Category: Courses

Course Information

Courses
by PhilipGeist

Engl 298: Dante and Our Journeys 3 credits (Dr. Permenter)   Open to all majors! The course will focus on The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri and its importance to the Italian Renaissance, the arc of Western thought, and transatlantic democracy. Most importantly, I will highlight how this relates to one’s own journey through life. While traveling through Dante’s Italy, students will literally and figuratively walk in the footsteps of one who helped change for the Western world what it means to be human, focusing on the capacity in each of us to add beauty and truth to the journey . *Students may petition to have this course substitute for World Literature (English 402)   Engl 338 Creative Nonfiction: Food/Travel Writing 3 credits (Dr. O’Connor)   Open to all majors! This creative writing class is a full-immersion course focusing on food and travel writing in Italy! Alongside readings by contemporary food and travel writers, students will practice creative nonfiction essays, journaling, and short write-ups, emphasizing the food and culture of Italy. As part of the immersion experience, students will participate in a cooking lesson with a renowned Italian chef.    

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Pompeii & Sorrento

Blog, Italian Literature in English
by Kaitlyn Gidick

It’s difficult to describe the feelings that go along with your #1 dream coming true, but I’ll try. From the time I was 12 years old I have wanted to go to Italy, and the reason I got into Italy in the first place was Pompeii. I was in sixth grade doing a book report on the subject, and have been in love ever since. The idea that an entire civilization could be buried and perfectly preserved for years blew my mind. I wasn’t prepared for the real thing, which surpassed my expectations and then some. Getting there was somewhat messy, but an adventure in itself. The train ride from Florence to Naples basically just entailed me napping (and a minor mishap with British women thinking Zayne and I stole their seats) but the three hours went quickly. There was the impossibly tightly packed metro from Naples to Pompeii, (a nightmare for someone as claustrophobic as I am) where a nice man in a red jacket let me fall into him repeatedly, a couple behind me sucked face, and later an accordion player, tambourine player, and drummer all stood in front of me and played. Pompeii itself is too much to even describe, but it was definitely the best day of my trip thus far, if not my life. Sorrento was the perfect added bonus. We had this incredible view of the ocean and Mt. Vesuvius from our room’s balcony, and got to witness fireworks from said balcony Thursday night. Friday morning, breakfast was amazing, and literally had a juicer, ready for hotel patrons to throw oranges into. What could be better? I don’t even like orange juice, but it was pretty cool. While it wasn’t always easy, and there were times we were all starving, stressed, or a combination of the two, we made it back in one piece. Not to mention we managed to see not one, but two incredible towns in Italy in a day and a half.

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Lost in History

2016 TRIP, Blog, Travel & Food Writing
by Katie Fisher

After a lot of waiting, sketchy airplane food, not sleeping, and three on flight movies, we finally arrived in Rome. Upon arrival everything was extremely overwhelming. Appearing in a city in which you do not know how to navigate through, and do not speak the native tounge of the occupants, serves as a much needed wake up call. As an infrequent traveler, you tend to assume a lot about travel. After watching movies, reading about traveling, and talking to frequent travelers, you are left with the impression that language barriers are nonexistent. For future reference, they definitely are. Before leaving for any international trip, I suggest that you put some serious effort into learning the language, learning the other cultures customs,learning their history, and sleeping as much as you can on the plane because jet lag syndrome is real, and will be hard to overcome. Preparing beforehand may be a bit inconvenient, especially for students, but will be worthwhile in the long run. Walking through the streets of Rome is any history fanatic’s dream come true. Being able to stand inside the Pantheon, walk through Rome’s ancient forum, and sit next to the Trevi Fountain leaves you in complete awe.Watching the history books that you were forced to read for a course come to life is the most incredible experience. You begin to really appreciate those same stories and places that you took for granted a day earlier. You can just stand there and imagine Michelangelo’s hurried brush strokes as he painted the walls of the Sistine chapel. You can almost hear the crowd as two gladiators take their stances to fight to the death in the Colosseum. After experiencing these snapshots of history, you are left feeling more at one with what is happening around you. Almost like being able to finally see the history you are already in the process of creating.

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Losing myself in Roma

Blog, Travel & Food Writing
by Jenna Massaro

Until you go through the process of traveling to a foreign country for the first time, you do not know how chaotic it can be. Getting on the plane to Rome was definitely an interesting and crazy experience, but it was well worth the all-day traveling and exhaustion. When arriving in Rome, I did not know what to expect. I did not have any expectations really, I just wanted to follow the mantra of “go-with-the-flow” so-to-speak and let things happen. This is not what I am used to and I made a conscious decision to establish a new, fresh perspective of travel on this trip. I have to say that it was difficult at first, although patience and flexibility won out and I ended up having the time of my life in Rome. I’ll never forget the first time that I saw the Sistine Chapel in person. In that exact moment when I was looking up at the beautiful and shockingly realistic masterpieces, everything was worth it. Despite the guards rushing everyone along, and the elbow-to-elbow wall of people that are constantly moving around–it was worth it because witnessing these works of art made me more humbled and appreciative of the rich history. Some say “If walls could talk, what would they say?” But these walls did talk. And they told me of Michelangelo and the importance of the art that was missing in my life. As with all of the moments and masterpieces in Rome, I fell immediately and passionately in love with their awe-inspiring beauty. Being in Rome for the first time was an immediate love affair for me. I knew that from then on, I had the confidence and appreciation to not only see the rest of Italy, but maybe even the rest of the world.  

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Serenity in Poppi

Blog, Courses, Creative, Italian Literature in English, Travel & Food Writing
by Himani Jadeja

Anybody who goes on a study abroad trip always talk about how it changed them as a person, or how they found themselves. As this trip comes to an end, I find myself asking the same question. What has changed within me? While we arrive in Poppi, I look around at the different lifestyle they have. A lifestyle that is unknown to me. In a small town, where it is so quiet that it almost felt like my suitcase wheels was making too much noise being dragged along then road. In a small town, where almost everyone knows each other. In a small town, where there is limited amount of modernization and technology. But, beyond all this is a breathtaking view looking over the tuscany country side from the castle and serenity that you might not find anywhere else. As I stand in the balcony overlooking the view that one can never get tired of, my senses are more in touch than ever because of the peace it provides. That burning smoke smell, distant bike ride engines running, green leafs dancing slowly with the wind, mountains hugging the clouds as if they are their own. Birds chirping. All I can think is how can you perfectly describe this feeling, this unknown feeling you can’t get back in The States. The breeze lightly touching my brown curls. Once you look, can’t take your eyes away from the beautiful view. I appreciate the moment of serenity I was having. I enjoyed it to the fullest. I would recommend anyone to make a trip to the town of Poppi. And, that is when I realized how I have changed or how moments like these have changed me as a person. Life seems so at peace right now and nothing else matters but as soon as I touchdown in Pittsburgh, life will be hectic again. Poppi has taught me that it is okay to run away from your hectic life for even an hour or a day or a week. It is okay to not care about all the social media messages your friends are sending. You aren’t ignoring them, its just that you need time to yourself. It is okay to take a day away from all the assignments to relax your mind and refresh it. If there is anything that am taking back home from this trip is that just find your peace. Take time to look at the nature, feel your senses, and everything else will fall right into its place.

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Venice and Water

Blog, Italian Literature in English
by Miranda Ryan

If you look at a map you can see that Venice is surrounded by water and there are many streams and canels running through the city. What you might not realize is that Venice was built on top of the water. There are no vehicles polluting the air everyone travels by boat. I grew up on the allegheny river and have always been very interested in boats and boating. Walking through Venice, seeing that this is how they get around, it was like a dream come true. I was not the ambitious teenager who couldn’t wait to get their drivers license; I was the girl whose parents eventually forced her to get her drivers license at the age of 19. Instead I preferred to travel by boat. Before my 15th birthday I obtained my boaters license and asked for a boat for my birthday gift. Of corse I was joking when I mentioned this to my father because I thought there was no way they would ever buy me something worth so much. To my surprise, it was a miracle when I was handed the keys to my own boat. Ever since I did not need to drive a car I wanted to drive a boat around everywhere. Sadly there are not enough, nor deep enough, waterways in Pennsylvania that would allow for such travel; however, there is in Venice. There are no cars or trains or buses to lookout for, the streets are narrow and maze like and all of it is a beautiful puzzle waiting to be solved. As I gazed at a map that was hardly labeled I knew that it doesn’t get better than this. Boats everywhere used for every type of transportation imaginable, the challenge of navigating the streets and waterways, of getting supplies to and from, and the fear of the water rising too high keeps it interesting. For what a challenge it would be to live in a place like this. This place that fulfills my wildest dreams, could you one day be my home?  

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Blog, Courses, Creative, Italian Literature in English, Travel & Food Writing
by Himani Jadeja

Can I just first of all say I am living my dream right now? I have always wanted to come to Europe and I am glad Italy was the first country I came to because it made me realize how beautiful Europe can be. Even though we have been all over the place since we landed at the airport, I have purposely made time to sit down and just people watch since I love doing that anywhere I go. I have seen some bizarre things and people. I came on this trip with no friends so it was cool for me to be in a new country with new people. I have learned so much art and history here. To be honest, I didn’t really care too much about art history but coming here and learning about the renessaince has made me realize its importance. My favorite was going to see The David at Le Academia. It was the most mesmerizing marble statue I have ever seen and I was definitely not expecting that. I have also tried some of the best ice cream and gelato here. For those of you who love chocolate and ice cream, you might have heard of Magnum. Well guess what? There is a Magnum ice cream place right around the Duomo and it is absolutely heaven. You walk in and pay first. Later, they ask you to choose your toppings and then they dip your chocolate or vanilla ice cream bar into this bucket full of either milk, white, or dark chocolate. Here’s the catch though, when they dip it; it comes out frozen! So now you have this delicious crisp chocolate crust around your ice cream which gets topped with your chosen toppings. I recommend everyone to go there at least once before leaving Florence. It will always be the best €4,50 I have ever spent. Time in Florence is flying by. Even faster than Rome. I have made some great memories here from reenactment of Michealangelo’s statues to just talking with friends by the river to learning the history of this beautiful city. It is definitely on the list of places to visit again.

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Coliseum in Person

Blog, Italian Literature in English, Uncategorized
by Miranda Ryan

Upon arriving at the coliseum I was taken back from the beauty of such a magnificent structure. I have seen many pictures, as most of us have, but nothing compares to seeing and touching something as well known as the coliseum in person. The stone is thick and worn with age, yet it still maintains some roughness to it. The arcs are so high, if you are not careful enough you may miss the engravings telling you  which numbered arc you are passing through. Inside, the steps to the second floor are steeper than any step I’ve ever climbed before yet  extremely small in width. The edges are worn from centuries of shoes stomping on them. If you can keep your balance while walking up, which I certainly struggled with as I was keen on taking pictures, look across the steps and you will notice the indentations from where the heaviest traffic flows have worn on the steps causing them to ripple like water. The views looking into the bottom of the coliseum is almost perfectly symmetrical. You can see the long strait path through the center connecting the two ends as well as the tall block walls that are shaped to form the straight line back into a circle again. Trying to imagine there was once animals such as lions and tigers kept in these cells is almost impossible for me. When I think of animal captivates I immediately picture our zoos and how far away they try and keep the animals away from you with ditches and glass and many many barriers. Then I try and picture someone willing to fight such a beast and still think it hard to do. However, it was done and this is where it happened. Where thousands lost their life not only to animals but to other human beings as well. The coliseum at night is a sight worth seeing. With a yellow glow from within tourists continue to form a line around its base just waiting to get in to this wondrous building. Pictures do not do this building justice, never will the coliseum be just a picture to me again.

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