Senior lecturer Scott Toussaint and assistant clinical professor John Ledbetter guided 31 Clemson students on this summer’s study abroad to Rome. Three courses were offered including legal environment of business, financial accounting concepts and international business law. Students completed the initial part of the courses online and finished the courses at the Pantheon Institute in Rome.
Classes met on weekday mornings, leaving students the afternoons for study, sightseeing, and group activities. Group activities included orientation walking tours, an Italian culture and language crash course, a walking tour of historically notable Roman attractions, an Italian cooking class, and a rooftop pizza party. Rinascente (an upscale Italian retailer) hosted the students to a business tour of their Rome store and shared insights into their marketing and merchandising strategies. Students also took a three-day tour of Tuscany, visiting the cities of Orvieto and Montepulciano, and a business tour of the Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano winery.
Students developed several useful skills over the course of the Rome study abroad. In addition to learning important law and accounting concepts, they arranged and negotiated individual travel to and from Rome, demonstrated daily living skills (including shopping, cooking, and cleaning) in a foreign country with an unfamiliar language, and developed an appreciation for Italian culture and business customs.
