Category: Umbra Blog

“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:

• ESFS 350: Water Essentials: Sustainable Use of a Limited Resource,
• ESUS 310: Placemaking: Creating Sustainable Urban Spaces and Communities, and
• STFS 330: Sustainability and Food Production in Italy.

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.

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.

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This summer’s Umbra students began their study abroad experience this Saturday as they arrived in Perugia, Italy. Students were welcomed by Umbra staff with a multi-course dinner, followed by the Umbra Mingle, an event filled with ice-breaker games and activities.

Umbra Summer 2017 students, on Sunday morning, were then brought to their new homes in Perugia’s city center. Many fell in love with the beautiful views from their apartment windows, some looking over the central plaza, others looking over the valley toward Assisi or other locations. They were then given a tour of the city, through which they learned some of Perugia’s history, as well as where to get a good gelato or buy groceries.

Sunday afternoon was spent in the Sala dei Notari where students listened to an Italian police officer share safety advice; were informed of academic policy by Academic Director, Francesco Burzacca; and received additional information about things such as travel, buying books, and changing classes.

This morning, both General Studies and Intensive Italian through Culture students found their way to the institute to begin their classes.

Follow the Umbra Institute on Facebook or Instagram for updates throughout the semester.

Natalie Cleland and Jackie Gillum of Prof. Antonella Valoroso’s course on Contemporary Italy, conducted their final project on The Young Italian Woman: Her Changing Hopes and Dreams. Their project involved interviewing 3 classes of soon-to-graduate young Italian women from the local Linguistico “A. Pieralli” High School in Perugia. Rai News then invited Prof. Valoroso to speak about the project’s results during their prime-time morning news segment, as Umbra students finished their final exams last week.

What was the goal of the project?
The goal was to understand the Italian women paradox, how it is possible that Italian women are simultaneously among the most educated on the planet but among the least employed. Natalie and Jackie, in their research proposal, stated:

“We want to study the lives of young Italian women of 18 to 24 years of age. Our goal is to understand what success means to them, and what their professional and personal life objectives are. In particular, we would like to try to understand if and how their life plan distances and differentiates itself from that of their mothers. In this way, we will be able to compare Italian women from both generations, and we can try to understand if the Italian social fabric and the gender dynamics within, are changing, blocked, or obstructed.”

Click here to view the survey that was used.

The Results:
Prof. Valoroso shared the research results on the RAI, as well as in an article written for Corriere della Sera’s 27esima Ora. She explained that what seemed to surprise Natalie and Jackie the most was that each interviewed Italian student agreed that her mother represented a fundamental point of reference in her life, both as a model example to follow and as one which needs to be outdone. Some young Italians described problems with their mothers, but almost all of them described their mother using words like strong/forte. The overwhelming consensus was that a mother was a friend, through the good and the bad.

The Statistics:
Of the Italians interviewed, only one’s mother is not employed, all others shared that their mothers had at least a part-time job. 81% of those interviewed shared that they wanted to have children, while only 45% expressed a desire to get married; nearly all shared that they wanted to continue their studies after graduation. 45% of these young ladies believe that, in order to succeed in the work force, it is necessary to make sacrifices in one’s personal life.

In Conclusion:
The project’s conclusion proposed that millennial women, when compared to their mothers, display a stronger desire to build a professional career without sacrificing their lives as women, companions, and mothers. “They are too wise to want it all. If anything, they want something more and something different from that which yesterday’s women wanted and achieved,” concluded Antonella in her article for the 27esima ora.

Watch the interview on the RAI:

Today, to mark the end of students’ spring semester studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, the Umbra Institute hosted a number of events designed for students to reflect on what and how they learned during the past four months.

Photography, Ceramics, and Fresco: Art Show
The day started with an Art Show, featuring the work of photography, ceramics, and fresco students. The show was decorated with a bright, international display of photos. Ceramic masks, plates, and other items were on exhibit to demonstrate designs and methods that were learned during the semester; while ceramic coffee cups were being sold to raise funds for Perugia’s UNICEF chapter. Fresco students, who had worked on Villa Vallerosa (between Perugia and Rome), took pride in a slide show that photographically demonstrated their work toward revitalizing the villa through art.

Community Engagement Presentations
Students spent their afternoon sharing what they learned through various service-learning projects, community-based coursework, and seminar and practica courses.

• The Critical Disabilities: Seminar and Practicum course allowed Leah Crawford the chance to present her independent research project on fostering community and inclusion for people with disabilities. Leah shared that her conclusion provided for 4 keys to inclusion, defined as a combination of: social interaction, interdisciplinary engagement, participatory activities, and values-based collaboration.

  

• Introduction to Photography students shared their work with Re.Leg.Art, a small co-operative in Perugia that trains workers with special needs to make handmade leather goods. For the projects, students were tasked with using the concepts and techniques learned in class (such as depth of field, motion, exposure, and composition) to take pictures of Re.Leg.Art products using Perugia as a landscape. Julianne Arcamone commented on the project saying, “Techniques for advertisement photography are very different, the scene behind the product couldn’t be too distracting and we had to pay more attention to lighting and exposure.”
• Education in Italy: Seminar and Practicum students, after a semester of teaching in local elementary and high schools, shared their key take-away: be flexible. Each student described difficulties that can arise when teaching, such as preparing a PowerPoint and worksheets for a class that learns best through active, participatory learning. The lesson-learned was to “be flexible” when teaching and understand how to adapt to change at a moment’s notice, in order to engage students and provide an optimal learning environment.

And the winner is…
After all presentations were complete, students voted for the most engaging and informative. The winner was the presentation done by the Sustainability and Food Production in Italy class.

Sustainability students presented their work with a local synergistic garden that also serves as a location for horticulture therapy for individuals with mental health challenges. The class shared the techniques used within the garden but focused on the positive affect that similar public spaces can have on a community. Sustainability students encouraged their peers to get active in their local community in ways that sustain both the environment and society.

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This week’s reflection and community engagement activities will continue with:

• Creative Writing Readings featuring Italian Tales and Stories, A Taste for Knowledge, and Racconto Italiano (tonight),
• Archaeology Museum Tours (tomorrow), and
• Placemaking’s Neighborhood Event and Project Presentation (tomorrow).

The screening was accompanied by a brief lecture by Viviana Lorenzo on climate change and the way it is generally presented by European and American media outlets.

This week, the Umbra Institute hosted a Film Screening of This Changes Everything, an Avi Lewis film. The screening was accompanied by a brief lecture by Viviana Lorenzo on climate change and the way it is generally presented by European and American media outlets.

This Changes Everything is a film inspired by Naomi Klein’s non-fiction bestseller, by the same title. The film was shot in nine countries across five continents and seeks to show how various communities are directly affected by industry pollution and climate change.

Lorenzo then led a discussion, after the brief lecture and film, during which students commented on climate issues that concerned them, such as the highly politicized environment in which climate change data is often presented in American media. One student, Valen Bidleman, then made an interesting comment that turned the course of the conversation when he said that “the film seemed to target viewers who were already interested in climate change.” Students were then left with the question, “how can one present an idea that is accompanied by strong conviction in a way that will inspire the opposition to listen?”

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The Film screening event was organized in collaboration with the Umbra Voice Journalism and Communications Club.
Click here to learn more about Umbra clubs.

IJF Events are being hosted in the Sala del Dottorato below the Umbra Institute

The 11^th edition of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) is currently taking place in Perugia, Italy. Perugia hosts the IJF every year, in April, and fills its city center with professional journalists from news agencies such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, Google, CNN, and many more.

The festival offers free events in English and Italian, with interpretation provided as necessary. Presentations are given on the latest topics and innovations in journalism, followed by an open discussion inspired by questions from the audience.

This afternoon’s presentations will include topics such as: A Field Guide to Fake News, Media covering Media, Reporting on Refugees, Journalism as Activism, Lawful State Hacking, Non-profit Journalism, etc.

Umbra students are able to take advantage of these events to learn more about the news and the art of reporting, but they are also given the possibility to volunteer for the festival. If you are a student considering spending your spring semester at the Umbra Institute, feel free to contact Umbra staff for information about volunteer opportunities.

To view a full list of events, click here.
To view a full list of speakers, click here.
To watch livestreams of various lectures and discussions, click here or here.

Students and Prof. Hoch in front of the Cenacolo, after having seen Pope Francis

Umbra’s AHST 371: Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Genius, and Scientist students recently visited Florence and Milan for an art history tour led by Prof. Adrian S. Hoch. During a warm sunny weekend, the students visited the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence before heading to Milan.

The visit to Milan started like any other, with a visit to Castello Sforzesco and the sculpture museum. However, the students were met with an unexpected surprise on their way to Santa Maria delle Grazie: the Pope passed by in the Pope-mobile. Students joined the cheering crowd full of waving white and yellow banners to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis.

Many students viewed seeing the Pope as the highlight of their trip, though the day in Milan did not slow down from there. The class went on to see Leonardo’s famous Cenacolo (the Last Supper), and to tour the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milano Cathedral, and the Church of San Gottardo.

Click here to learn more about Art History courses at the Umbra Institute.