June 2013 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Acclaimed academics from across the globe are trickling into the Umbra Institute to collect registration packets for Bridges Across Culture, an international conference on the arts and humanities. The conference will launch its first session from 3-5 p.m. Thursday at the Ranieri Foundation and Umbra’s Via Bartolo location.

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Running through Sunday, Bridges Across Culture serves as an environment in which academics with cross-disciplinary interests meet and interact with their international counterparts. Lecture topics range from Dante to African Studies to the “Art” of War, presented by professionals from Wyoming to Istanbul.

Umbra is sponsoring the first-time international conference in cooperation with Washington & Jefferson College.

“These international conferences reaffirm the Umbra Institute’s role as not simply a study-abroad program for highly motivated students, but also a place where intellectual exchange and research takes place among faculty and scholars from around the world,” said Bridges Across Culture organizer Dr. Elgin Eckert, an Umbra professor who coordinated last summer’s Food Conference.

Conducted in English, the conference is free and open to the public. Eckert encourages Umbra students to take advantage of the opportunity. For a detailed schedule of the conference, click here.

In June 2012, University of Perugia students Matteo Agostinelli and Giovanna Di Matteo met and swiftly fell in love at Tandem, an Umbra-sponsored event at which American and Italian students trade languages. At tonight’s Tandem, the couple will celebrate their first anniversary. Read Giovanna’s recollection of their meeting one year ago.

Umbra students practice Italian with Perugian locals. — Umbra’s popular Tandem events allow Italian and American students to practice languages.

Once upon a time, a friend of mine, Manuela, called me and asked me to go with her to a Tandem organized by the Umbra Institute. I had never heard of it, but I was interested and had nothing to do so decided to join. I could not imagine how important that easy decision on that common day would be.

We arrived at 19:30. I was a little bit embarrassed because it was my first time there, and I did not know how to behave. Soon I discovered that it was a very informal situation. A seat was assigned to me, and I was acquainted with two American girls and an American guy. At the same table, there was an Italian guy named Matteo. At the beginning, I did not attach importance to him. I was concentrated on the American girls. It was fun, I spoke a lot with them. They could speak quite good Italian — I enjoyed the conversation!

Matteo Agostinello and (Photo courtesy of .) — Matteo Agostinelli and Giovanna Di Matteo met at Tandem in June 2012 (photo courtesy/Agostinelli).

After a while, the Italian guy started to speak with me. I thought he was quite strange but at the same time pleasant and funny. He tickled my fancy, but in that moment I could not understand why! At the end of the Tandem we rattled on. He was amusing, but I don’t remember what we spoke about. I can just remember a friend of his was speaking with Manuela about the Italian graduate system, but I was not involved in the conversation because of that curious guy.

Matteo asked me about my summer plans. I said that unfortunately I had to stay in Perugia the whole summer because of a job with the university. I was quite sad because all my friends went home during the summer holidays and I had to be alone. At the beginning I thought he was joking when he said that he wanted to stay in Perugia too, so maybe we could spend together the summer — now I know that it was true. He stayed with me during the summer, and we are together even now — and maybe we will still be for a long time!

Today’s Tandem will be at 7:30 p.m. at il Birraio. Come meet new friends (and even fall in love) while practicing your language skills. Don’t forget to wish Matteo and Giovanna a “buon anniversario!”

Sunhats in hand and sunscreen applied, 40 Umbra students and three staff members boarded a bus Friday morning, ready for the Optional Trip to the South of Italy.

The first stop on the Umbra Optional Trip was Pompei.

The first stop was a guided tour of the ruins of Pompei. Led by local experts Vincenzo and Natalia, students walked through excavated villas and shivered at the bodies of the ancient Pompeiians, forever encased in lava from Mt. Vesuvius’s great eruption in 79 A.D.

Next up was a visit to scenic Sorrento, a small, vibrant city along the Amalfi Coast known for its lemon groves and charming views of the Bay of Naples.

The group unwound at Hotel Mary in the coastal town of Vico Equense, where students unpacked and ate a deluxe dinner before exploring the beach, only feet away from the hotel.

Students ended the trip with a meal at the famous pizzeria Brandi, home of the margherita pizza.

Saturday morning, the group went to the port to catch a ferry to Capri. Students took full advantage of their free day: They took boat rides around the island, swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea, took the funicular up Anacapri, enjoyed the area’s typical seafood, and sipped Capri’s famous lemonade. After a (slightly more sunburned) dinner at the hotel, another full day was over.

Sunday was dedicated to Naples. Two Neopolitan guides led the group on a bus and walking tour of the city, neatly wrapping up thousands of years of history, pointing out places for the most authentic margherita pizza, and warning students to watch their wallets, at once.

By Sunday evening, the group was sleepily riding the bus through the hills of Campania, Lazio, and Umbria, happy to be headed home to Perugia.

Staff and faculty are steadily preparing for Bridges Across Culture, an international conference on the arts and humanities to be held at the Umbra Institute June 27-30.

Perugia--Panorama1

Hailing from Wyoming to Istanbul, academics and professionals from various arts and humanities fields will meet in Perugia to present to and learn from each other. Topics range from Dante to African Studies to The “Art” of War. Read the entire program here.

Sponsored by the Umbra Institute and Washington & Jefferson College, the conference was organized by W & J Drs. Amparo Alpañés and H.J. Manzari and Umbra’s own Drs. Elgin Eckert and Angela Tumini. Eckert, an Umbra professor, co-organized last summer’s Food Conference, while Tumini, a Chapman University professor, teaches a course for Umbra’ summer session.

Check the Umbra Blog next week for updates on Bridges Across Culture!

After its coldest May in what many locals declare centuries, Perugia is experiencing a scorching June. When students heard that Tuesday was Umbra Gelato Night, they swarmed Gelateria Veneta without a second thought.

Students gathered at Gelateria Veneta for Umbra Gelato Night Tuesday evening.

An age-old Umbra tradition, Gelato Night offers students the opportunity to mingle over free gelato. They may practice their Italian while ordering, chat about their experiences in Perugia, and sample the more daring flavors Gelateria Veneta offers (malaga, anyone?) or classic favorites (you can’t top the dark chocolate-coffee combo, in this blogger’s opinion).

Long recognized for its icebreaking capacities, the history of Italian gelato is particularly rich.* During the Italian Renaissance, the infamous Medici family of Florence held a contest for the greatest frozen desserts — most likely during the last June with temperatures stretching humidly into the 90s F, like today’s. A chicken farmer named Ruggeri won with his frozen blend of sweet fruit juice and ice, more a sorbet, really.

Umbra student Haemee Kang enjoys a refreshing cone.

We can thank the Florentine Bernardo Buontalenti for improving on the dessert (that’s right, sorbet lovers). In the late 1500s, the Medici commissioned Buontalenti to prepare a feast for the King of Spain. For dessert, he whipped up a creamier version of Ruggeri’s dessert: the first real gelato.

Strolling down Corso Vannucci centuries later, Umbra students licked their cones in the warm evening breeze, enjoying the dessert of kings.

*Thank you, whygelato.com, for the history of gelato.

In early June, the Umbra Institute hosted a class from Ohio Wesleyan University. With the assistance of Umbra Food Studies Program Coordinator Elisa Ascione, OWU Professor Dr. Christopher Fink taught his students that food — especially in Italy — is “more than just a meal.”

Ohio Wesleyan students visit a cheese cooperative in Perugia while hosted by the Umbra Institute Food Studies Program. (Photo courtesy of OWU Professor Christopher Fink.)

The group visited Perugia as part of a two-week, travel-learning component to Fink’s course, “A Qualitative Investigation of Food Philosophies and Traditions.” During the spring semester in Ohio, students observed markets and collected oral stories of food traditions. In May, they continued their studies while traveling around Italy, rounding out their experience at Umbra.

“By taking this class, I’ve been able to experience things I would have never been able to if I came to Italy on my own,” OWU student Sara Scinto said. “We’re living what we’ve studied.”

FSP Coordinator Elisa Ascione organized many — FSP Coordinator Elisa Ascione

The students learned about — experienced — the cultural importance of Italian food traditions, contrasting their market observations in the U.S. with parallel sites in Italy. Ascione arranged educational outings designed to educate the class about Umbrian food, including a cooking lesson; visits to a cheese cooperative, farmers’ markets, and a winery; and olive oil and pizza workshops.

“I think that the students really saw the theory-into-practice concept at work during our time in Italy, specifically in Perugia,” Fink said. “The field validation of our course concepts was really invaluable to reinforce the complex nature of food, culture, and tradition.”

Over sangria and snacks, 50 Italians and Americans bonded over linguistic and cultural differences and similarities during the first Tandem of the summer semester at il Birraio Wednesday evening.

Tandem is an event that brings Umbra students and Italian locals together to exchange languages, compare cultural practices, and forge friendships. An Umbra Italian professor guides the group in conversation topics if needed, but the setting remains informal. From beginner to advanced, the language ability varies for both the Italian and American participants, making for an ideal exchange.

“(Last night’s) was the best Tandem we’ve ever had,” said Marco Bagli, the Umbra staff member who coordinates the exchanges. “We had an amazing balance of American and Italian students. Just from looking at people’s faces, you could see that they were really having a good time.”

Open to Umbra students enrolled in an Italian course and Italians who want to practice English, the next Tandem will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 26 at il Birraio.

Last night, students wandered down twisting streets to find Pizza e Musica, a hidden Perugia pizzeria that once served as a convent, and participate in the favorite Umbra Pizza Workshop.

Umbra staff members Julie Falk and Laura Fronduti shattered more than a few preconceptions when theyrevealed that pizza is not of Italian origins (the Egyptians were all about leavened breads hundreds of years earlier) during their brief talk on pizza history and its significance to the Italian culture.

Students then explored the art of pizza, guided by Austrian pizzaiolo (pizza-maker) David. His audience ooh-ed and ahh-ed as David tossed the dough in the air and easily drizzled olive oil, painted fresh tomato sauce, and sprinkled mozzarella and basil — the makings of a classic margarita pizza.

“But here’s the tricky part,” David said as he reached for his padella, or pizza shovel (yes, that’s what it’s officially called), deftly scooped up his creation, and slid it deep into the recesses of the wood-fired oven. With the right wood — oak is popular, though olive is preferred — and level of flame, the perfect pizza may be cooked between 90 seconds and three minutes.

Not without trepidation, the Umbra students donned their pizzaiolo aprons, washed their hands, and let the pizza tell them what to do. Their self-made pizzas ranged from a basic caprese to Franken-pizzas with prosciutto, eggplant, and extra olive oil.

The warm evening ended with the surprise of Nutella pizza for dessert on Pizza e Musica’s vine-encased veranda.

Wednesday evening, a group of Umbra Institute students boned up on their dinner party conversation at a wine tasting at Énonè, a favorite Perugian enoteca.

With the guidance of longtime sommelier Silvia Bartolini, the students learned to analyze wine based on visual, olfactory, and gustatory cues. Employing the initial swirl, sniff, and sip test, students paired a red, white, and dessert wine with a corresponding appetizer.

After noting the important descriptors on the wine bottle label determining vintage, alcohol content, and quality, Bartolini showed students the appropriate glass for each drink, from water to wine to whiskey.

When the official wine tasting was over, students chatted with Bartolini, scribbling her recommendations for favorite nearby Umbra vineyards (see your student handbook for the same recommendations!).

Finally, the group climbed back up the winding steps of San’Ercolano, ready to sip their way to impress.