Italian President Sergio Mattarella Photo from quirinale.it
Today, Italy’s President of the Republic and Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, will be visiting Perugia for the first time since his election into office, at the beginning of 2015. His brief tour of the city will start at 11 AM on Corso Garibaldi, bring him to the Chianelli Residence, and to a children’s home. He will be accompanied by the House Vice President, Marina Sereni, and the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Dario Franceschini.
While on Corso Garibaldi, he will attend an inauguration ceremony for tomorrow’s opening of the Police [Carabinieri] Center for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, in memory of Colonel Valerio Gildoni.
At the Chianelli Residence, the President will meet with children who suffer from cancer, and their families, starting at around noon today. The Mayor of Perugia and the President of the Region of Umbria will also be present.
The visit will end in a children’s home to which the president has previously donated in support of the Creo Research Project, relative to cancer studies.
To read more about the President and other symbols of Italian Government, in English, click here. To read about the President’s visit, in Italian, click here.
Prof. Paxton and the HIS 360 class pose for a picture in Furlo Park after learning the importance of the Furlo Gorge
This semester, Connecticut College professor, Fred Paxton, is leading a faculty-led program which offers students the opportunity to take courses in: HIS 232: Later Middle Ages: Christians, Muslims, and Jews, ca. 900-ca. 1500 and HIS 360:Perugia, Etruria, and the Deep History of Italy at the Umbra Institute. During this past weekend, Paxton led HIS 360 students to Gubbio, where they viewed the nearby Bottaccione Gorge, to Furlo Park, and to Urbino.
The first half of the trip was spent trekking near Gubbio’s aqueduct to observe how limestone and the formation of the earth tell the planet’s history. Students were taught the significance of red and white limestone and how to recognize the signs that mark the arrival of the Apennine Earth storm near Gubbio. At a later stop, Professor Paxton shared what he noted as the mark of where an asteroid hit the earth at a location where 20 years of research resulted in the evidence of an extinction.
Students are amazed by the intricacy of the Ducal Palace of Urbino
As the trip continued, students viewed the cliffs and colors of the Burano Gorge and the Furlo Gorge before their final stop in Urbino. Upon the group’s arrival in Urbino, the trip seemed to fast forward as students visited the Palazzo Ducale, Ducal Palace, where they reviewed the history of Urbino, Marche, and the non-church controlled regions of medieval Italy.
Hands-on learning and exploration represent the cornerstone of Umbra’s educational philosophy. To learn more about leading a faculty-led program at the Umbra Institute, click here.
Italian culture is one of strong family and religious roots. For this reason, festivities such as Christmas and Easter carry multiple traditions and events. Some of the most popular, among Italians at Umbra, can be found below:
Food, Food, and More Food:
Shop windows make room for traditional Italian sweets
Italians love their food, it is both a science and a delicacy that often leads to bonding among family and friends. Leading up to Easter (during the 40 day period of Lent), Italians often follow the old religious tradition that requires them to give up certain luxuries, such as chocolates or other sweets, and, on Fridays, to not eat meat.
Such gastronomic sacrifice then leads to an Easter feast! On Easter day, Italians have a large breakfast, well, more than just a cappuccino and cornetto. They eat their famous “torta di pasqua al formaggio”, or Easter cheesecake (nothing like American cream cheese-based desserts), along with capocollo, a pork-based meat, boiled eggs, and Ciaramicola (a tasty sweet!). Sometimes, they even add a glass of red wine!
Torta di Pasqua al Formaggio
For lunch, Italians often enjoy lamb and lasagna or cappelletti in brodo, followed by a dessert featuring Colomba and giant chocolate Easter eggs. The chocolate eggs come in dark, milk, and white chocolate and almost always contain a special gift. The gift is particularly enjoyable for children but it is not unheard of for a man to hide a ring inside for his future fiancé!
Go to Church:
In the days leading up to the festivities, many Italians “spring clean” their house before inviting a priest over to bless the home. Then, from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, the church enjoys a weekend of events in which Italians often partake. On Holy Thursday, Jesus Christ’s last supper is celebrated and a foot washing ritual is often performed, in reference to Biblical events.
On Friday, Italian towns and cities are full of Via Crucis, or a reenactment of what is known as the Passion of the Christ. City streets fill with people dressed in traditional costume, some carry crosses or fire as they march in unison.
Saturday is a day of silence, in regard to many of the festivities. However, on this day, Italians often bring food to be blessed in the church – specifically, the food that will be consumed the following day for Easter breakfast.
Italians then attend Easter mass on either Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon/evening.
Travel and Pasquetta:
Shop windows fill with color as spring and Easter arrive!
Easter Sunday is often spent with family, playing card games, eating nonna’s homemade food, etc. However, Pasquetta, also known as “Lunedì dell’Angelo”, or the Monday after Easter, is a day for travel! Most Italians spend Pasquetta by the seaside, or taking a daytrip to nearby towns, lakes, or hillsides where picnics are common. Italians, young or old, spend Pasquetta with friends, rather than with family.
Special Note: A typical Italian saying for this time of year is “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi”, meaning that Christmas is a time to spend with family, and Easter is a time to spend with friends. However, if you ask someone from Puglia, they will often protest that Easter and Christmas are both meant for time with Family, and New Year’s Eve is the holiday for friends.
Each of these traditions may vary by region or family, but they represent the most typical way for Italians to celebrate Easter!
So from the Umbra family to yours, Buona Pasqua!
John Cortese and Liz Schasel, winners of Spring 16 SoloItaliano.
Elizabeth Schasel believes that “being able to speak Italian has without a doubt been the most rewarding part about being abroad in Italy.” Not surprisingly, she was one of the winners of this semester’s SoloItaliano Challenge!
Schasel is a University of Texas-Austin student currently enrolled in the 210 level of Italian at The Umbra Institute. She describes the challenge of speaking Italian – not only during the SoloItaliano Challenge, but throughout the semester – “almost like every day is a puzzle that you can choose to try to solve.”
The Umbra Institute encourages students to solve this particular puzzle of intercultural communication with the SoloItaliano Challenge. This semester, the challenge took place this week – March 22nd and 23rd. Those who chose to participate swore a solemn oath on Dante’s head to speak only in Italian and then donned a SoloItaliano bracelet. Throughout the next two days, participants were offered a chance to experience true linguistic immersion by attending an Italian movie night with local Italian students and a Tandem language exchange. The entire event was based on honor; even the winners were nominated anonymously by peers. This year, out of the 70 participants, Elizabeth Schasel and John Cortese earned this distinction.
Umbra’s SoloItaliano initiative encourages students to use their newly cultivated Italian skills and to reflect on their experience as foreigners in Italy. Students who enjoy this opportunity find themselves learning to put in more of a “collective effort” during the semester and to foster their own “willingness to try to speak with locals” – all great lessons learned during study abroad!
Students prepare the day’s dessert
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Students enjoy the results of their cooking efforts
The Umbra Institute hosts a Food & Sustainability study abroad program in Perugia Italy. The entire program, consisting of two core courses and one elective food course, seeks to uncover how the individual, community, and society relate to food. This can be done through in-class learning and intensive study, but, every once in a while, an excursion can offer a much needed break from the books. This Sunday, Umbra Food & Sustainability studies students made their way to Agriturismo Malvarina in Assisi to take part in a BuonappetEAT cooking class, where they learned traditional Umbrian recipes and cooking techniques taught by professional Italian chefs.
Students enjoy the results of their cooking effortsStudents hunt wild Asparagus
During the cooking class, students learned to create the Italian Torta di Formaggio, a traditional Easter breakfast treat, as well as homemade pasta, delectable pesche pastries, and a number of fresh appetizers that were then served for lunch in Malvarina’s restaurant. Not only did students cook, but they were taught how to hunt for wild asparagus and sent in search of the asparagus that would be used for their lunch. In the end, students sat together to enjoy the fruit of their labor in the form of a multi-course meal.
Click here to learn more about the Food & Sustainability Studies Program.
Umbra Student creates her UNICEF Pigotta doll’s ID card
Many students who choose to study abroad at the Umbra Institute, in Perugia, Italy, are looking for more than a classroom experience overseas. That is why, this spring, Umbra students are once again sharing their time and talent with the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) Pigotta project.
Since 2008, Umbra students have volunteered alongside local UNICEF staff to help create Pigotta (Raggedy Ann) dolls. The making of each doll is a creative process that involves sewing the doll, designing its outfit, hair, and facial features, as well as creating an ID postcard. All funds raised by selling the dolls go toward the distribution of life-saving medical assistance for children and their mothers throughout the world.
Each doll costs 20 Euro to “adopt”.
A few of the Pigotta dolls created by this semester’s Umbra Volunteers
If you know a student currently studying at Umbra, contact them today to reserve and “adopt” your Pigotta doll and contribute to the UNICEF cause.
Click here to learn more about other volunteer opportunities for those who choose to study abroad through the Umbra Institute.
Women’s Day recognizes the achievements of Women
This week, Italy celebrates La Giornata Internazionale della Donna, International Women’s Day, with a special gift: free entrance to State Museums and cultural events, to women throughout the country, during the festivities of March 8th. International Women’s Day has been celebrated for just over 100 years as a day to recognize the achievements of women from all walks of life.
The importance that Italy places on culture makes it an excellent study abroad location. Not only will museums be free for women on March 8th, from this year forward, but entrance to State museums and monuments has been free to all, on the first Sunday of every month, since 2014.
Italy invites women to free museums & events on March 8th
For those currently studying at the Umbra Institute, or who plan to join us in future semesters, we welcome you to click the following links to view a full list of State Museums (also free, the first Sunday of every month) and Cultural Events that will be free this Tuesday.
The list includes locations such as the Coliseum and the Roman Forum, as well as lesser known locations such as the Roman Amphitheater and Archaeology Museum of Spoleto. Scroll down each page in the links above to find a list of museums/events according to the region of their location.
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To learn more about the history of International Women’s Day, Click here.
Happy International Women’s Day from the Umbra Institute
The Umbra Institute is now experimenting with aspects of gamification, a practice that puts into play the strongest element of Umbra’s education philosophy: immersive community engagement.
Gamification of learning is a powerful education tool that implements a “game-style” atmosphere, to motivate students to learn and maximize enjoyment and engagement; Umbra’s approach adds to this the focus on community engagement requiring students to critically observe and re-think Italian culture while interacting with locals. The concept was first introduced into Umbra curriculum through the SoloItaliano Challenge, a two-day competition during which students make a pledge to speak only in Italian at home, at Umbra, and around Perugia. Now, elements of gamification are being slowly introduced at various levels of the Italian language learning process and was recently used by Professor Christian Tarchi during Umbra’s PYHD 430: Human Development in Culture course.
Prof. Tarchi’s Human Development course recently had a lecture on dimensionalizing cultures through Hofstede’s dimensions of national cultures (a way of measuring a culture’s tolerance for power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, individualism/collectivism, and short/long-term orientation). After the lesson, students were then tasked to solidify their understanding of these concepts by participating in a gamified activity in which they explored the cultural relativity of common locations that resemble one another across cultures, such as a library or a shopping center.
The gamification process began when Professor Tarchi provided students with a list of activities, each worth an assigned number of points. Students had to score 10 points in order to complete the activity, though every participant far exceeded the 10 point requirement. Points could be gained by:
Working alone or working in a group
Visiting a location such as the University of Perugia, the local library, or a small shop; or the local bookstore or supermarket
Answering questions about the location based on personal observation or by asking an Italian for the answers Finding examples of the Hofstede model elements and providing evidence of each example)
Human Development in Culture students during an excursion to discover societal realities outside the classroom.
One of the students who participated in the activity, Brenna Riordan, said that she was nervous at first, but the drive of the competition pushed her out of her comfort zone to work individually and visit locations worth the highest number of points, including the University of Perugia. “This experience, in general, has helped me to really look at a culture and evaluate it without making my own judgements, just to see where people are coming from and why things are the way they are,” said Brenna as she described her view of the gamification activity. She also mentioned how she was surprised by the contrast between the University of Perugia and her own university, the University of Buffalo; a comparison she would not have been able to make if it had not been for this innovative learning tool.
In the end, students were able to take the time to engage in the culturally rich locations in Perugia and explore their significance in society.
To learn more about this and other courses offered at the Umbra Institute, search our full list of General Studies electives by clicking here.
Students visit Etruscan tombs
“We know more about the dead people of the Etruscan world than about the living,” said Professor Giampiero Bevagna this past weekend as he led HIS 360: Perugia, Etruria, and the Deep History of Italy (a course taught by visiting professor Fred Paxton) and ARAA 320 Archaeological Discoveries students through a two day tour of Etruscan ruins and museums in Tarquinia and Cerveteri. The trip was organized to help students understand and appreciate the Etruscan civilization through the observation of materials excavated from ancient burial mounds.
Students view Etruscan artifacts from 8th to 3rd century B.C.
During the first day of the trip, students visited the Etruscan archaeological museum in Tarquinia to discover how Etruscan society was influenced by commercial and cultural contact with Eastern civilizations. Students were able to observe the evolution of Etruscan religious practices (8th century B.C. to 3rd century B.C.) by viewing the evolution of artwork within the tombs found in Tarquinia. The beauty of these specific Etruscan tombs is that they were spread around the city of the living as a symbol of ancestral protection.
“We know more about the dead people of the Etruscan world than about the living,”
On the second day of the trip, students made their way to the Necropolis in Cerveteri. They were guided through majestic, stone burial mounds and took note of how citizens of the same civilization, only a town away, had a completely different way of viewing the afterlife. A number of differences emerged, including the practice of burying people of related families in tombs connected with underground passageways.
To learn more about exciting Archaeology offerings at Umbra, click here!
Location 
Italian President Sergio Mattarella Photo from quirinale.it
Prof. Paxton and the HIS 360 class pose for a picture in Furlo Park after learning the importance of the Furlo Gorge
The Umbra Institute is now experimenting with aspects of gamification, a practice that puts into play the strongest element of Umbra’s education philosophy: immersive community engagement.
