Location

Palermo, Naples, Ischia, Rome, Italy

Program Description

This interdisciplinary Study Abroad program offers an examination of Organized Crime (and the Anti-Mafia movements) in Southern Italy, from two different disciplinary perspectives. Students may choose between 2 courses--one from a social science perspective (JUST 301) or one from a literature/humanities perspective (ENG 222). Assignments and some readings will be unique to each course, but the “content” of our travel experiences will be adapted to both classes. Both courses will examine the impact of this kind of crime on the culture of Italy, in terms of politics, justice, and daily life. Both courses will also have an emphasis on the ways in which women in Italy have been involved in and impacted by organized crime--as offenders, but also as victims and as activists/informers. Through reading, conversations with those involved in the anti-Mafia movements in Italy, and participation in events such as the annual Anti-Mafia march in Palermo (commemorating the assassination of Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone), students will come to understand the incredible impact of this type of crime on the lives of people who live in this area.

The program will take place in Southern Italy, with time spent in Sicily, Naples and the island of Ischia, with a final stop in Rome. These somewhat “less traveled” parts of Italy are among the most beautiful places in the world, providing a backdrop of dazzling beaches, spectacular mountains and countryside, and old cities to our examination of the ways in which the region is defined and influenced by the organized crime groups in Italy. Students will have the opportunity to visit places significant in the history of organized crime and the anti-mafia movements in Italy, to talk with activists, prosecutors, and journalists who have been part of the anti-Mafia movements, while spending time in some of the most beautiful parts of Italy.

We will be engaging with speakers who have lived and/or studied the Mafia and the ways in which it involves and impacts women. There will be visits to museums, historical sites and the like. Opportunities for group reflection, etc. but no classroom content in Italy. There will be a 1 credit course in the 2nd block of Spring 2026 which students should complete prior to departure.

We will have the opportunity to participate in the annual march in Palermo to commemorate the assassination of Giovanni Falcone.

We will be able to meet and talk with scholars and journalists who have written about and lived through some of the most impressive events of recent Mafia history in Italy.

Cuisine and landscapes are exceptional! In Sicily we will have the opportunity to lunch at several agriturismos and other restaurants which support the slow food movement.

This is the only program on the Mafia and the anti-Mafia activism in Italy. Our access to impressive journalists, scholar, and activists, developed over 10 years of running the program, is unique.

Location Description

We will spend a week in Sicily, followed by some travel on the mainland--Naples, the island of Ischia, and Rome.

Director

Peggy Plass | plassms@jmu.edu | Justice Studies

Laurie Kutchins | kutchill@jmu.edu | English

Accommodations

Housing will be in hotels, with at least 2 students per room, possibly more, depending on numbers.

There will be 10 shared meals during the program. Students will be able to choose their own meal options for the remainder of the tour. Breakfast is included.

Additional Items to Consider

Students should have cell phones with a SIM card that will work in Italy.

UNST 390 required prior to departure. 

Applicant Criteria

Applicants must have a GPA minimum of 2.0

Open to Freshmen, Sophmores, Juniors, and Seniors

Open to all majors