March 2015 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

The Umbra Institute is radio famous! Through a recent partnership with Radiophonica, the official radio station of the University of Perugia, students in the sustainability course are working in groups to create individual podcast episodes aimed at bringing awareness to sustainable food practices in Perugia. Through interactions with members of the community devoted to this issue, students are documenting the many cultural realities of Perugia from a food perspective. Each episode features an overarching theme – the first two episodes discussed urban agriculture and farmers markets respectively, and the upcoming third episode will focus on sustainable meat.

THE FOOD FILES small logo

Each episode contains student-conducted research and interviews with key players in alternative food. A “from scratch” portion recounts students’ experiences cooking traditional Umbrian recipes at home in their apartments (with local ingredients, of course.) Additionally, a restaurant review section highlights an establishment in Perugia on the cutting-edge of sustainable food practices.

For a small city, Perugia is packed with opportunities for students to explore the culture of food in Italy. Podcasts are in English, allowing students to shed light on sustainability in a way that reaches an international audience. Where can you find this program? Check out the link to the second episode here: http://www.radiophonica.com/podcast/9256. Stay tuned for the third episode, coming soon!

This semester Umbra Italian Professor Giuliano Agamennoni took it upon himself to organize Umbra’s first-ever soccer team! The team met every Sunday afternoon, leaving the students plenty of time for studying and travelling the rest of the week.

Professor Agamennoni noted that, “We know many Americans love soccer and play in the States, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to continue to play here in Italy – especially as it is the country’s most popular sport!”

“The first meeting had only six students, but by the final match there were 15 – not including the large group of spectators cheering on their classmates! This is the principle object of the project: to spend time together, have fun, and play a little soccer.”

What does the future hold for Umbra Soccer? Hopefully, within-Umbra tournaments amongst three or more teams, as well as a match against our sister school, ISI Florence, to experience, as Professor Agamennoni puts it, “the joy of competition!”

Umbra’s Intercultural Marketing course provides students with the theory behind business and marketing practices in international companies. This semester, Umbra is continuing its collaboration with Pashmere, a family-run luxury cashmere company.

Last week, the students visited Pashmere’s offices just outside the center of Perugia. They were treated to a tour of the facilities with two third-generation members of the Pashmere family. The company’s reach really impressed the students – pictures of multiple Italian movie stars decked out in Pashmere products lined the walls!

After the tour, the group listened to Umbra intern Ashley Webb’s presentation about her work to expand Pashmere’s presence over multiple social media platforms; this initiative stems from last semester’s intercultural marketing student projects. Over the next several weeks, current students will work in groups to present Pashmere representatives with their own suggestions for the company. Presentation topics will include social media, product development, and the Asian market. This partnership gives students a real-world example of the efforts and challenges behind running an internationally-minded family business.

Last weekend, the students in Professor Simon Young’s HSIT350: The History and Culture of Food course went on an exciting truffle-hunting field trip to Matteo Bartolini’s agriturismo and truffle school, Ca’ Solare, near Citta di Castello.

truffle_lores (3) — The class poses at Ca’ Solare before lunch.

Matteo gave an informative presentation on truffles, or tartufi, tubers which grow underground in a symbiotic relationship with oak, poplar, and willow trees. He explained that truffle-hunting is a tradition in Italy; couples and families will often go truffle-hunting with a dog on Sundays. Although there are about one hundred variations of truffles, Matteo cultivates the five most famous ones, of both white and black variations. Each has a different season and price, fetching from $100 to over $1000 euros per kilo. Matteo has worked with the University of Perugia’s agronomy school to develop the ultimate conditions for cultivating truffles in his newly planted oak grove, and he encourages wild propagation by gathering them sustainably in his land’s forest.

truffle_lores (2) — Matteo explains the details of truffle-hunting.

After the lecture, the class was introduced to his truffle-trained, well-behaved, and almost-blind dog Sole (nicknamed The Professor). Together, they ventured into the forest to hunt for truffles. Unfortunately, in Italy, hunting does not recognize private property – and that includes truffle-hunting. Early that same morning, Matteo’s land had been poached by two truffle-hunters and their dogs who had refused to leave when asked nicely. In this competitive life-style, hunters often destroy the possibility for future truffles to generate by leaving uncovered holes, and they sometimes even attempt to poison other truffle dogs. The class took this opportunity to learn the realities of the truffle-hunting lifestyle.

truffle_food studies_umbra_15 — Triumphant Matteo and Sole

A truffle grows underground for months, and when the mysterious conditions are exactly right, it can ripen instantly. Sole, with his supernatural powers of smell, managed to find the only remaining, pea-sized ripe truffles underground.

Student Michael Madigan commented that “watching the chemistry between Sole and Matteo was an experience in of itself,” and that “it was amazing how small some of these truffles were that Sole was able to find.” He now understands “why, aside from the taste, the prices are so astronomical for many truffles: lots of work goes into finding small amounts of truffles.”

After the hunt, students were instructed on how to store and prepare truffles, and then they got to taste them. For lunch at Ca’ Solare, the group was served a delicious, homemade meal, which of course included Matteo and Sole’s hand-collected truffles.

Umbra Institute professor Christian Tarchi has conducted a study analyzing students’ narratives through a video-log assignment as a source for reflection on their cross-cultural understanding. Professor Tarchi will present his latest findings this August in Cyprus, at the 16^th Biennial EARLI Conference 2015, in a paper presentation titled “Assessing intercultural sensitivity: a narrative plot analysis of study abroad students’ video logs,” in collaboration with Alessio Surian of the Univerity of Padova and Colette Daiute of the City University of New York, using Umbra students as part of his subject pool.

Results of the study highlight how both implicit and explicit narration enhance socio-cultural relations. Students use discourse to make sense of their new surroundings and how they fit into them, as well as what they would like to change. Through plot analyses of cultural incident stories, Professor Tarchi and his colleagues offer insight into students’ motivational foci, salient issues, and emerging poly-cultural orientations in their lives as foreign students.

This study is a follow-up to “International students’ intercultural competence and the role of higher education host institution. A qualitative analysis of video-logs,” (Tarchi and Surian, 2014), which was presented at the international Conference Open Spaces for Interaction and Learning Diversities in Padova.

Congratulations Professor!

soloitaliano_pledge_anna_15 — In class, students pledge to speak only in Italian.

This week, our brave students at Umbra participated in a new initiative for linguistic immersion: the SoloItaliano Challenge.

The participants of this challenge signed a pledge in Italian class on Monday and on Tuesday they received badges that marked them as players. For two whole days, they could speak only in Italian at home, at Umbra, and around Perugia! If they spoke in English, a peer could take a point (represented with colorful, mini clothespins) and add it to her/his own badge. The more pins a student had, the more chance of winning free pizza!

soloitaliano_winners_tandem_15 — Italian 102 students Rachael and Liz (center) are announced as winners at Tandem.

More than 80% of the student body participated and the top three winners were announced at Wednesday night’s Tandem language exchange.

Congratulations to the winners: Tiffany Dharia (13 pins), Elizabeth Lavin (11 pins), and Raechel Richardson(11 pins)!

Students participated regardless of their level of Italian, experiencing some frustration but learning a lot in a limited amount of time. Liz Lavin describes her efforts: “Those two days were probably the most frustrating, because I had to face how often I used ‘come si dice’ as a crutch. Rae and I actually spent a lunch together huddled around an Italian dictionary.” They even practiced for the challenge by speaking Italian together when they traveled to Paris!

“My housemates and I messaged only in Italian. It was difficult to communicate even about small things, like what we should eat for dinner,” Tiffany (Italian 110 student) remarks, “and I appreciated going to class more because we could speak in English!”

Italian 310 student Taylor Tso comments that she had to slow her thoughts and choose her words more carefully, and that she found it interesting to experience “the difference between learning Italian and living an Italian life.”

soloitaliano_tiffanywinner_15 — Winner Tiffany Dharia poses with the pins, or “mollette.”

It is with great sadness that we deliver the news that our colleague and friend, David Chester Larsen, passed away on Monday morning, 2 March 2015.

The Umbra Institute was founded in 1999 through a cooperative agreement with the Arcadia University College of Global Studies, located in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The university was still under its former name, Beaver College, and the study abroad division was known as The Center for Education Abroad. The director of the center at the time was David Larsen. It was through his insight and vision for the future of education abroad that the Umbra Institute became a Beaver College study abroad program in Perugia.

During his tenure, the Institute grew steadily, together with Arcadia University, to become a leader in study abroad in Italy. Although David retired from his position as the Director of College of Global Studies in 2008, his influence and legacy continue.

Today, we thank David Larsen and his team at the College of Global Studies of Arcadia University and celebrate his life and extraordinary achievements as an educator and innovator in international education.

For more about David Larsen, click here:
http://studyabroad.arcadia.edu/about-us/tribute-to-dr-larsen/

For the seventh year in a row, the Umbra Institute has collaborated with UNICEF Perugia to complete the “Progetto Pigotta,” or “Rag Doll Project”. Umbra student volunteers, both Italian and American, have worked for the past several weeks to create unique, hand-made rag dolls with the help of Università degli Studi di Perugia students and UNICEF volunteers.

unicefdolls_lowres-25 — Volunteers with their finished products!

Started in Lombardy, Italy in 1988 by Boston native and UNICEF volunteer Jo Garceau, the project was conceived as a way of raising money for basic medical supplies for mothers and their children around the world.

Each doll has been made with love as well as imagination, and as a result each one has a lot of character! This year’s finished products include a ballerina, a clown (complete with a set of shiny gold boots!), a Scottish Highland lass, and many more. If you’d like to “adopt” a Pigotta for 20 euro, they can be found downstairs at Umbra 1. The proceeds from each adoption provide a vaccine kit for an expectant or new mother and her child, including essentials such as the polio vaccine, to give both a better start in life.

This past Tuesday Umbra’s UNICEF volunteers celebrated the semester’s hard work with a party starring some amazing torta di pasqua (cheesy Easter bread) and homemade desserts. Maria Luisa Blasi, Coordinator of the Pigotta Project in Perugia, had the final word, thanking the volunteers for their time and reiterating the project’s importance: “What we do here may be just a drop in the ocean, but without this drop, the ocean would miss it.”

To learn more about Umbra’s Community Engagement opportunities, click here.

The University of Perugia has been awarded the number one ranking in the country for Italian universities with between 20,000 and 40,000 students. The rankings were determined by Il Censis, Centro Studi Investimenti Sociali, a socioeconomic research institute, and based on course offerings, student satisfaction, and strength of faculty among other areas. To learn more about Umbra’s Direct Enrollment Program at the University of Perugia, click here. Congratulations UniPG!