Art History Abroad | The Autumn European Gap Semester Program

I can honestly say that my 6 weeks with AHA on the autumn gap year was one of the best experiences of my life. It would be almost impossible for me to pinpoint one highlight of the trip because every single day was packed with so many exciting activities, exploring new cities, their histories and culture.

To give an idea of some of the incredible things we saw I will outline some of my personal highlights from my favourite city: Florence. I loved visiting the Medici chapel, the San Marco convent, the contemporary exhibition at the Strozzi Palace and watching the sunset from the hill of San Minato. But this is just Florence!! To stress how much these highlights don’t even scratch the surface of what we saw, I am almost certain that everyone on the course would come up with different highlights of each city and would undoubtably struggle (as I clearly have) to pinpoint just one best thing about the trip.

As well as learning loads about the History of Art in each city, we had the opportunity to learn so many other things about the cultural history of each city. We went to the opera in Naples, spent a day learning about the Romantic poets in Rome, took part in an amazing gold leaf workshop in Siena, learned how to make pasta and do paper marbling in Florence and saw Murano glass making and rowed gondola’s in Venice. Our evening spent in St Marks in Venice was also completely mind bogglingly magical.

I also have to mention how special the tutors are to AHA. Their breadth and depth of knowledge and passion for their subjects had a huge influence on me, and transformed the way I think about, approach, and talk about art. They were truly at the core of the group. The way they taught us was always full of heaps of knowledge and was delivered with bounds of energy which was truly inspiring. We were also all really encouraged by the tutors and by one another to think for ourselves, discuss our ideas, and respond to the things we saw in our own way. Loads of my friends would leave museums and galleries with drawings, paintings, poetry, written responses, photographs and even songs, which responded to works we saw, which was a really lovely thing to see. Everyone learnt a great deal, and whether people had known anything about Art History before or not, it was really lovely to see everyone’s confidence grow and ideas flourish as the trip went by.

AHA is definitely a family and everyone got on so well. Almost every evening all the students and tutors ate dinner together which was a really lovely way to end of the day. And aside from the invaluable volume of things we learned, we all made some incredible friends - anyone who witnessed any of our goodbyes to one another on the last night would see how special the bonds we made were!! I have no doubt in my mind that despite how quickly the trip flew by, the memories and friendships I made will last a life time.

I can’t thank AHA enough for helping to catalyse a passion for History of Art as a subject as well as providing me with the academic confidence and excitement to launch myself into the many other areas of Art History I have yet to explore. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend 6 weeks on my gap year!!

The Art History Abroad Autumn European Gap Semester Program is a wonderfully enriching intellectual experience for gap year students. The Program's knowledgeable tutors teach the history of Europe not through dry lectures but through engaging and immersive "sessions" in which students get to interact with history in a first-hand manner through the art and architecture that they encounter. Art History Abroad also teaches students how to navigate life away from home effectively. The Gap Semester fosters a spirit of maturity in all Art History Abroad students. Aside from the appeal of the Gap Semester with respect to the growth of students, the 12 weeks students and tutors spend together in Europe are unbelievably enjoyable.

This semester was the best of my life. I had at least one moment every single day for three months where I could not believe where I was or what I was doing. The art and architecture we studied was EPIC and the people are EPIC. You learn how to see on this trip, observe and understand the world around you just a little bit more. It was so informative beyond studying art and history, you learn tons about yourself as well right in time before you head off to college or whatever's in store for you after high school. And the people are a constant source of giggles and inspiration. Go on this semester trip!

This program was wonderful and taught me a great deal about art history. All the tutors are immensely knowledgable, and having the opportunity to visit so many significant historical sites in person was an amazing experience. The course was also very fun socially, and provides a great opportunity to make lifelong friends. It is challenging and engaging, and is also a program that will certainly make anyone who takes it change as a person and grow. There were many different aspects of the course, and many different periods of art history were covered, making it quite expansive and informative. The quality of the information delivered by the tutors and the quantity of incredible sites that were in the itinerary, as well as the opportunities for social interaction made this a truly unforgettable program.

I attended the AHA Semester program in 2015. I completed two courses I fell so throughly in love with it. I met some of my closest friends from all over the globe that I still stay in touch with and see regularly. The tutors were extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic about teaching and inspired a life-long passion in art history in me....I am now an art history major going to university in Florence if that's any indication for you. I plan on becoming a Renaissance professor after I get my masters' degree in art history. AHA made me fall in love with art history and find what passion I wanted to follow as a career. The hotels and inns included are charming and quintessentially Italian. The groups and tutors always have engaging conversation over traditional, delicious Italian antipasti. Italy is a dream and AHA is too....don't wait, just GO!!!

This program was a dream come true. I made friendships that will last a lifetime. The tutors were amazing! I would wake up each day excited to see which new adventure I was going to embark on. This is the program for you if you are into art history and the European culture. Submerging myself into Europe made me fall in love with this continent that was so new to me at the moment. The best part of the trip was being able to take a hands on approach into different art and cultures. This trip made me more worldly and independent. I came back as a stronger person and I could not thank AHA enough. The overall experience made me grow as a person and has made me continue the path of art history into college in Florence, Italy. I will remember this trip for the rest of my life and I can’t wait to share my story with everyone!

I went on the full 3 month September throughout December trip, and it was one of the best experiences ever. Sure it wasn’t perfect, but I loved the “tutors” - the people who were leading us everyday and teaching learning sessions, and I met so many great people. I would recommend this trip to anyone who says they want to travel to Europe during their gap year. We travelled to so many cities: London, Stratford (English Countryside), Paris, Nice, Montepulciano (Tuscany), Rome, Naples, Siena, Florence, Verona, Castelfranco, and Venice. The first six weeks is a smaller group and then once in Italy- more people join- which was difficult at first because we had become settled into our original group but everything eventually calmed down and the groups integrated and we got to meet more amazing people. I would even recommend this trip to people who don’t particularly love art history- like me- because I had such an amazing time learning about it and it’s not even what I’m pursuing in college. Plus, the program gives us ample free time to explore the city for ourselves or just hang out with your new friends. Would go back in a heartbeat!

This was honestly the best three months I've had in a long time!!! I learned so much about art history, being a traveller around Europe, and about myself on this trip! And I made such good friends who cared about my contributions to the course and were simply some of the raddest people i have ever met and were amazingly fun whether we were learning or just hanging! I feel really good about being independent now and I feel like I learned a lot about Art History as well as brushed up on my European history significantly. Even though I've never had any formal training in Art history, I felt like the information was taught in such a great way that my lack of experience didn't negatively impact my overall understanding. Which brings me to the amazing, awesome, rad, super smart, fun, and interesting tutors who absolutely made this experience for me! They work really hard and care about your wellbeing and growth as a student and a friend. I feel like I am a better person for going on this trip and I would recommend it to anyone! Thanks AHA!