About Florence

Earn Your TEFL Certificate Course in Florence


"A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority"  – Samuel Johnson

Florence is everything you would expect an Italian city to be. Full of art, history, and amazing food, it is one of Italy's most exhilarating, distinctive and impressive cities to experience.

 

Situated in the heart of Tuscany, Florence is almost in the center of the Italian peninsula with main rail lines running in all directions, making travel within Italy and abroad quite easy. Even a quick trip to Chianti, located between Florence and Siena, will fill your camera with shots of one of Italy's most beautiful countrysides.

This enchanting symbol of the Renaissance has it all. Want art? Michaelangelo's David and works by Botticelli, Benvenuto, Cellini and Donatello are at your fingertips, as is the vast painting collection of the Uffizi and the sculptures of the Bargello. If you prefer architecture to art, the 13th century cathedral, the Santa Maria del Fiore (known as the Duomo), is just steps away.

Not all of the art in Florence can be found hanging in museums. The food in Florence is sometimes revered with the same intensity as its art, as Florentines are proud of their hearty fare. After enjoying some of the freshest foods in the world, you can indulge in gelato, the Italian version of ice cream.

Florence remains quite the same as it was 500 years ago, so take a step back in time and experience all that Florence has to offer.

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What better place than Florence to break down these boundaries between classroom and real life? Students studying abroad and professionals seeking career development are immersed daily in the experiences that nurture the soft skills necessary for excelling in skills yet unattainable by AI. The literature of Dante, the architecture of Brunelleschi, the art of Leonardo and Michelangelo, the passion for arts and business of the Medici are part of the inescapable presence every day in the city of the Renaissance.

Antonio Vanni, Academic Director of AEF, School of Arts and Italian Culture, commented, “In Florence, we come face to face every day not only with the art of the Renaissance and contemporary art, but also with the art of living. Florence is built around man; it’s a unique city, small and precious for the world. Here, Italian culture, style and identity manifest themselves clearly as a synergy and concert of the arts, architecture, music, fashion, food. Studying in Florence means being immersed in the harmony of all of its parts and being invited to love it more deeply.”

Connecting to human emotions and sensibilities is integral to education in Florence. While it’s true that other great world cities are centers for the arts, the unique topography, architecture, size, history, identity and overwhelming presence of the Renaissance—in addition to the ubiquitous essence of the Vitruvian Man—make the experience of art and creativity unavoidable.

Vanni feels that to study in Florence means to understand the words of Dante. From the Divine Comedy: “Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.” The virtue, knowledge and soft skills gained through experiential education in Florence may be our best defense against becoming irrelevant in a world of AI. Paradoxically, living in an age of artificial intelligence may be the precursor to a new Renaissance in which humans again “become the measure of all things.”

Taken from the article, "The city of Florence as a classroom, An answer to AI?" by Larry Basirico May 3, 2018 - 14:19, The Florentine

36 Hours in Florence, Italy - Video - NYTimes.com

 

“This is the fairest picture on our planet, the most enchanting to look upon, the most satisfying to the eye and the spirit. To see the sun sink down, drowned on his pink and purple and golden floods, and overwhelm Florence with tides of color that make all the sharp lines dim and faint and turn the solid city to a city of dreams, is a sight to stir the coldest nature, and make a sympathetic one drunk with ecstasy.”

Mark Twain 1892 Mark Twain’s Autobiography

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The Florentine — the English news magazine in Florence.

The Florentine newspaper subscription

 

 

 

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