A Lesson in Wine

The third in a series of wine tasting concluded yesterday evening at local enoteca Enone. Professional sommelier, Silva Bartolini, was on hand to guide the students through the wine tasting. All the tastings consisted of local Umbrian wines (one white, one red and one sweet) paired with food (parmesan, mortadella and a fritatta). Silvia discussed the three forms of analysis-visual, olfactory and tasting. Then the students had a go at it themselves, some smelling berries, pine and flowers in the wine. Silvia dicussed the process of making wine, how to open a bottle and which glasses are correct for each one.

Why Spaghetti and not Dante?

Why have such a distinguished people like the Italians chosen to represent themselves through their cuisine? Why could a humble food like pasta advance to become the most “Italian” food item? Umbra Professor Peter Fischer (History and Culture of Food in Italy) posed (and answered) these questions and others last night in his lecture. Fischer argued that starting with Artusi and his historical project of a “culinary Risorgimento” over the definition of a unified Italian cuisine in the Little Italies of early 20th century America, up to the development of a pronounced culinary conservatism in post WWII Italy, the construction of a common Italian culinary identity became the nucleus around which Italians where able to create a sense of distinction and resistance to cultural assimilation in a modernizing and globalizing world.

The lecture was well-attended by both Umbra students and faculty, as well as by the public. The lecture was part of a series, a collaboration between the Umbra Institute and a local foundation.

Integrating Semester Abroad Experiences Upon Return

It is the hope of all educators that a semester abroad enhances a student’s education. So often study abroad opportunities are attacked as a “semester off” for students to travel the world before graduating college.

At the Umbra Institute, however, professors encourage students to draw upon their previous coursework in classroom discussions and challenge them to think beyond classroom material. We received notice that one former student, Mark Turpin, integrated the experiences from studying art history in Italy into one of his senior art pieces upon return to Wabash College in Indiana. Turpin studied at the Umbra Institute during the fall 2007 semester.

Turpin included traditional iconography in a modern adaptation of a triptych. Several scenes of Turpin’s triptych mirror works by Michelangelo (The Pieta and Creation) and Piero della Francesca (Duke of Urbino portrait). As stated in Turpin’s statement: “My paintings incorporate Renaissance themes and imagery, but superimpose not what was culturally acceptable in Renaissance times, but rather what we today as a culture publicly accept through our images of violence, sex, and drugs seen in our mass media. By exploring this dichotomy of Renaissance and modern popular culture, I hope the viewers can decide for themselves the trouble that might be associated with this type of blind societal acceptance of popular culture which has become so commonplace that we forget what implications it might have.”

In photos: detail of triptych; Turpin discusses artwork at Wabash College Celebration of Student Research.

Carnevale!

Traditionally, during Lent, parties and feasts were prohibited. The last days before the beginning of Lent were the opportunity to eat and drink and make merry, and this became known as Carnival. There are differing interpretations but the most likely etymology is carne vale, “goodbye to meat,” as the eating of meat was forbidden during Lent as well. Though Americans have Venice in their mind as the spot for Carnival, in reality the Italian city of Viareggio’s carnival is the most frequented by Italians themselves (and this year will be by Umbra students as well!). But for those studying that week of Martedì Grasso (Mardi Gras), there will be a number of Carnival celebrations in Umbria too. Check out the eGeneration site for more information!