News and Blog

Yesterday night the Umbra student body and staff got together for what usually is a short aperitivo (small before dinner “meal” with appetizers), but what turned into a several hour eating affair. Argentina is a local steakhouse that also has a great aperitivo. Students enjoyed finely-sliced mortadella, spicy southern sausage, pasta salad, soft sausage on a lettuce bed drizzled with thickaceto balsamico, several kinds of cheeses, and potatoes roasted in a brick oven, to boot. 

Suffice it to say that instead of the hour-long event that everyone had had in mind, most of the group hung around eating and making new friends until almost ten-thirty at night. The event is one of a number of group events. The next one is the first meeting of the Tandem language exchange program, Wednesday the 27th.

Each semester, a small group of Umbra students enrolls at the University for Foreigners – or the Universita per Stranieri – in Perugia as part of the Italian Language and Culture Full Immersion Program. These students take courses in language and culture five days a week at the oldest and one of the most prestigious language universities in the country, studying and living with fellow students from around the world who have come to Perugia to advance their Italian skills. The Full Immersion program is an entirely different experience from Umbra’s General Studies track, as those who choose to participate have little contact with the other American students and truly immerse themselves in the Italian and international student culture of the city. Once a week they will meet with professors at Umbra for a tutorial session to reinforce what they are learning at Stranieri, but otherwise they take all of their classes at the university. In boca al luppo a tutti!

2010 arrived with a bang…and a little bit of rain. The streets the morning of the first of the New Year were empty, but even in the afternoon the city felt a bit lonely, without all the American students. You only left two weeks ago but we already miss you, and we wonder if you miss us (and Perugia) too. We hope the city will always be in your hearts and that you’ll come back to Via Bartolo sometime soon. A presto!

Photo courtesy of Heidi Evans – Fall 2009 student at The Umbra Institute

We confess that this is an archive photo; it didn’t really snow this much in Perugia today. We did have, however, a lot of flurries this morning. Today is the last day of the Fall semester at the Umbra Institute, a day when students buy Perugina chocolate and Umbrian olive oil, when they make that one last visit to their favorite panoramic point for a photo to remember the city by, when they have the Farewell Aperitivo…and when goodbyes have to be said. Tonight at around midnight the buses will pull out of Piazza Italia and the semester’s adventure will be over…until January!

The student presentations and award ceremony for the Italian Language Program were held last night at the Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation. Students from various courses presented their work from this semester. Students in the Contemporary Italy: Culture and Society who participated in the progetto famiglia presented on their experiences with Italian families. Students in the Human Development and Culture class presented on their findings from their research in Italian schools on inculturization in Italian society. Finally, students in Comparative Global Business Cultures and International Marketing presented on their recommendations for the companies they visited.

The evening ended with the award from the Ranieri Foundation given to winner of a video contest. The winner was Julia Aronson from Duke University for her video on her trip to Venice. She was awarded a certificate and a cash prize.

In photos: Students in the Human Development class during their presentation, Julia Aronson and Francesco Burzacca, coordinator of the Italian Language Program

The Umbra Institute’s community engagement programs, coordinated by Director Anna Selberg, got some well-deserved recognition this week. An article in the regional newspaper La Nazione highlighted the contributions of Umbra student Melissa Martinez and intern Paola D’Amora to a Unicef campaign. The campaign consisted of sewing Raggedy Ann-style rag dolls, which will then be sold in a nationwide effort to fund Unicef vaccinations in the developing world. Kudos to Martinez, D’Amora, and Selberg!

This Wednesday night students in Professor Cynthia Clough’s Creative Nonfiction Writing class presented some of their best essays that are to be included in the Umbra Institute’s ninth literary anthology. From a small stage at Perugia’s Birraio and with a crowd of more than thirty of their classmates, students read pieces that ranged from amusing reflections on their relationships with food to ponderings of the meaning of this semester, and the meaning of their fast-approaching departure. The night was rounded out by a reading from Professor Clough herself.

And you thought Umbria Jazz was only in the summertime! On December 30th the wintertime counterpart to Perugia’s summer jazz festival begins in Orvieto, another Umbrian city. This year’s edition is the seventeenth to be presented, and will be a five-day jam of the world’s best jazz musicans. Orvieto, sitting on its tufa-rock plateau, will open the doors to its best venues for the festival. 

This month’s photo winner is Laura Bergstein from University of Denver for her photo from Venice, Italy. Laura will enjoy a free meal from Quattro Passi Pizzeria.

Auguri Laura!!

Last week Perugia was full of families in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with their students studying at Umbra. Mothers brought entire suitcases full of supplies to prepare a proper American holiday meal, students ordered turkeys from the local butcher weeks in advance, and there was even leftover pumpkin pie at school on Sunday free for the taking! Today everyone is back in class and preparing for finals, which are just around the corner. The next three weeks will be full of end-of-the-semester activities, including a literary reading, the final Tandem meeting, and the student art show. Umbra will have extended hours starting next Wednesday to allow everyone enough time to prepare for finals. Good luck and don’t forget to make the most of your last several weeks in Perugia!