News and Blog – Page 44 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Umbra students participating in the UNICEF volunteer opportunity are well on their way to completing their handmade Pigotta dolls for adoption. Each doll that is adopted buys vaccinations for at risk children in other countries.

For two hours each Monday, students from the Umbra Insitute and Italian students from the Università di Perugia come together to sew their dolls and practice their Italian and English. Each doll takes on a unique personality with help from local Italian women heading the project. Students enjoy volunteering for a good cause and meeting members of the community. On Monday, October 1^st, everyone finished drawing faces on their dolls and began sewing on hair.

Each student makes one doll and later in the semester will help sell them during the Mercato di Natale (the Christmas Market).

The Pigotta Project was started in Milan in 1988 and continues to support UNICEF’s immunization program.

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW!

As college sophomores and juniors in the United States march deeper into the fall semester, they are narrowing down where to study abroad in the spring. The Umbra Institute has extended its application deadline for the spring 2013 semester. The sooner students apply, the sooner they can begin the visa application process and start preparing for an unforgettable semester in Italy with Umbra.

Located in the medieval hilltop city of Perugia, Italy, the Umbra Institute offers many courses on a variety of subjects, from authentic fresco painting to politics and economics of the European Union, in addition to academic internships, work Co-Ops, independent research, community engagement activities, and a Direct Enrollment program that allows students to immerse themselves fully in the Italian language.

For more information about the Umbra Institute, continue to browse the home page or email [email protected].

Food-Studies-Program--Dario-Cecchini Umbra Institute

“Sono Dario Cecchini, e ho duecentocinquant’anni (I’m Dario Cecchini, and I’m 250 years old),” joked Dario Cecchini, whom the LA Times calls “the most famous butcher in the world.” Students taking the course on Sustainable Food Production in Italy at the Umbra Institute students laughed at Cecchini’s depiction of the longevity of his family’s butcher business in Panzano in Chianti. The small town in the hills south of Florence is the home of Cecchini, who tries, with his butcher shops and two restaurants, to make meat that’s a little more sustainable. While “local” is the latest fashion in food, Cecchini has a more nuanced view: “We should raise animals where there’s pasture, not necessarily next to our houses. There’s a lot of energy wasted in transporting oats and corn to zero-kilometer cows, more than it would be to transport the meat afterwards. Every animal should have a good life, a death that’s as merciful as possible, and a butcher who knows how to use every scrap.”

Scrap hardly: students, after meeting Cecchini and going on a bracing two-mile hike, sat down to a sumptuous meal. Cecchini draws on peasant tradition–one that saw eating everything, “not just the tenderloin and steaks”–but feels free to reinterpret Tuscan food for today. The course, taught by Professor Zachary Nowak, is one of three that make up the Food Studies Program.

For more information, see the Program’s description or watch the video on the Food Study Program’s Chianti Field Trip.

“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s Umbra Pizza Night!”
— Dean Martin

More than 80 Umbra students, faculty, and staff members descended on La Cambusa for the long-awaited Pizza Night on Tuesday.

Because pizza connoisseurs say that the quality of a simple margherita pizza – just fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil leaves – reveals the skill of the pizzaiolo (pizza chef), students were served this classic pizza.

La Cambusa’s low, arched brick ceilings, wood-fired ovens, and visible pizza-making station provided the perfect atmosphere for the evening. While this marked the first time the favorite event was held at this venue, the staff agreed that it was another Pizza Night success.

“I think everyone really enjoyed themselves,” said Umbra Student Services Assistant Marco Bagli. “Students left with smiles on their faces.”

Don’t miss the next Umbra Pizza Night at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16!

Tune into the Today Show on Thursday morning to watch former Umbra Institute student Dave Engledow, fall 2001, talk about his new, almost darkly whimsical calendar featuring himself with his young daughter, Alice Bee, in comically precarious situations.

“His work is just amazing – it’s so much fun to see develop,” said Umbra Director Anna Girolimetti, who remembers Engledow’s interest in photography as a student at Umbra more than 10 years ago.

Engledow uses his know-how with photography (he holds a degree in photojournalism) and Photoshop to create these playfully morbid scenes.

“When I first started posting photos of Alice Bee to Facebook, my intent was primarily to entertain my family and friends, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response that these photos have generated in many countries around the globe,” Engledow writes on Kickstarter, where he raises money for the 2013 calendar.

“The first World’s Best Father image I shot (see right) was initially intended as a one-off. I wanted to capture the dazed, sleep-deprived obliviousness of the new father, while at the same time gently poking fun at myself and new fathers everywhere,” he continues. “The character I portray in this series is intended to be a parody of the father I hope I never become–distracted, self-absorbed, neglectful, clueless, or even occasionally overbearing.”

Engledow; his wife, Jen; and baby Alice Bee live in Maryland.

What do e-grocers, fried Snickers bars at state fairs, and food assembly kitchens have to do with each other?

A new book, Culinary Capital, helps us “understand how and why certain foods and food-related practices connote, and by extension, confer status and power on those who know about and enjoy them.” The co-author, Professor Peter Naccarato does not have a short list of accomplishments: PhD in British Literature, Professor of English and Chair of Humanities Division at Marymount Manhattan College, and co-editor (with Kathleen LeBesco, also co-author of this volume) of Edible Ideologies.

And add to that his time as a visiting professor at the Umbra Institute. Last summer, Naccarato taught “Mangiamo: Food in Italian and Italian-American Literature and Film” to eight Marymount Manhattan students in Perugia’s idyllic setting. The course included discussions of food in books ranging from giant Italo Calvino to Frances Mayes, as well as a field trip to hunt truffles.

Naccarato and LeBesco’s book was published by food publishing powerhouse Berg and will be available Oct. 1. Food Studies Program coordinator Zachary Nowak has already ordered two copies for the Umbra Institute’s library of food studies books. See a description here of Culinary Capital.

Congratulations to Professor Naccarato!

Food Studies Program - Aperitivo Workshop

Two nights ago the students participating in the Food Studies Program’s core course on the History and Culture of Food in Italy had their first cu-curricular food workshop. These workshops, each focused on a particular food or beverage, pr

ovide a historical background and seek to contextualize the food product in Italian culture. The subject of this first workshop was the aperitivo, an Italian pre-dinner meeting where friends sit down to a small drink and finger foods. Though heir to a long tradition of “opening” (aperitivo is from the Latin verb aperire, “to open”) the stomach with a bitter concoction, modern-day aperitivo drinks are less murky black elixirs of yore and more likely to be outrageous neon colors. Campari, queen of aperitivo liqueurs, is an excellent example. The workshop was the first in a series, which include cheese, olive oil, and gelato.

On Wednesday, September 5^th, students gathered at Il Birraio for a Welcome Aperitivo with Umbra staff. Refreshments were served while students lounged on plush couches and cushions.

A flood of students to the pizza table signaled the beginning of an endless supply of various pizzas. Students enjoyed their first aperitivo at Umbra:

Lauren Cudney said, “I was really happy to get to explore a different part of the city. It was nice to learn of a new place to go and it was a cool venue!”

“I thought it was great to have all the students gathered in one place since we’re still getting to know each other,” added Taylor Kingston.

Brian Stocksdale said, “It was the first time interacting with Italians who will be taking classes with us, so that was great.”

All in all, a fun kickstart to the semester!

On Friday, Aug. 31, students arriving for the Fall 2012 semester at the Umbra Institute landed in Rome and continued to Perugia on a sleepy, three-hour bus ride. Orientation began at Hotel Giò, where students met future roommates and classmates, explored the area, and enjoyed their first meal in Italy with the Umbra staff.

On Saturday morning, students began moving into their apartments, where they had time to get settled, unpack, and see some sights around Perugia. That afternoon, they attended an open house at the Umbra Institute and became more familiar with the city on practical walking tours.

It was a busy afternoon as the Italian Language professors proctored placement exams, and students solidified and reworked courses and schedules. Many students also signed up for a trip to Capri, Sorrento, and Naples this upcoming weekend with Addy and Julie!

The open house continued on Sunday afternoon, when there was assistance provided for the Permit of Stay and guided tours for upper level Italian students. To end orientation, students gathered in the Oratorio Santa Cecilia for the Safety and Academic Information Meeting in which Umbra staff reviewed policies and procedures.

Students have already begun their Intensive Italian week and are busy with grammar lessons in the morning and “Survival Italian” throughout Perugia in the afternoon!

We just put up another new UmbraViews video on YouTube! This one’s about the various field trips that Umbra courses take you on throughout Italy, going as far south as Pompeii and as far north as Milan. There’s history, archaeology, art history, food studies, and much, much more. Take a look!