DOUGLAS — Students at the Illinois Institute of Technology will have an easier time studying in Italy under a new agreement between the South Side university and Politecnico di Milano University’s School of Design.
The Chicago school and the Milan school will collaborate on research and design projects and also make it easier for students to take classes across both campuses after Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed a new memorandum of understanding while in Italy.
“This partnership will keep Chicago and Milan at the global forefront of the search for sustainable solutions for urban challenges,” Emanuel said in a prepared statement issued while he is in Italy. “Together, our cooperation can develop and deploy designs for 21st century global cities.”
Leaders of the schools said it brings together institutions with strong roots and tradition in design.
“This partnership will bring together two of the world’s premier design schools to offer new ways of thinking and new system-level solution concepts for urban challenges and opportunities using the two cities as learning platforms,” said Denis Well, dean of the IIT Institute of Design.
The agreement will make it easier for master and doctoral level students study at both campuses.
The universities said they will explore offering joint degrees in the future.
