The University for Foreigners of Siena is expanding its international and cultural vocation with the launch, from the 2026/2027 academic year, of two new degree programmes dedicated to archaeology, art history and the study of cultural heritage from a global and contemporary perspective.
The new courses, one undergraduate and one postgraduate, have been accredited by ANVUR and represent an important evolution in the University's journey: the traditional focus on the languages and cultures of the world is now complemented by the study of their material expressions, from works of art to archaeological finds, from landscapes to archives and sites of memory.
This is an expansion consistent with the historic vocation of the Stranieri di Siena, but also a choice that looks towards the transformations of the present. Cultural heritage is approached not only as an object of study and conservation, but as a space for dialogue between cultures, memories and different forms of power. In a world marked by conflicts, mobility and profound social changes, understanding heritage also means questioning identities, the legacies of the past and the ways in which communities build and share their memory.
The two new programmes — the undergraduate degree in Cultural Heritages: Archaeology and Art History of the World and the interclass postgraduate degree in Archaeologies and Art Histories — offer an interdisciplinary education, grounded in the main archaeological and art-historical disciplines and enriched by language study, international cultural property law and a strong international dimension. Particular attention is also devoted to practical training and the acquisition of operational skills.
In this context, the experience of the San Casciano dei Bagni excavation plays a significant role, having become over the years a meeting point between the local community, students, researchers and international institutions. A concrete experience of research and collaboration that also represents the model of an educational approach capable of connecting territory, heritage and the international dimension.
"My generation," says rector Tomaso Montanari, "studied art history and archaeology without an explicit awareness of their social and political role, in the highest and least contingent sense. Now it is possible to do so: to study the past in order to change the future. To study beauty as liberation."
Preliminary information on the new degree courses is available on the official portal of the University for Foreigners of Siena, unistrasi.it, and on the orientation website dedicated to incoming students, scelgo.lastranieri.it.
