Syracuse Academy offers international educational programs aimed at promoting human and environmental peace, prosperity, equity, and justice. We are a mission-driven, values-driven organization dedicated to cultural exchange, community building, holistic sustainable development, and the belief that no person or place should be left behind in the pursuit of societal advancement.
As a Sicilian organization, we are committed to promoting the island's health and vitality, as well as the health and vitality of its inhabitants, institutions, and natural ecosystems, including land and marine biodiversity and climate change resilience, while also addressing regional and global issues.
We believe that international educational institutions should provide innovative, collaborative, and intercultural learning experiences while also attempting to provide major advantages to the local and global communities through proactive participation. Intercultural student learning and development takes place best within the framework of purposeful, subject-focused, and experiential education that also supports community sustainability, well-being, equity, prosperity, and opportunity.
Sustainable Food Systems in Sicily
Investigate the food sector's challenges and innovations in Italy and the Mediterranean region. We concentrate on global-to-local opportunities within the framework of SDG achievement.
This study track focuses on Critical Global Issues, as identified within the framework of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Each study track has a selection of one to five taught or research-based courses depending on the study length a student chooses: Summer Terms (4 or 8 weeks), Semesters (12 weeks), or full Academic Years (26 weeks).
Not all classrooms have four walls. All our programs are designed with the fundamental principle that we view Syracuse, our city and home, as a living laboratory within which students can engage with Critical Global Issues in real-life contexts.
With 2 state-of-the-art Study Centers and longstanding partnerships with local research and higher education institutions, Syracuse Academy serves as a gateway for international students and scholars to unlock the wide array of academic resources and opportunities available in Sicily and in the Central Mediterranean region.
Sicilian cuisine is bringing new life to traditional markets. Sicilian landscapes are as beautiful as they are fertile, from the coast to the volcanic slopes of Mt. Etna and the golden hills of the inland. The island was once known as the "breadbasket of the Roman Empire," and it is now home to award-winning wineries, olive and citrus groves, honey farms, cheese producers, granaries, herb gardens, and vegetable farms. Many of these are involved in cutting-edge organic farming techniques, sustainable and fair trade practices, and short supply chains.
Producers are reintroducing crop strains and varieties that were set aside during the era of highly processed foods, but have now been rediscovered and analyzed by Sicilian research institutes with whom we collaborate closely. They place Sicily at the forefront of modern food science and nutrition, as they are low in gluten and lactose and high in essential minerals.
Courses in this Study Track include:
- Mediterranean Food Systems: Identity, Migration & Labor in Sicily
- Field Research Project: Systems Thinking & Sustainability
- Marine Ecology: Fisheries & Biodiversity in the Mediterranean
- Ethical Business & the Antimafia Movement: Impacts of Organized Crime
- Italian Language and Culture