Identities, boundaries and social crossroads
Founded in 2004 by Director Miriam Grottanelli de Santi, the Siena School for Liberal Arts is a cultural institute committed to running semester and summer study abroad programs where international students become a vital part the school’s ongoing initiatives of cultural and social work.
The Siena School is the Siena Art Institute’s sister school. Just like SART, it offers a unique study abroad experience in one of the oldest and most beautiful university towns in Italy: Siena. Courses range from Italian literature to Museum Studies, from Political Sciences to Sustainability and Deaf Studies. Siena School for Liberal Arts students can also access a variety of art-focused courses offered in partnership with the Siena Art Institute, such as Creative Writing, Clay Sculpture, Book Arts and Metal Sculpture, as well as the special Athens-based seminar residency program Greek Arts Today.
As of 2025, the Siena School for Liberal Arts organises and manages the Siena Art Institute’s School of Liberal Arts.
For more information about the School of Liberal Arts’ academic offerings, click here.
Through the Siena School, students are invited to go beyond merely observing the life of Siena, but to also be drawn into dialogue with the environment that surrounds them. Classes provide the instruments and insight needed to make a connection and leave a mark, be it through what students say, write, create or perform. In this way students are not a mere visitor, but a real contributor to the life of the city.
Studying at the Siena School means listening to all that Italy has to offer and giving back to the city as you become a contributing part of it.
The Siena School for Liberal Arts’ Mission
The Siena School for Liberal Arts is committed to:
Fostering academic excellence
by choosing only highly qualified staff, being guided by the Standards of Good Practice of the Forum on Education Abroad, and accepting students only from select colleges and universities;
Developing social awareness and responsible action
by providing service-learning opportunities and promoting discussion about international differences in approaching social needs; by working closely with local and international groups addressing important issues such as Deaf accessibility and education, and socio-economic and environmental sustainability;
Encouraging multicultural citizenship and international awareness
by promoting dialogue between students and people from all over the world who live and work in Italy;
Creating an environment for the exchange of ideas
by responding to students’ ideas and inviting international academics, researchers, and artists to share their experise and insight with the Siena School, the local community, and the University of Siena through conferences, lectures, seminars, and workshops;
Exploring academia’s commitment to its social context in a multidisciplinary fashion
by working closely as a team with our teachers and staff to create a stimulating academic and social environment for our students’ intellectual growth;
Building international partnerships between European and American academic institutions
by working on collaborative research projects within Italy, Europe, and America, initiated by the Siena School in conjunction with our partner institutions all over the world.
Discover the Siena School for Liberal Arts Youtube channel!
