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The SITE Program (Study, Intercultural Training and Experience) is a paid internship program for English Teaching Assistants in the schools of the Region of Lombardy, Italy. It is an excellent opportunity for students or new graduates who wish to get a better understanding of the Italian language and culture while assisting the Italian teachers in their work. The program, established in 2005, promotes linguistic and intercultural exchange within Europe and across the globe. The program is open to B.A. students who are currently completing or have recently completed (within the last 18 months) college level Italian language and culture. M.A. or Ph.D. students program of Italian language and culture in a North-American university are also encouraged to apply.

The program is the result of the cooperation between Dickinson College, PA – which acts as the liaison for a network of more than 40 US universities – and the Istituto Tecnico Luca Pacioli, in Crema – which coordinates a network of about 40 schools in Lombardy. This cooperation is strongly supported by the Italian Embassy in Washington DC, the Consulates of Italy in the US and is made possible thanks to the active role of the authorities of the Region of Lombardy and the Education Office of Lombardy -foreign languages and culture.

Candidates of Institutions part of the SITE Network: For a full description of the position, applicants qualifications, and how to apply please visit the dedicated pages on the SITE Internship Program website: http://siteprogram.pacioli.net/home/documents-to-submit. The application process must be completed entirely online through the Dickinson College application link provided on the SITE website. After completing the online application process, you must go through an internal ranking selection at your institution. Please ask your Italian Instructors for details.

SITE Network Universities and Colleges: Your institution will do an internal selection and will nominate the finalist as well as one or more alternates. Please feel free to organize the internal selection as you wish. In the candidates' interest, however, please keep in mind that the SITE Program is an intercultural experience and can be challenging. The candidates must have excellent flexibility, independence, self-training and self-study skills, and willingness and ability to step out of her/his comfort zone. It is also recommended that your internal selection process include a demo class on a topic of your candidates' choice. A demo class will provide valuable information on their performance as Teaching Assistants. Your institution must then inform the Program Search Committee of the internal ranking by email at: siteinternshipprogram@dickinson.edu.

Other Universities and Colleges: Since 2012, only candidates from universities that have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have absolute priority in the selection of candidates for the SITE Internship Program. External candidates are also encouraged to apply, but will be initially placed on a waiting list. If your institution is interested in joining the SITE Network, please read this page: http://siteprogram.pacioli.net/per-le-universita-usa.

Online application for 2014-2015 is now open. Deadline: March 15, 2014.

[AAIS] SITE Internship 2014-2015. AAIS listserv (aais-list-serve@aais.info, 19 Feb 2014).