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Month: June 2018

In Italy it is easy to come across a medieval village, but it’s not every day that you visit one of the most beautiful historical re-enactments in the country. The students of the Intensive Italian Program had this opportunity in Bevagna, a few kilometers from Perugia, where the Gaite Market takes place every year. The purpose of this event is to faithfully recreate the lives of the inhabitants of Bevagna between 1250 and 1350, demonstrating the activities that took place in the past. The whole village participates in this festival by reopening the old “botteghe” such as the paper shop, the candle factory and the clothes dyeing service.  

Thanks to the guided tour by Professor Giampiero Bevagna, the students retraced the history of this enchanting Umbrian medieval village. A church built on a Roman Temple and a house in the shape of a Roman amphitheater were among the various attractions visited. Also, the outside church walls had ancient units of measurement on them, which helped merchants and buyers in their transactions.

The evening ended with a special medieval dinner, where students ate dishes prepared with ingredients and spices that constituted the diet of the locals in the Middle Ages—so no pasta with tomato sauce for them!

See the pictures on our Instagram page!

The fourth edition of the biennial Perugia Food Conference took place June 7-10 at at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy. The theme of the conference, organized by the Umbra Institute’s new Center for Food & Sustainability Studies, was “Exploring Ethics through Food Choices.”
Growing scientific and public interest in food has sparked ethical debates around issues such as the use of GMOs, the development of alternative agricultural systems, the local food movement, animal welfare, and food waste. The social dimensions of these debates have in turn attracted increased attention, especially fair trade relations, the reduction of social inequalities, and the exploitation of migrant agricultural labor. Food and ethics intersect at many different levels, from personal daily choices on where to shop and what to eat to cultural norms and regulations, policy implementations on national and international scales, and debates over scientific research on biotechnology.

Over sixty conference presenters addressed these relationships from a wide variety of perspectives. Among them were Lisa Heldke of Gustavus Adolphus College, Michael Herzfeld of Harvard University, and John Lang of Occidental College were the three keynote speakers. Mackenzie Nelsen and Jared Belsky, two spring 2018 Umbra students, also presented their research on sustainable wineries in Umbria. Professor Elisa Ascione, the coordinator of the Center’s Food & Sustainability Studies Program (FSSP) and the co-chair of the conference organizing committee, guided the students’ research.

“The conference brings together academics from all over the world as well as from the Umbra Institute and from the faculty-led programs here,” Prof. Ascione said. “It’s a place for interdisciplinary exchange that helps shape new research projects. The conference also gave FSSP alumni and research interns Mackenzie Nelsen and Jared Belsky the opportunity to present their research on sustainable wineries.”

Also on the organizing committee was the Umbra Institute’s academic director, Dr. Francesco Burzacca, who added, “The Institute organized the conference to contribute to the rapidly-expanding field of food studies. We’re proud of our Food Studies curricular concentration and to be part of the international network of scholars studying food.” He added that the Center plans to organize a fifth edition of the conference in June 2020.

See pictures from the conference on Facebook.

A semester abroad, a course on Business of Wine, an internship in a winery in the heart of Italy: these are the main ingredients that led Anastasiya Kowal of Penn State University down a successful path while at the Umbra Institute during her spring semester.
While at Cantina Roccafiore, a young organic winery located in the hills of Todi, Anastasiya had the opportunity to put her studies in business of wine into practice. In addition to helping with American clients, she also carried out various assignments, such as customer reception, guided visits, and media and marketing. In charge of the Instagram and Facebook pages, Anastasiya enjoyed this marketing-related work to the point of wanting to work at a winery or in another kind of agricultural company back in the US.

She also took part in Cantine Aperte (“Open Wineries”), a national event that involves hundreds of Italian wineries in late May. This event, which aims to promote the culture of wine in a festive atmosphere, took place during the final days of her time at Roccafiore. What a great way to end an internship!

To learn more about studying Business of Wine and Olive Oil at the Umbra Institute, click here.

This past Friday, the Umbra Institute’s Intensive Italian summer students hopped on a train and took a bike ride around Lake Trasimeno with a guide, who explained in Italian the history of the Umbrian lake and the area. The guided tour gave students the opportunity to improve their comprehension and speaking skills in a fun and active environment. Biking from Passignano sul Trasimeno to Tuoro sul Trasimeno, the students then took the ferry to Isola Maggiore, one of the three islands in the lake. Along the way, they asked the guide questions in Italian to learn more about the area. Here are some fun historical facts they learned:

1. Passignano was an important aeronautical hub of Italy until the 1990s. As small as Passignano is, it housed the important Società Aeronautica Italiana, which made planes and boats. One of the ferries of the lake, the Perugia, was created at this factory.

2. The Carthaginians won an important battle against the Roman Empire in the Battle of Trasimeno in 217 BC near Tuoro. Remnants of weapons, horse harnesses, and coins are still being found today!

3. St. Francis of Assisi stayed on Isola Maggiore for forty days to fast. He was given a loaf of bread and a rabbit as food, but instead of eating the rabbit he fed it pieces of bread.

4. Legend has it that there is a buried treasure in the center of Isola Minore, which is uninhabited and prohibited to go to. Pirates supposedly took over the island, where they stored their treasures. 

The bike tour proved a great way to keep both the brain and the body active during the Umbra Institute’s Intensive Italian through Culture Summer Program!