Internship Seminar

Center:

Rome

Program(s):

Rome - Study Rome: Language & Area Studies [1]

Discipline(s):

Internship Seminar

Course code:

IN 395

Terms offered:

Fall

Spring

Credits:

Language of instruction:

English

Instructor:

Silvia Zanazzi

Description:

This weekly seminar is part of the IES Abroad internship program in Rome. Specifically targeted to interns, it offers them some keys to understand the Italian organizational culture, in order to make their experience on the field richer and more valuable. The seminar analyzes the impact of the Italian culture on the way organizations are managed (micro view), as well as on the education system and the labor market (macro view). Some of the weekly meetings are dedicated to sharing experiences, opinions, problems and solutions to help interns face the challenges of living and working in an intercultural environment.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, students are able to:

Present, describe and analyze the organization they work for and their role as interns;
Recognize cultural differences and their impact on management style;
Acknowledge the most important current issues concerning the Italian education system and labour market.

Method of presentation:

Lectures, class discussions, student presentations, field visits.

Required work and form of assessment:

Active class participation and presentation (30%); weekly journals (20%); final paper (20%); on site evaluation by work supervisor (30%).

Details of Required Work
Final exam: students are required to write a 10-page final paper following the seminar leader’s instructions.
Weekly journals: during the seminar, the participants will have to write a weekly journal about their internship. The instructor might assign a specific theme for some weekly essays. One of the last weekly journals will take the form of a photographic report.
Presentation: the last sessions of the seminar will be dedicated to students’ presentations about their placements and internship experiences.

content:

Session 1: Interning Italian style

The life of an intern: students’ experiences and reflections.
Interning in Rome with IES. Brainstorming on expectations and the “rules” of the program.
Working in Italy: cultural differences and stereotypes.
Cultural intelligence: a journey for life.

Readings (in the course reader)
“Cultural differences in bodily communications”, by Michael Argyle
“Cultural Intelligence”, by Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski

Session 2: The Italian education system

Structure of the Italian education system.
Higher education in Italy: the Italian University system and the recent reforms.
Education in OECD countries: a comparative view.
Some data on education in Italy and in the US. Educational attainment of adult population. Labour force participation by level of educational attainment. The returns to education: education and earnings. The returns to education: links between education, economic growth and social outcomes. Total public expenditure for education.

Readings
“Highlights from Education at a Glance 2011” (www.oecd.org [2])
“Mistakes in classrooms and at the dinner table: a comparison between socialization practices in Italy and in the United States”, by Laura Sterponi, Rossella Santagata (in the course reader)

Session 3: Guest lecture - Teaching in Italy
An Italian high school teacher will speak to the class about his/her experience in the Italian education system.

Session 4: The Italian labor market: problems and prospects

The Italian Constitution and labor rights.
The labor market reform since the mid ‘80s. The impact on society and specifically on the young generations.
The main issues about the Italian labor market: precariousness, gender discrimination, irregular work and underground economy.

Readings (in the course reader)
“The Constitution and social and labor rights in a changing Italy”, by Massimo Paci
“The difficult transition from employment regulation to welfare policies”, by Manuela Samek Lodovici, Renata Semenza

Session 5: Made in Italy

Tradition and innovation in the Italian manufacturing industry
The Italian “molecular capitalism”: a successful model?
Employment in the Italian SMEs

Readings
“Industrial districts as a local system of innovation”, by Giancarlo Corò, Stefano Micelli (http://www.unive.it/media/allegato/DIP/Economia/Working_papers/Working_p... [3])

Session 6: Guest lecture - Business in Italy
An American citizen with a long experience in Italy will present his/her view about the Italian working environment.

Session 7: Unequal Italy

Inequality and poverties in the 7th largest economy in the world.
Intergenerational immobility and intergenerational conflicts.
The aging of Italian society and the “young adults”.
Gender issues and the role of women.

Readings
“Gender and generations: social change, inertia and potential”, by Giovanna Altieri (in the course reader)
Adele Menniti, Maura Misiti, Miria Savioli, “Italian stay at home children: attitudes and constraints” (http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Papers/workshops/000906_paper01.pdf [4])

Session 8: The role of immigrants in the Italian labor market

“Transformed” Italy: from an emigration to an immigration country.
Immigration and labor inclusion.
The narrow border between integration and marginalization.

Weekly assignment
Students will visit Piazza Vittorio, a multicultural neighbourhood where they can observe how the various ethnic groups have settled and integrated in the Roman urban environment. They will prepare a photography report of their visit, with personal comments and questions to be discussed in class.

Session 9: Class discussion

The drift and the corrosion of character: literature and reality.
Long-term virtues vs short term virtues.
Labor market flexibility: an opportunity or a new form of oppression?

Readings (in the course reader)
“Drift” and “Illegible”, by Richard Sennet

Session 10: Field visit
The class will visit one of the IES Rome’s internship placements. A guided visit will be prepared and delivered by the intern who has worked with the organization for the semester.

Sessions 11 - 12: Final internship presentations
Students will have to present their internship experience, following the instructor’s guidelines. Each presentation will be evaluated by the instructor and by the class in terms of clearness and quality of content, communication effectiveness, originality.

Required readings:

“Cultural differences in bodily communications”. In Bodily Communication, by Michael Argyle.
“Cultural Intelligence”, by Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski. In Harvard Business Review.
“Drift”. In The Corrosion of Character, by Richard Sennet.
“Illegible”. In The Corrosion of Character, by Richard Sennet.
Massimo Paci, “The Constitution and social and labor rights in a changing Italy”. In La Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, n.1, Gennaio-Marzo 2009
Manuela Samek Lodovici, Renata Semenza, “The difficult transition from employment regulation to welfare policies.”. In La Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, n.1, Gennaio-Marzo 2009
Giovanna Altieri, “Gender and generations: social change, inertia and potential”. In La Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, n.1, Gennaio-Marzo 2009
OECD, “Highlights from Education at a Glance 2011” (www.oecd.org [2])
Adele Menniti, Maura Misiti, Miria Savioli, “Italian stay at home children: attitudes and constraints”, Institute for Population Research/National Research Council, 2000. (http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Papers/workshops/000906_paper01.pdf [4])
Giancarlo Corò, Stefano Micelli, “Industrial districts as a local system of innovation”, Working Papers, Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, n.6, 2007 (http://www.unive.it/media/allegato/DIP/Economia/Working_papers/Working_papers_2007/WP_DSE_coro_micelli_06_07.pdf [3])

Brief Biography of Instructor:

Silvia Zanazzi graduated in Economics from Bocconi University (Milan, Italy) and in Education from La Sapienza University in 2009. She also earned a Master degree in Human Resources Management. She’s worked as a training coordinator for a leading business school in Milan, being responsible for management programs, for the development of the school’s network with companies and for the improvement of placement services. Then, she moved to Rome where she’s worked in the fields of labor policies and professional training for the Italian Government.