Umbra alumni can now join our group on LinkedIn! By joining this group, former students will have access to discussion forums, connections to past alumni, and any jobs posted by Umbra alumni. It’s a great way to make professional connections and find support in job searches. The group can be found by searching for “Umbra Institute Alumni” on LinkedIn or following this link.
For alumni who join our group, there is space to insert their experience abroad in the Education section which can attract future employers! Students can simply write “The Umbra Institute” for the school name.
Interested? We’ve even provided a sample description students can write for the Umbra Institute to attract employers (changed based on personal experience): “I studied in the General Studies Program at the Umbra Institute with a focus in Art History. During my semester abroad, I reached a conversational level in Italian, participated in a service learning project in the Perugia, Italy community, and practiced skills in cross-cultural communication.”
Don’t forget to describe your activities at the Umbra Institute in your resume, too!
If you go into an Italian café and ask for a “mocha,” you’ll get a perplexed stare. The same will happen if you request a cappuccino after 11am. And what about the difference between an espresso in the ceramic cup, and a little glass one.* These and other topics were covered last night in the Coffee Workshop, one of a series of five food-related workshops that are part of The History and Culture of Food in Italy, the core course of the Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program.
Professor Zachary Nowak led the workshop, first talking about coffee’s domestication in Ethiopia and export from the Yemeni port of Mokka, then moving on to a word about processing and how making coffee is different in Italy. The workshop closed with a demonstration by Umbra staff member Mauro Renna on how to use the Italian moka coffeemaker, as well as tasting various kinds of Italian coffees. The next workshop will be next week, on the Italian pastime of the aperitivo.
*”Moka” refers to the little hexagonal Italian home coffee maker, not a coffee with chocolate. Cappuccino is only for breakfast in Italy. The glass cup is considered more elegant.
Students listen to the internship details at Alessi High School.
On Thursday and Friday of last week, the students in the INIT 350: Academic Internship and Seminar- Education course visited the two high schools where their internship will take place. They first met with teachers at the Montessori high school in Perugia to learn about the school’s teaching methods and what their role would be in the classroom. Students who choose this internship track will independently develop their own lesson plans and interactive workshops centered around Italian and American music, travel, and culture.
The next day, Friday, January 18th, students walked down to the Alessi Scientific High School to meet with Lucia Amico, the teacher responsible for coordinating the intern program at their school. After explaining how students would assist the English teachers in speaking and listening exercises, Lucia gave the students a tour of the school. Students in this internship placement will collaborate closely with two different teachers, offering them insight into different teaching techniques and engaging them with a wider student audience.
Umbra students with Lucia Amico, the Alessi High School intern coordinator.
These school visits allowed Umbra students in the Education Internship first-hand understanding of their prospective internship placements. Based on the two visits, students chose which school’s pedagogy and internship requirements interested them most, and placements will be made shortly!
Umbra staff member Marco Bagli relates an amusing (in retrospect) Ryanair moment during Monday’s Travel Workshop.
Umbra’s largest classroom overflowed with students eager to attend the Travel Workshop on Monday evening. Led by Umbra SIT intern Julia Bourque and staff members Marco Bagli and Caitlin Addlesperger, the workshop offered tips and tricks for traveling independently around Italy and internationally on a student budget.
After advice ranging from what to do if your passport is lost or stolen to how to avoid Ryanair’s infamous hidden fees to Couchsurfing anecdotes, students left the workshop well-versed on what to pack (or not), modes of transportation (check out this in-depth site about trains!), and inexpensive lodging options.
If you missed the Travel Workshop, stop by the front desk and pick up an Umbra packet of useful travel information and the “Almost All You Need To Know While Abroad Pocketbook,” a handy pocket-sized guide to student travel from Weekend Student Adventures, the company of travel writer Rick Steves’ son, Andy Steves.
Buon viaggio!
This weekend saw a flurry of Umbra activities to further orient the recently-arrived students.
Flavio Orsini demonstrates how to weave a basket at his countryside Slow Food farm on Saturday.
Saturday morning, students enrolled through Arcadia University visited the Umbrian countryside farm run by Flavio Orsini and his family. The farm, located near Lake Trasimeno, is a Slow Food establishment: Everything served was harvested, raised, and prepared on the farm. After a tour, Umbra students learned to make pasta from scratch before sitting down to their meal.
The remaining enrolled through other universities and colleges met Umbra staff members at the Osteria a Priori in the center of Perugia, where they ate a long, multi-course lunch, Italian style.
Umbra Professor Zach Nowak points to a nook — or was it a cranny? — on one of the two Nooks and Crannies tours on Sunday afternoon.
Finally, Food Studies Program Assistant Director and Professor Zach Nowak led two groups of students on the Nooks and Crannies tour – “35 percent nooks, 65 percent crannies” – on Sunday afternoon.
The brave souls who faced the intermittent icy rain showers agreed that it was worth their chilly toes to learn fun “facts” about their new temporary home of Perugia. From knowing where the medieval stocks were located to the legends of the battles with the Perugians v. the Goths, students are now equipped to lead visiting friends and family – or classmates who missed it – on the tour of a lifetime.
Today ends the orientation activities and launches the first day of elective classes at the Umbra Institute. Buona lezione!
Umbra students enjoy refreshments during the Welcome Aperitivo at il Birraio Wednesday evening.
Umbra students, staff, and faculty gathered at Perugia’s il Birraio for the Welcome Aperitivo, a favorite semester tradition, Wednesday evening. Sitting on plush cushions or under exotic umbrellas, students enjoyed refreshments while sharing stories and plans for the semester.
The event was a success, according to Umbra staff member Marco Bagli, who organizes student events.
“We had a really high participation rate,” Bagli said. “It was the real first time when students could meet after they had already settled into their apartments. They could get to know each other in a less serious situation and meet the staff when we’re wearing ‘other hats.’”
Students will return to il Birraio at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, to mingle with Italians for the first Tandem of the semester.
A recent survey completed by more than 75 percent of Umbra Fall 2012 students revealed that the average student ultimately decided to study at the Umbra Institute to practice Italian in a smaller, more affordable city, enroll in the Food Studies Program, and still earn credits that will be counted toward their major – essentially, to have the “Italian experience.”
Umbra Institute staff member Mauro Renna created a word cloud that demonstrates the most prominent terms students used to explain why they chose Umbra in an end-of-the-semester survey.
General Studies and Direct Enrollment students filled out the survey during the last two weeks of the semester, reflecting on why they selected the program and what they gained from the experience.
Here are some comments from students on why after all their research they decided for Umbra.
“Perugia seemed to be the perfect location for me–big enough to not be boring, and small enough that I would actually get the chance to use Italian in my everyday life (unlike in Florence or Rome, for example). Also, the university atmosphere of the city, and the large number of Italian and international (not just American)students.”
“The variety of courses brought me here as well as the cultural experience.”
“The course offered I heard was outstanding and that they and the town provided a phenomenal study abroad experience that was completely unique to any others I had research. I also heard the staff at umbra was amazing which was important in my decision as well.”
“I chose Umbra (for) the chance to study at an actual Italian university,” one student enrolling directly at Università di Perugia through umbra wrote. “I really wanted to study with Italians the way that they studied, and Umbra was the only option I could find for that.”
“I chose Umbra because of the location. I wanted to experience Italy as a local, not as a tourist and it is exactly what I wanted out of my study abroad experience. Perugia is a great city, and Umbra is a great school with amazing professors and activities.”
“(I chose Umbra) because I knew that studying abroad in Perugia would give me the best experience in Italy because I would be able to be fully immersed into the Italian culture rather than living among other American students in larger cities like Rome or Milan.”
“It had the best option for me to go to a city that was small enough that I could learn the language and culture the best but also a city that was not too small that there would be nothing fun to do,” another DE student wrote.
“I’m happy I chose Umbra/Perugia,” agreed a DE student. “I loved being able to speak a lot of Italian in the city, and the professors were really wonderful, which is one of the things that originally appealed to me on the website.”
Freshly arrived from the U.S., Umbra Spring 2013 students smile from the Perugian steps before an orientation meeting on Sunday.
Umbra Spring 2013 students flew into Fiumicino Airport in Rome on Friday and have barely stopped moving since. After a whirlwind orientation weekend, the new students are equipped with furnished apartments, a guide to the many amenities of Perugia, and a full class schedule. Last night saw students wandering through the city center, enjoying the last night of Christmas lights and preparing for the official start of the semester.
This morning kicked off the General Studies Intensive Italian week, wherein students, after testing into the appropriate level, learn survival Italian phrases, visit the grocery store as a class, and tour the city. Elective courses commence next Monday.
The new students enjoyed the last night of Christmas lights before today’s official start of the semester (couresty of inperugia.com).
Direct Enrollment students met at the University for Foreigners early this morning to take their placement exams alongside other international students; their classes – held completely in Italian for the rest of the semester – begin tomorrow.
All Umbra students will come together Wednesday night for the favorite Welcome Aperitivo at 7:30 p.m. at il Birraio. See you there!
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