News and Blog – Page 35 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Faculty and staff take pride in Umbra Institute alumni, especially when the alumni incorporate aspects of their education abroad into their post-graduate careers. From presenting her Harvard thesis at a conference to the acceptance to a prestigious culinary academy, two Umbra alumnae recently drew on their experience in the Food Studies Program for “real-world” success.

Recent Harvard graduate Teagan Lehrmann, an Umbra Fall 2011 alumna, presented her thesis “Sweet as Honey: The Beekeeper’s Fight Against Corn Sugar and Objectivity, 1926-1932” at the Association for the Study of Food and Society annual conference in Lansing, Mich, on June 20. Lehrmann began her research while abroad.

“The Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program led me to take a critical look at the way we think and interact with our food,” Lehrmann said.

Umbra alumna J — Alumna Julia Rackow poses in a Parmesan cheese cooperative on a FSP field trip in Spring 2012.

Recent Tufts graduate Julia Rackow, an Umbra Spring 2012 alumna, was recently admitted into the San Francisco Cooking School. Like Lehrmann, Rackow said that her experience abroad was key in her decision to pursue a career in food.

“The Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program led me to (realize that) how we understand and interact with food is constantly in flux,” Rackow explained. “It’s fascinating to see how the old-world techniques and values we once left behind are now becoming increasingly popular in current American food trends.”

Auguri, alumnae!

“Arrivederci!”

A group of General Studies students smile at their farewell aperitivo Thursday. — A group of General Studies students smile at the Farewell Aperitivo Thursday. Intensive Italian students will remain in Perugia until July 12.

Summer General Studies students celebrated their five-week program at the Umbra Farewell Aperitivo on Thursday evening. Staff, faculty, and students mingled at il Birraio, trading favorite anecdotes from the classroom and beyond. Friday morning, students were taking finals; early Saturday morning, they were boarding the bus to the Rome airport.

Students enrolled in Umbra’s Intensive Italian Language through Culture program, however, will continue practicing Italian in the Perugian community through next week. In addition to Italian language courses, the remaining activities include a lecture on the well-known frescoes by Perugino, a Tandem language exchange-turned-Fourth of July barbecue tomorrow, an Umbria Jazz concert and aperitivo, and a farewell dinner on July 12, the last day of the semester.

Time, slow down!

After her semester at The Umbra Institute in Spring 2013, Food Studies Program student Caitlin Smith received a summer internship as a food blogger for Foodem, an online, D.C.-based start-up that caters to the U.S. wholesale food distribution industry.

Umbra alumna Caitlin Smith poses with a handful of recently-hunted truffles on a Food Studies Program field trip.

Smith primarily blogs about the connection between food and lifestyle, particularly in relation to her semester abroad in Italy. She explained that her decision to apply for the internship derived from her experience at Umbra.

“When I took this internship, I was very apprehensive. I was really worried that my food knowledge wasn’t going to prove up to the task,” Smith admitted. “But thanks to my time in Perugia, I’ve found that I have plenty of opinions on the subject! I have to say that The History and Culture of Food course really changed the entire way that I eat, think, and feel about food and culture.

“I was never really that interested in food trends or nutrition or the like before I took that class,” Smith continued. “And it wasn’t until I returned to the U.S. when I realized how much that course, as well as my experiences in Perugia, changed my perspective and my eating habits. … I actually care about what’s in season, where and how things are grown and cultivated, and what goes into my — and anyone else’s — body. And I think that really comes across in my blog posts — I want to show people how easy it is to incorporate fresh foods and home cooked meals into their diets. Everyone can have a little bit of that slow Italian lifestyle, even if they’re living in the American fast lane.”

At the end of August, Smith will return to George Washington University for her senior year. Explore her stories for the Foodem blog here.

Last week the Umbra Institute’s Summer 2013 semester drew to a celebratory close with an evening showcasing six weeks of cultural immersion and artistic pursuit. Special Academic Events Day began with the Student Art Show in Via dei Priori, where the works of the Pastel Drawing, Photography, and Dance classes were displayed.

Photography professor Philippa Stannard poses with her class at Umbra’s Student Art Show

As Pastel Drawing professor Martha Wakeman explains, “Since Italy and Perugia have such an ancient past and since the past is well preserved here, there is much to inspire artistic creation. My students were stimulated by the architecture, the landscape, the variety of sights they saw in different cities and of course the exquisite Italian light.”

The evening continued with readings by Professor Antonella Valoroso’s Creative Writing class at Bar Mythique. Students reflected on their time abroad and the unique inspirational opportunity being in a place as historically rich as Perugia affords.

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.

bridges

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.