Author Archives: jir105

On Mt. Etna with the Penn State Reggio Summer Program

Hi! My name is Hamdan and I am from the United Arab Emirates. Currently a 5th year senior pursuing a Chemical Engineering degree and two minors which are Italian and Engineering Entrepreneurship.

I believed learning a new language had always been something unique that could distinguish me from others and a great overall cultural experience. We are very lucky that Penn State has many language classes from the far east to the far west of the world. The tremendous languages that are being taught at Penn State got me curious to find what language I would like it to be my third (I speak Arabic and English fluently). Along with some motivation from friend, we started taking beginner Italian 001 classes during our junior year. In the later semesters, I kept going on that “Italian road” with Intermediate 002 and Advanced 003. During summer 2016, I had the opportunity to study broad in the Reggio program run by the faculty in the Italian department. The program in Reggio offered 6 credits that can be counted towards a minor in Italian. Having accumulated 10 credits that counts towards the minor, I was left with two 400 level courses and another 300 level Italian elective. I am currently taking a 400-level Italian class and a 300-level class. For next semester, spring 2017, I will be concluding my Italian minor with another 400-level class!

Why study Italian at Penn State? – Italian Major Jana Bontrager

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Photo by Stephanie Dougher 2016 (www.stephaniedee.com)

Jana Bontrager – Italian Major ’16 – Upon entering Penn State as a freshman, I had absolutely no intention, nor – to be honest – interest, in studying language. I knew I needed to complete 12 credits of a foreign language for my, then, business degree, so I decided on Italian because it sounded pretty and I thought it might be helpful with music. It was in those basic classes that I fell in love with the Italian language. Through the encouragement and support of the Italian department, I established a concurrent degree in Italian.

Later on, my fondness for Italian compelled me to spend a semester abroad in Siena, Tuscany. Four months of frothed-to-perfection cappuccino, breathtaking vistas and illustrious art really sealed the deal; Italy had truly won me over. Although my aims for my Italian degree have never primarily been vocational, my experience with all things Italian truly changed my life. Now, as a graduating senior, I plan to pursue a master’s degree in Florence, Italy, and take with me a newfound affinity for Dante, Verdi and Botticelli!

Italianist Spotlight: Alumnus Brian Tholl

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I recently caught up with former Penn State Italian student Brian Tholl in Hartford, CT at the Northeast Modern Language Association’s annual conference. He is currently a graduate student in Italian at Rutgers University.

Brian and colleague Eleanora Sartoni at the 2016 NeMLA convention.

What is your research about?

My research concerns confino – the forced peripheral exile of Italians during Mussolini’s fascist regime. I hope to explore the relationship between imprisonment and southern Italy.

What is your favorite thing about Italian culture?

My favorite thing about Italian culture is that it encompasses so many different things and is hard to define. We often think of the country’s past, including its tremendous accomplishments in literature, art, and and architecture, to name a few, but equally as important is the local culture of the country, which varies greatly from region to region. There’s always something new to learn about the culture!

How has your perspective regarding the language changed as you shifted from being a student to a teacher?

I think as a student I was always trying to make the language fit into a neat, little box. However, Italian is a living, breathing language and cannot always be organized using a specific set of rules. My classes encompass far more than memorization, and I like to convey this idea to my students. I think it allows them to be curious and engage with the language in different ways. They start to question why you say certain things in one way in Italian, and begin to wonder what this means for a speaker of the language.

What is the best advice that you could give to students studying Italian at Penn State?

Learning a language is such a tough, but rewarding experience. It requires work, but you don’t need to treat it like a job. Try to have fun with the language and interact with it as much as possible. Listen to Italian music, watch Italian films, go to Tavola Italiana, or grab a coffee with your professors and chat in Italian. There are approximately 67 million speakers of Italian in the world – you never know who you’ll meet or what kind of opportunities you’ll find because of your ability to speak the language. Forza!

Interview by jrwagner

Italianist Spotlight: Anna Centrella NIAF on Campus Fellow (4 of 4)

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After two tightly scheduled days, I asked Anna to reflect on her experience as a NIAF on Campus fellow at the Washington D.C. annual gala weekend.

From my own perspective as a faculty participant in NIAF on Campus, I think that both Anna and I walk away with strong ideas to strengthen the Penn State Italian program and student community. The discussions that we had with other Italian program faculty and students were invaluable and will pave the way for future relationships. It was also great to see how an organization like NIAF, that supports students with scholarship and travel opportunities, might better serve a younger generation.

If you are interested in learning about this program and would consider participating in the future email me, Johanna Rossi Wagner, at jir105@psu.edu.

Italianist Spotlight: Anna Centrella NIAF on Campus Fellow (3 of 4)

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The NIAF on Campus fellows spent Saturday morning in a discussion about Columbus Day at the Italian American Leadership Council Forum. The discussion was heated, but there was a clear interest in what the younger generation thought about the holiday.

Anna and the fellows were interviewed by Italics, Italian programming by CUNY Television, and i-Italy TV which will be aired at a later date.

Italianist Spotlight: Anna Centrella NIAF on Campus Fellow (2 of 4)

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The first day of events scheduled for the National Italian American Foundation’s NAIF on Campus program was a discussion about the current state of Italian organizations on campuses across the United States. I asked Anna what she took away from the discussion:

We discussed three aspects in particular: Internships, mentoring and networking and hopefully we can see how we can work together with NIAF to create more opportunities like this, but also keep Italian heritage central to this.

In the following posts Anna will discuss some of the projects at Penn State that she anticipates working on as a fellow this year and ways in which the community of NIAF fellows can collaborate.

Anna with other fellows at the NIAF 40th Anniversary Gala Events

Italianist Spotlight: Anna Centrella, 2015-2016 NIAF on Campus Fellow (1 of 4)

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Penn State sophomore Anna Centrella was recently named a NIAF on Campus Fellow. The National Italian American Foundation, an organization that has been supporting Italian American culture since 1975, launched the program to engage young leaders in the Italian American community. Anna, a double Finance and Italian major, is among the first fifteen fellows and has been invited to participate in the foundation’s 40th Anniversary Gala in Washington D.C. She’ll be sending updates and photos about the weekend events and her role as a fellow.

What do you expect going into the events this weekend?

I not sure what to expect, but I am really looking forward to meeting other Italian Americans, mostly other students, but also faculty members… and trying to figure out how we can make the Italian American identity a lot stronger on campus and get more people involved.

Italianist Spotlight: Eric Pirollo

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Each semester we aim to showcase students, faculty and alumni of the Italian program in the Italianist Spotlight. For our inaugural Spotlight we’ve asked senior Eric Pirollo about his experiences in the program.

Eric is pursuing a double major in Economics and History and an Italian minor. He was the very first dancer sponsored by the Italian Student Society to participate in Penn State’s Dance marathon in support of the Four Diamonds Fund.

Eric representing the Italian Student Society at Penn State’s THON

What made you want to pursue an Italian minor?

I knew I wanted to study the language and that I wanted to go abroad to Italy. It didn’t make sense to not do those things and not have a minor. I wanted to study the language because growing up having dinners at my grandparents [originally from Lazio near Gaeta] made me curious to know what they were saying at the dinner table when they would switch to Italian.

Did you study abroad in Italy?

I went on the faculty lead summer trip to Reggio Calabria. I thought that a faculty lead trip would be better for me. I felt that the atmosphere was different because the faculty knows a lot more about the area and took us on all these excursions. We went to Agrigento in Sicily and I really liked that because of the Greek History. I found that being a History Major I was drawn to it. The temples were just incredible. The students all lived together in the apartments and we would just all go out and explore Reggio together. We met some students from the Italian university near by and we played soccer, saw places that we would never have known about and we would also go to the beach a lot.

I improved my Italian 119%. I learned more Italian in those six weeks than I could have ever imagined. Being in Southern Italy, no one really spoke English and so we were really forced to learn the language for basic communication and survival. At the beginning I was afraid. The first week in Sicily it was like walking on eggshells. But I kinda tried to be bolder and have the confidence. Looking back, you have to know you are going to mess up and that’s part of the experience and a part of learning. The faster you get over that, the better your experience will be and the faster the learning will be.

When did you become involved with the Italian Student Society (ISS)?

My first semester – coming in I wanted to join some sort of Italian organization on campus. My first semester in Italian 001, we were told about this “Tavola” [informal conversation hour run by the ISS] and one of my classmates went with me. I really enjoyed Tavola and I thought it was a great way to supplement my learning of the language. I came back a couple times and eventually I went to other club events and became part of the family.

When I first joined I didn’t really want to be involved with the Executive Board. I just wanted to be a member. As I progressed and matured in college, I found myself wanting to have a leadership position and give my input on club activities. I became the IM sports coordinator my junior year. One of the aspects of the club that I enjoyed most was the THON involvement. I went on some canning trips and by sophomore year I spent most of my time with ISS in the stands for THON weekend. That was something that really made me feel closer to the members of the club.

So when we continued [with THON] my junior year and we raised enough money to have dancers, I jumped at the chance to be considered one of the first-ever dancers for ISS. It was such an honor to be able to represent the organization in THON in such a huge way.

What is next for you and Italian?

In terms of speaking the language, [I’ll continue] probably with my relatives and communicate with them and other Italian family members. I hope to return to Italy and be able to communicate there and speak the language with my relatives there or be a slightly more informed tourist. Learning a language in general is what really shaped me and not only does it expose you to a new culture but I think it opens you a little bit. You can’t directly translate so as a student there are different ways to express things. It broadens your horizons.

Interview by Alessandra Cioffi, Italian Social Media Intern