June 2017 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Dr. Hoch set the scene for the lecture by sharing Francesco Rosselli’s La tavola strozzi, which offers an elaborate illustration of a 15th century view of Naples.

Dr. Adrian S. Hoch, Art History professor at the Umbra Institute, was recently invited by Dr. Stefania Paone, of the Università della Calabria: Department of Humanistic Studies, to provide a lecture to advanced undergraduate and MA students. Though Dr. Hoch presented in Italian, her lecture’s English title was A Candidate for the Second Lost Reliquary Bust of St. Louis of Anjou.

The lecture took place during the last week of the students’ spring term and Dr. Hoch was accompanied by Katharina Weiger, a German graduate student pursuing a PhD at Freie Universitet in Berlin. Dr. Hoch and Ms. Weiger were given the goal of not only providing a relevant lecture on art history, but also introducing Italian students to the methodology and approach applied to the study of art by international academics from different cultures and backgrounds.

The Bust Reliquary of St. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse

In general, Dr. Hoch’s lecture covered the ruling family of late-medieval Naples, the Angevin dynasty. The Angevin dynasty had their own family saint, Saint Louis. St. Louis was the older brother of King Robert of Anjou, who’s wife was Queen Sancia. Throughout the lecture, Dr. Hoch explained the history and importance of St. Louis’ short life, as well as his relationship to his brother, and the expensive objects that King Robert and Queen Sancia, after their relative’s death, ordered to hold the valuable relics of St. Louis.

Click here to view courses taught by Prof. Hoch at the Umbra Institute.

“I think the biggest thing I took away from SoloItaliano was being able to think in Italian, which is something I had never really experienced before,” said Kristin Naylor (ITLN 311S), the winner of this summer’s SoloItaliano Challenge. Kristin has recently graduated and will begin a graduate program in Positive and Coaching Psychology at the University of East London this fall.

The SoloItaliano Challenge is an event that lasts for two days, during which students voluntarily pledge to speak only in Italian. After extensive study of grammar and vocabulary, the Challenge offers students the opportunity to see how far their linguistic abilities have come, and pushes them to become conversational speakers. The Challenge is also notorious for pushing students to be conscious of their effort to communicate in Italian and to slowly let go of the safety net offered by a community of English speakers.

Dylan Sivori (ITLN 111S), a Film & Media Studies Major from Tufts University, said that he enjoyed the Challenge and that, “it was weird speaking in English after speaking only in Italian for two straight days. We weren’t ready to switch back”. Dylan was one of a number of students who expressed a desire for the challenge to be longer.

The challenge culminated in a Tandem language exchange, during which most participants continued to communicate in Italian to extend the challenge of their own volition.

Click here to learn more about the Intensive Italian Language through Culture Program.

Kyndal Burdin (Psychology Major at Hamilton College) was an Umbra student during the Spring 2017 study abroad semester, and currently has an internship in Learning and Organizational Development. Umbra staff recently got in touch with Kyndal to find out how her experience at the Umbra Institute influenced her professional development.

During her time at Umbra, Kyndal was enrolled in Prof. John Dennis’ course on Organizational Behavior Psychology. Kyndal feels that her time in this course helped her prepare for her current position. “In the class, I learned about the business world in regard to leadership, organizational intercommunication, leader and employee relationships, and decision making,” shared Kyndal, describing how the class’ community engagement project worked with three separate companies. “The project required a lot of communication, collaboration, and organization, while offering challenges that pushed my normal way of thinking and working.”

Through the course in organizational behavior, and Simon Sinek’s Start with Why (a required text for the course), Kyndal learned that being a leader means more than directing a group or project, it means being able to diagnose problems, communicate clearly, and make effective decisions that will motivate and influence others to effectively drive organizational change within a diverse environment. Kyndal reflected on what she learned about leadership through a blog post that she contributed to the Umbra Voice, Umbra’s student blog.

“I have only been working for a few weeks now, but I am creating short written pieces about articles in order to communicate with people within and outside of my department, assisting in leadership development projects, and looking forward to whatever else my boss has in store for me,” concluded Kyndal.

Click here to learn more about PYBS 460: Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach.

The UN Paris Climate Agreement was signed by leaders of nearly 200 countries with the goal of addressing climate change, sustainable development and food production, and poverty (Article 2). It plans to do so by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, specifically targeting anthropogenic pollutants.

The agreement affirms participation toward a common goal, with clearly set expectations. The ultimate goals of emission reduction and procedural commitments have been agreed upon by each participating country. Ultimately, each country’s contribution is decided by that same country, according to its ability. This means that contributions take into account that developing countries may be more severely affected by the consequences of climate change, and may have less financial and technological support to be directed toward the specified efforts; while wealthier, more developed countries will be able to contribute more at a faster rate, and potentially provide financial support to countries in need.

Another goal of the agreement is to require that the signing countries transparently share their work against climate change, so each involved country is asked to submit its “intended nationally determined contributions” to the established secretariat to be kept as public record. This also includes “sharing information, good practices, experiences and lessons learned, including, as appropriate, as these relate to science, planning, policies and implementation in relation to adaptation actions” (UN Paris Climate Agreement, Article 7:7a). Article 7 places a strong emphasis on sharing technology and knowledge through the Cancun Adaptation Framework, in order to guide countries through swift and innovative climate-friendly development.

Click here to read the Paris Climate Agreement’s original text.

Are you interested in studying sustainability and the environment during your semester abroad?
View the Umbra Institute’s courses in:

Also, take a look at our Food & Sustainability Studies Program curriculum.

Yesterday afternoon, Umbra’s Academic Director, Francesco Burzacca, and Assistant Director of Community Engagement, Julie Falk, attended the signing ceremony that established the protocol for collaborators who will be involved in the restauration of the Frontone Gardens of Perugia.

The Frontone Gardens

The Frontone Gardens:
The Frontone Gardens are located in the Borgo XX Giugno district of Perugia, and are rich in historical and cultural significance. The gardens, one of Perugia’s most lively green spaces, are a large symmetrical park containing a series of symbolic statues and fountains that have become weathered over time.

The Frontone Gardens are known by Umbra students for being the ideal location for events such as: the Food Truck Festival, the Vintage Festival, Pride Festival, outdoor summer film screenings, screenings of World Cup and Champion’s League soccer matches, etc. It is common to see locals walk their dogs or take a jog through the gardens, and to see students studying on the benches during a warm spring day.

An article about the restauration project, featured in Corriere dell’Umbria

The Project:
The restauration project will be completed in collaboration with: the Comune di Perugia (Perugia’s local government and Mayor’s office), l’Archivio di Stato di Perugia (Perugia’s State Archive), FAI (the Italian Environmental Fund, an institution dedicated to the restauration of monuments and historical public spaces), the University of Perugia and its Agricultural Department, as well as a number of local neighborhood associations.

The project is to be completed according to the principles of inclusive participation of local communities in the design of public spaces, a philosophy embraced by Umbra course ESUS 310: Placemaking: Creating Sustainable Urban Spaces and Communities. Students will be significant collaborators in the restauration process, as a part of their service-learning activities for the course.