Welcome!
This experiential travel course offers doctoral nursing students an immersive opportunity to explore the Slow Food and Slow Medicine movements in Italy. Emphasizing the connection between mindful, sustainable practices in food and healthcare, this course aligns with a critical social approach to understanding health and illness within populations and communities. Students will investigate how these movements promote holistic well-being and ecological harmony, while reducing the illness-producing effects of inequities entrenched in social privilege and disadvantage.
Dates: October 30-November 9, 2025
For more information about this program, please contact the faculty leaders:
Dr. Andreak Simek: simek@augsburg.edu
Dr. Jill Oswald: oswaldj@augsburg.edu
If you have questions about registration for courses associated with this short-term study abroad program, please contact Colleen Hagerman in the Augsburg Nursing Office at tel. 612-330-1209 or hagerman@augsburg.edu.
Augsburg’s Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE) is very excited that your group will be traveling with us to Montespertoli, Italy! See Italy Predeparture for answers to many common question related to travel to Italy through Augsburg-CGEE. If at any time you need assistance with CGEE registration or pre-departure preparation, please contact Rebekah Menning Sapato at: sapato@augsburg.edu.
NOTE: Practicum participants must complete both course registration and registration with Augsburg CGEE by July 1, 2025.
FLIGHTS: Each person is responsible for booking their own air travel to and from Florence, Italy. Please wait to purchase your round-trip airline ticket to Florence until you receive an email from your faculty leader in July, confirming that there is sufficient enrollment in this practicum for it to run. You will be asked to book a flight to arrive in Florence before 5 pm on October 31st and to share your flight itinerary with your faculty leader in order to coordinate airport transfers. Airport transfer will be provided for those students who depart Florence on the morning of November 9th. Please direct any questions about flights to your faculty leaders.
This practicum is only available to undergraduate and graduate nursing students at Augsburg University.
Destination:
CGEE partners with Castello Sonnino International, a historical farm and winery that produces quality wines, olive oils and antique grains. Castello Sonnino sits on 150 hectares, in the heart of Montespertoli, the smallest Chianti sub-region just 20 kilometers southwest of Florence, Italy. Montespertoli is a small village within walking distance from the Castle with approximately 14,000 inhabitants, offering a farmer’s market, shops and restaurants and surrounded by rich grapevines, olive groves, and forests. Castello Sonnino dates back to the 17th century with a medieval tower from the 13th century and has been inhabited by noble Florentine families throughout its history. Today a portion of it has been transformed into an example of sustainable development for researchers, educators and students committed to preserving the environment and cultural heritage.
