains some tips for students who have been accepted to the Venice Project Center. Most are aimed at the January-to-August timeframe preceeding B Term in Venice.
General Tips
- Take a look at the Wikimecum. It will contain answers to most of your questions about living in Venice, and will give you a feel for the expected outcomes of your project.
- PQP, which takes place in the term before your time in Venice, will take up EVERY free minute of your life. You might not believe this statement now, but every student who has ever done an IQP abroad will corroborate it. Account for this well in advance by arranging your course schedule so that it is non-strenuous during the PQP term. Plan ahead so that you are still able to graduate on time despite missing any required courses while abroad.
- Group dynamics are very important, and dysfunctional IQP groups can explode; as well as your sanity, grades typically suffer when groups break down. Take care of problems before they get out of hand. Part of your evaluation takes into account your ability to work through group problems.
- Read as much as you can about Venice. Start now and don't stop until you leave Venice. The more you read, the more you'll know about Venice, its circumstances, its needs, and where you fit in. It is a truly fascinating city, with an entertaining and one-of-a-kind history, and even a slight appreciation for its eccentricities will add immensely to your experience. Example: if you don't know what the most common symbol for Venice is (and why), you are not even remotely prepared.
- Begin learning Italian early, because you can't do it in seven weeks. You need to know some before you leave (e.g., to get to Venice from the airport), and worrying about it when PQP and two other classes need your attention more urgently is foolhardy.
- As with everything else in life, you get out of Venice what you put in. And frankly, why wouldn't you want to get the most out of an IQP in Venice?
- Some of the best advice can come from Venice Project Center alumni. Ask them about their experiences and projects.
Logistics/Financial
- Begin saving money now! Venice is not cheap. However, see A Pauper's Guide for Living in Venice for tips on how to save money.
- If you do not have a credit card, apply for one this summer. It's very useful for paying for train/plane tickets (online and in person) and groceries, and helps to avoid ATM service fees. Just don't forget to tell your bank you'll be using it in Europe for two months before you go, or they might suspect fraudulent activity and deactivate it.
- Get a passport soon if you don't have one. If you do have one, make sure it hasn't expired and won't within several months of your return from Venice. If you are not a U.S. citizen, speak with the IGSD about visas, etc. soon.
- If you are thinking about getting a new computer over the summer, strongly consider going the laptop route. You can sign one out from the ATC to take with you, but a laptop of some variety is virtually essential in Venice. Wired internet is particularly scarce, so being able to sit in a campo and steal wifi is a useful capability.
Personal
- Begin adjusting to the idea that this will be, to a great extent, an individual experience. Your perceptions will change, you will need to trust your instincts and rely on yourself for many things. You'll be in a group, sure, but at the end of the day, it's you that has to face Venice.
- Talk to your parents about expectations, experiences overseas, etc. They are very interested in your trip to Venice, too.
- Talk to other people who are from Italy, who have been to Venice before, and so on. Keep in mind that a tourist's experience in Venice will be very different from yours.
Early Preparation
Having been accepted to the Venice Project Center, you may be looking for some (voluntary) ways to begin preparations for their term abroad. There are few real requirements this early, but if you are interested, here are some ways for you to begin thinking about Venice:
Language
- Begin studying our Venice Project Center Phrase Book (hosted on the myWPI site under Italian Classes \ Word List). You will be tested on it during the summer and fall.
- Rosetta Stone works somewhat well. Ask around and you should be able to obtain a copy.
- Begin learning how to pronounce Italian words (how is ci- different from ch-? how do you pronounce gli-?). If tutoring is offered, or if you are able to take Italian classes at home over the summer, DO IT. One useful thing to come of this project just might be a working knowledge of a language spoken by more than 100 million people worldwide.
- Get a "Learn Italian" CD from your public library, make a copy or rip it to your iPod, and listen to it on your way to and from work all summer.
- Practice speaking Italian with a buddy. Make up some funny phrases, learn to pronounce them correctly, and have some fun.
- Use these files as a place to start with ideas for how to learn Italian:
Books and Movies
- See the Resources page.
History
- Look at Fabio's Venice History Powerpoints
- Most Venice guidebooks also have succinct, highlights-only histories in them.
Music
- Listen to Vivaldi, including his well-known "Four Seasons." As you do so, picture sun and rain, seagulls, gondolas and canals.
- Some other big musical names with connections to Venice: Wagner, Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Stravinsky, Da Ponte, Verdi, Handel, and Tchaikovsky.
- See what will be going to be on at La Fenice (Venice's opera house) when you're in town.
- If you like ska music, check out Ska-J.
Art
- Acquaint yourself with the names of famous painters of Venetian origin (and those that have painted Venice): Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Bellini, Jacopo Bellini, Canaletto, Vittore Carpaccio, Giorgione, Giambattista Tiepolo, Giandomenico Tiepolo, Tintoretto, Titian, and Paolo Veronese, to name but a few. A local favorite is Boston-based John Singer Sargent, who painted a Venice not very different from the one you will be visiting (examples here, here, and here).
- Search The Athenaeum (an online art gallery) and find your own favorites.
- See Venetian art at the Worcester Art Museum (free for WPI students) or the MFA (Boston).
- Highly recommended: Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston - a Venetian palazzo constructed on the Fenway at the start of the 20th century to house the immense, world-class collection of a Boston-based art patron and lover of Venice. Probably the closest thing you'll find to authentic Venice on this side of the Atlantic.
- (Placeholder for recorded Venetian art lecture by Prof. Samson)
Food/Drink
- Try Pinot Grigio/Bianco, Soave, Bardolino, and Valpolicella wines, which typically come from the Veneto region. Some producers: Bertani, Lenotti, Masi, Pieropan, Bolla, Fratelli Tedeschi, Maculan, and Tommasi.
- Go to an Italian restaurant (Via in Worcester is recommended - have your parents take you).
- Practice cooking and learn some recipes, since you'll be cooking a good deal of your own food in Venice (and for Fabio!).
Miscellaneous
- Look at Kyle's Venice photo gallery for some scenes of the 2007 Venice experience (and other parts of Italy, too). Also check out the Venice 2.0 Gallery.
- Set a Google Alert to hear about what's happening in and around Venice in the months before you'll be arriving.
- Explore Venice on Google Maps (or Google Earth), Live Maps, and on Microsoft PhotoSynth (IE required).
- Think about places you might want to visit while you're overseas. You can see the rest of Italy (Rome, Florence, Verona, the Riviera, Sicily, Capri, Pompeii, etc.) easily by train, and most of Europe is also easily accessible on discount airlines like RyanAir.
- Begin a blog, journal, draft email, or Word document in which to record things about Venice. What do you want to accomplish, see or do while you are there? What do you hope to get out of Venice? If you read books about Venice, you will come across things that you'll want to see and do in person. Write them down, lest you forget!
- Read Fabio's Venice 2.0 Blog.