November 2011 – Page 3 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Umbra Professor Antonella Valoroso went on Rai3’s well-known Italian radio show Voci della Città (Voices of the City) recently to speak about The Umbra Institute’s very own “Progetto famiglia italiana.” This experiential learning project, which allows Umbra students to make short, repeated visits to Italian households to provide material for cultural comparisons, has also given Prof. Valoroso a unique perspective into her own culture. She specifically cites a study done by New York Magazine showing that 85% of Italian men didn’t know how to use a washing machine, whereas the vast majority of American teenagers are all too familiar with them.

The Progetto famiglia italiana is an optional experiential learning component of Professor Valoroso’s normal course, Contemporary Italy: Culture, Society, and Trends. The project, which has been running for four years now, is a small part of The Umbra Institute’s larger community engagement plan, which also includes internships, service learning projects, and volunteer opportunities.

You can also hear the interview (only available in Italian) on the Rai website.

Yesterday was Halloween in Perugia, and here, as all over Italy, a small number of children spent the afternoon and the early evening running around in costume looking for candy. Dolcetto o scherzetto! “Trick or treat!” While the holiday is still largely promoted by the costume industry here, the “American” (actually Irish) holiday has taken root perhaps because of the decades of movies showing this October 31st event.

Umbra students wore their hearts on their sleeves, literally, as they dressed up for Halloween. Part of the festivities too was carving a jack-o-lantern for the school’s window. Italians were generally quite curious about the holiday, which comes just before Tutti santi, or All Saint’s Day, when up and down the peninsula people go to cemeteries to place flowers. The connections to the American festival are obvious, but an interesting post from a Tuscan blog writers gives some of the history behind them.