EXEDRA Mediterranean Center knows how important it is to maintain high academic standards on study-abroad programs and works closely with the visiting faculty members to ensure they can give the best to their students. EXEDRA can also help with a network of local experts who can contribute as guest lecturers with their particular local knowledge, where required.
From the moment you set foot on Sicilian soil, EXEDRA will deal with all practical and logistical issues surrounding your program, from transfers from the airport and in-country transport, to accommodation, and tickets for sites. EXEDRA can help with ideas for excursions and activities and will ensure you always have a bilingual guide with you.
We deal with all accommodation issues, liasing with hotels and housing owners to make sure students and faculty are happy in their accommodation. Whether you prefer to stay in a B&B with your students or in self-catering accommodation apart from the group, perhaps with family or guests, we will find you the best place to spend your time in Sicily.
EXEDRA is very concerned with the well-being and safety of students. We have a 24-hour emergency phone-line for any urgent health or security issues and will always make sure that students are accompanied by bilingual staff-members during any sort of emergency. Students will receive guidance about health and safety during orientation, so will be aware of the support that EXEDRA will give them.
EXEDRA places great importance on valid extra-curricular proposals for faculty and students, because it is during these activities in which there can be a full immersion into the local culture and better opportunities to meet people. Activities can be sporting, such as soccer-matches with local students or unaccompanied minors from centers for migrants, or culinary, such as cooking classes or food and drink tasting at local ethical producers such as social enterprises that employ former prisoners or migrants. We propose volunteer work at the local soup kitchen or beach-cleaning with local volunteer associations, and try to help students find local contacts if they have particular interests.
Thanks to years of experience in the field and an excellent knowledge of Siracusa and the island of Sicily, EXEDRA Mediterranean Center can help you make your study-abroad program unique and perfectly-matched to your course content and your students’ needs. We will arrange appropriate excursions and fieldtrips both in Siracusa and around the whole island of Sicily, and we can also go further afield onto the Italian mainland or Malta.
Not only will EXEDRA support your academic program and course content but we can enrich the student experience with a range of extra-curricular activities, from cooking classes to volunteer work, language exchanges and outdoor activities like cycling. We are proud of our links to the local community and we are very keen to provide opportunities for enhancing intercultural competency by arranging meetings and social events with Italian peers.
To design your ideal program in Sicily, please write to us with details of the group size, period and length of stay, subject matter to be studied and a ‘wish-list’ of fieldtrips and activities. We will be in touch with suggestions and estimates so that together, we can build the perfect program for you.
