Molise Italian Studies

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Italia
Rome
Molise Italian Studies

Adult Study Abroad & Community-Based Global Learning If Italy is calling your name, Molise (pronounced [moˈliːze] (i.e.

Molise Italian Studies challenges traditional study abroad and tourism models through the integration of holistic Global Intercultural Citizenship; safe, scaffolded, and individualized instruction and support; and intentional and sustainable travel. Molise IS a full slate of travel and education programs for participants of any background, including Adult Study Abroad, Digital Nomads, Italian Lang

uage training, University Semesters, and Summer Internships—all based in the small and authentic Italian region of Molise. mo-LEE-zay)) is a small, remote region in Italy full of history and tradition, hillside villages and stunning vistas, and kind, welcoming, hard-working people. Looking at the “boot” of Italy, it is roughly at the back of the knee, and includes a stretch of Adriatic coastline, rolling hills, and stunning mountains. Molise remains untouched by the bustle of modern tourism, which is exactly why it has so much to offer to reflective learners and slow travelers looking for an authentic Italian experience. Yet it still allows easy access to the world-class opportunities and sophistication of Rome and Naples. Molise is a model for purposeful living, an ideal environment in which to foster intercultural collaboration and exchange through Adult Study Abroad and immersive Community-Based Global Learning. Molise IS where your adventure begins, and it is waiting for you! Enroll in Adult Study Abroad or a Semester or Summer Internship now!

10/04/2026

Please join us Friday, April 24 for the Global Respectful Disruption Summit, a space to disagree and to agree — a place where diverse perspectives are welcomed, hard truths are spoken, and common ground is built.

As an Advocate Sponsor, Molise Italian Studies will also be hosting a virtual lounge break from 11:40-12 ET:

We all show up a little differently depending on the space we’re in. Sometimes we feel open and natural. Other times, we adjust without even thinking about it. This virtual lounge is a casual space to explore those shifts—what changes, what stays consistent, and what helps us feel more like ourselves. No pressure to share—just a space to notice patterns, connect, and reflect.

26/03/2026

Our friend, Magali Vilain has a beautiful guest house available outside of the small seaside town of Petacciato.

25/03/2026

What if your time in Italy wasn’t just about seeing it… but stepping into it?

This summer, we’re inviting you into Language in Action: Community & Culture in Italy—a 20-day experience that moves through villages, coastlines, and cities, grounded in connection, contribution, and everyday life.

You’ll spend time in Molise’s mountain communities supporting English-language learning alongside Italian youth through games, creativity, and shared daily moments. You’ll transition to the Adriatic coast in Termoli, with time on the beach, local community initiatives, and a full-day excursion to the Tremiti Islands. You’ll return to the villages for a second session of immersive programming, then close the journey in Rome—exploring the Vatican, Colosseum, and the layers of history that shape the country as a whole.

Along the way, you’ll cook, create, move, reflect, and build relationships that make the experience personal and lasting.

This is not a quick trip.
It’s a full arc—from local life to global context.

Come on your own, with a partner, or across generations. This is a journey meant to be shared.

🗓 July 1–20, 2026
📍 Molise • Termoli • Rome

✈️ All in-country transportation + airport transfers included
🏡 19 nights accommodation + meals throughout the program
🌍 Two immersive Britiland sessions working with Italian youth
🌊 Adriatic coast + Tremiti Islands excursion
🤝 Community engagement + local initiatives
🍝 Hands-on experiences like pasta-making and creative workshops
🏛 Guided exploration of Rome
🧠 Intercultural learning woven throughout
🎓 Optional academic credit + CEUs available

If Italy has ever felt like a place you wanted to connect with, not just visit—this is your moment.

Message us or visit https://www.moliseitalianstudies.com/adult-sa/language-in-action/ to learn more.

15/03/2026

Final Day | Following the Food 🇮🇹

Nine days ago, these NAU students arrived in Italy with a simple question:

What happens between the land (and sea) and our table?

Since then, they followed the food across Molise.

Pizza dough in Pesche.
Cheesemaking in Agnone.
Bees in the hills.
Pasta by hand with home-chefs.
Vineyards growing Tintilia.
Fishing boats and fresh seafood along the Adriatic.

But something deeper happened along the way.

They built community.

By the time the group arrived back in Rome, the photos tell the story. These travelers are not the same ones who arrived nine days earlier.

They practiced real bridging skills.
They suspended judgment.
They anchored in curiosity.
They navigated the visible and invisible layers of culture with humility, grace, and wisdom.

And the most beautiful moment?

The final day in Rome was a free day. They could have scattered across the city.

Instead, they chose to explore together.

Before arriving, the group also said a heartfelt goodbye to Carlo, our cherished transportation partner who helped carry them across the region all week.

This is what true intercultural exchange looks like.

Students leave with new perspectives, new friendships, and something just as meaningful: a place they can return to that will remember them too.

See you next spring, Economics of Gastronomy program.

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14/03/2026

Highlight Moment | Andrea Rossi 🇮🇹✨

Some people quietly shape an entire experience without ever asking for recognition.

For us in Molise, that person is Andrea Rossi.

Andrea was one of the very first people Scott and I spoke with when we began exploring Molise back in 2020. What started as a conversation about the region has grown into a partnership we are deeply grateful for.

For the past three years, Andrea has served as our Onsite Support Coordinator, working closely with us, faculty leaders, and community partners to shape each program.

His work begins long before students arrive through pre-departure planning with Scott, faculty, and local partners. Once the program begins, Andrea guides the group across the region, connecting students with the people, traditions, and stories that make Molise so special.

He also has an incredible ability to adapt in real time.

Plans shift, opportunities appear, and Andrea navigates it all so smoothly that most participants never realize how much care and coordination is happening behind the scenes.

Andrea is one of the most humble, knowledgeable, and compassionate people we know. The kind of person every parent hopes their child grows up to be like.

He is the bridge, navigating between languages, cultures, communities, and visitors with generosity and care.

Andrea doesn’t have social media, but we wanted to take a moment to say grazie anyway.

If you are an MIS alum, share your favorite Andrea moment or photo from your time in Molise. We know there are many.

Grazie mille, Andrea. 💛🌻

(Photo credit: )

13/03/2026

Day 7: Following the Food 🌊🐟⛪

Today the students followed the food all the way into the Adriatic Sea.

After several days tracing food systems through mountain villages, farms, forests, and vineyards, the journey continued in Termoli, where the focus shifted to coastal traditions and the economics of life on the water.

The morning began exploring the historic center of Termoli with our most cherished partners , including a visit inside the cathedral where students were able to go underground beneath the church, stepping into centuries of layered history hidden below the city.

From there, the group headed to the harbor to board a working fishing boat, where the captain walked them through the realities of modern fishing life. Nets, winches, equipment, and stories from the sea helped bring the coastal food economy into focus.

Next stop: the kitchen.

At , students participated in an interactive cooking demonstration with a local chef, preparing traditional dishes using fresh Adriatic seafood and learning how the day’s catch moves from sea to market to table.

They also visited one of the coast’s most iconic fishing structures, the trabucco ( ), a historic wooden platform built over the water that allows fishermen to catch fish without leaving shore.

From mountain forests to rolling farmlands, vineyards, and now the sea, the systems behind food keep revealing themselves.

And the classroom keeps getting bigger.

13/03/2026

Highlight Moment 🍝✨

One of the most beautiful moments of the program happened yesterday around a pasta table.

During our visit to Home Restaurant Nonna Maria, one of the incredible home-chefs patiently guided a student through the art of making ravioli by hand.

Slowly.
Step by step.
With so much kindness and encouragement.

You could see the moment where hesitation turned into confidence. The dough coming together, the filling placed just right, the seal pressed closed. Ravioli cut to just right.

No pressure.
No perfection required.
Just learning.

This is what experiential learning looks like in real time. Concepts like food systems move out of the abstract and into something tangible you can feel in your hands.

Flour on the table.
Local ingredients from nearby farms.
Generations of knowledge being shared across cultures.

And a student realizing he can do it.

These small moments are where the magic happens.

13/03/2026

Day 6: Following the Food 🍝🌿🍇🌊

Today, the students followed the food through the hills and all the way to the sea.

The morning began at one of our favorite places in the world, Home Restaurant Nonna Maria (). Scott and I never miss a chance to bring students here because the cooking is extraordinary and the experience is deeply personal.

Aprons on again.

Students worked alongside these incredibly talented chefs to make fresh pasta from scratch, using ingredients grown and produced on nearby family farms. Flour, eggs, olive oil, herbs from the garden. Everything connected directly to the land around them.

Moments like this make the system visible.
Where food comes from.
Who grows it.
How tradition travels through generations.

After the pasta lesson, the group shifted lenses and explored the Kalenarte MAACK open-air art museum in Casacalenda. Walking through installations placed throughout the village, students encountered contemporary works designed to reimagine everyday spaces and invite new ways of seeing the landscape around them. It was a powerful pause in the day, reminding us that food systems, art, architecture, and community life are all part of the same living cultural ecosystem.

From there the group continued across the countryside, rolling through farmland and hill towns before arriving near the Adriatic coast.

At a local winery, , students learned about the cultivation and revival of Tintilia, Molise’s indigenous grape, and how small family vineyards are preserving regional wine traditions while navigating modern markets.

The day ended with the landscape opening toward the Adriatic Sea.

From farm to pasta table to vineyard to coast, today was a full journey through the food systems of this region.

A packed day. A beautiful day. The kind students will remember.

Molise absolutely esiste.

12/03/2026

Day 5: Following the Food 🌳🐕‍🦺🍄🍝

Today the students followed the food into the forest.

The morning began outside Busso with one of Molise’s most treasured traditions: truffle hunting.

by expert hunters (and their incredible dogs 🐕‍🦺), the group learned how these prized underground fungi grow in partnership with tree roots and thrive in the clean forests of the region.

Watching the dogs work and seeing the truffles emerge from the soil at brought a whole new perspective to one of the world’s most coveted ingredients.

Later in the afternoon, the group visited , the historic pasta producer founded in 1912, to see how traditional pasta is made at scale using Italian durum wheat and bronze dies that give pasta its signature texture.

From forest to factory to table, the systems behind food keep revealing themselves.

Molise continues to be an extraordinary classroom.

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11/03/2026

Day 4: Following the Food 🐝🍯🌿

Today the students followed the food into the hills of Molise.

The morning began with apiculture, learning how bees support entire food systems through pollination while tasting local honey straight from the source with Fabio Battista in Agnone.

Then came one of the great Italian traditions: Sunday lunch 🇮🇹

At Il Laghetto, the group experienced a full regional pranzo della domenica with course after course of seasonal Molise specialties. Long tables, incredible food, and the kind of hospitality that makes you want to stay all afternoon.

After lunch they explored the beautiful historic watermill in Santa Maria del Molise nearby and, according to the photos, made a couple of very enthusiastic local friends 🐶.

And we can’t forget yesterday’s perfectly timed stop at .ilcorazziere, where Gina and Armondo welcomed the students with incredible warmth and treated them to a lesson (and tasting!) of one of the region’s most beloved foods: 🔥 arrosticini.

These students are learning a lot about food systems.

They’re also eating extremely well.

Molise continues to show its magic.

10/03/2026

Day 3: Craft, Coffee, and Community in Molise 🧀☕🔔

Today students stepped deeper into the systems behind the food.

The morning began at , where they watched traditional Molise cheeses like caciocavallo and scamorza take shape by hand.

Steam rising from the vats, milk stretching into curds, generations of craft alive in one room.

From there, the group visited a local panificio, , to explore sustainable baking practices and the role of regional grain in the local food economy.

And of course… espresso.

At , students explored the cultural rhythm of Italian coffee. In Italy, espresso is more than a drink. It’s a daily ritual, a meeting point, a pause in the day.

Later in the afternoon, the group visited the Marinelli Bell Foundry, one of the oldest family-run businesses in the world (and the bell makers do the Vatican!).

, craft, tradition, and economy all intersect here in Molise.

The systems are becoming visible.
And the conversations just keep getting better.

09/03/2026

The Climb to Pizza 🍕⛰️

Yesterday, the learning started with a climb.

Not metaphorically.
Physically.

To reach Bas & Co., students had to wind their way up the steep stone paths of Pesche, a breathtaking mountain village that seems to grow straight out of the hillside.

Stone staircases.
Ancient houses stacked into the mountain.
A valley stretching endlessly below.

The kind of place where geography tells the story of how people have lived for centuries.

And at the very top?

One of the most beloved spots in Italy.e.co is ranked among the best pizzerias in the country, known for its commitment to traditional ingredients, long fermentation doughs, and serious craft.

This experience isn’t something you can just book online.

The pizzamaking workshop was created specifically for students in the Economics of Gastronomy program with .

Students learned to build a traditional Margherita pizza from scratch using:
🍅 house-made tomato sauce
🧀 fresh mozzarella
🌿 basil
🫒 local olive oil
🌾 carefully milled flour and slow-fermented dough

Because this program about more than just eating great foodI; I t’s about understanding the systems behind it.

From grain selection and milling
to fermentation
to cheesemaking
to olive oil production
to the restaurant economy itself

Suddenly a simple pizza becomes something bigger.

A network.
Farmers.
Millers.
Cheesemakers.
Olive growers.
Bakers.
Restaurateurs.

All connected through a single plate.

Later that evening the group continued the conversation in Agnone over a beautiful tasting dinner at .ristorantebraceria, exploring the flavors and agricultural traditions of the Alto Molise region.

And of course, the day closed the way every day does on this program:
✨ reflection
✨ discussion
✨ asking more complex questions

Huge appreciation for our incredible faculty partner , who is facilitating thoughtful daily dialogue using our Comparative Studies reflection toolkit.

And to our amazing onsite coordinator Andrea Rossi, who keeps the entire experience moving seamlessly.

Day one in Molise.
Already unforgettable.

Indirizzo

Rome

Sito Web

http://www.moliseitalianstudies.com/

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