lottesville teaching Italian and working

on a new short film about food and

consumerism and then it’s off to Bloom-

ington, IN to begin a doctoral program in

Italian at Indiana University. Jülide’s

classmate, Emiliano Guaraldo (second

from left) plans to begin

a doctoral program as

well, at The University of

North Carolina, Chapel

Hill. Finally, once she

receives her MA, Hiromi

Kaneda (far right) will

head to Rutgers Univer-

sity to pursue her Ph. D.

We wish Hiromi and all

of our graduates in

bocca al lupo for next year and the

years to come.

-Sarah Annunziato

Many can’t-miss events take place in

May: the Stanley Cup play-offs, the

unveiling of Charlottesville’s famous

“Design House,” among others. How-

ever, for everyone involved with the

Italian Studies program at UVa., the

most exciting event of all is commence-

ment.

On May 20th, students and faculty in

Italian will celebrate the achievements

of our seven graduating majors and four

minors in Italian Studies. We also look

forward to seeing four students receive

their MA in Italian later this month.

Although some of our graduates are still

deciding on what they plan to do next,

many are already poised to move on to

exciting new prospects beyond Char-

lottesville.

Senior Italian Studies major Shea Fitz-

gerald will move to Los Angeles, where

she has received and accepted an offer

to work at the art gallery L&M Arts.

Shea’s fellow Italian Studies major,

Katie Dodds recently presented a Distin-

guished Majors thesis on art collector

Giuliano Gori, and now plans to relocate

to New York City to work in the wine

industry. Another alumna-to be, Taylor

Hart Odom, will soon depart Charlottes-

ville for Thailand, where she will teach

English before heading off to graduate

school in International Affairs.

Our MA students also report interesting

adventures for the fall. Jülide Etem (far

left) will spend the summer in Char-

Above: Alicia Persson, MA, ‘13, Katie Dodds, ‘12,

and Laura Petrik, MA, ‘13. Left: Prof.ssa Ward,

Lola, and Sydney Saunders, ‘12. Right: Shea Fitzgerald, ‘12.

Caption describing picture or graphic.

I n b o c c a a l l u p o !

B E L L O ,

N O ?

Seven UVa under-

graduates to

receive degrees

in Italian Studies.

Four students will

graduate with a

minor in Italian

Studies.

Exciting pros-

pects for our MA

candidates.

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Viva Italian Garden Party 2

A Plaque for Lola 2

Rachel Va in Toscana 2

With Distinction 3

With Distinction: Who’s

Next? 3

Bursting With Pride 3

A World of Possibilities

and a Look Back 4-7

T h a n k s f o r t h e M e m o r i e s

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E I T A L I A N S T U D I E S

P R O G R A M A T T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F V I R G I N I A

La vendemmia

May 2012 Volume 1, issue 5

Once again we celebrated our stu-dents and donors at the 2012 annual Italian Garden Reception and Awards Ceremony -- aka the Italian Garden Party -- in the exquisite surroundings of the Pavilion VIII gardens. The event was a great success. We en-joyed gorgeous weather and a great turnout, with guests joining us from all over the university, including the Arts and Sciences Deans Office, Politics, French, International Studies, etc. Honored prize winners included: undergrads Peter Lizza '14, Rachel Midura '13, Katie Dodds '12 and Sydney Saunders '12, and MA student Emiliano Guaraldo '12. These stu-dents received certificates and cash

prizes for their excellent work in Italian over the past year. A true highlight of the gathering was the presence of members of the Lola Pelliccia family. Lola DeAmicis Pellic-cia was a teacher of Italian at UVa and vital presence in the program, before her untimely death in 1980. Her family has continued her legacy by donating most generously to our program. Their gifts help fund the essay-writing and graduate prizes awarded at the Italian Garden Party, and support other Italian language and cultural activities in our program. This year, Lola's daughters Charlotte, Lydia, and Emily, along with granddaughter Lola, were on hand to applaud the prize

winners and celebrate Italian at UVa. They also honored us with a most unexpected but lovely gift -- a beautiful plaque commemorating Lola Pelliccia. It will be mounted near the Lola Pellic-cia Library, and will communicate to all her immense contributions to our work. Other highlights included snacking on elegant refreshments and listening to the delightful arias and ensembles from Opera Viva. All in all, we had a wonderful afternoon marking the accomplishments -- and fun -- of studying of Italian at UVa!

-Adrienne Ward

dintorni di Pistoia, vicino al paese di

Santomato, la Fattoria Celle com-

prende un grande parco pieno di

sculture ambientali che si chiama gli

"Spazi d'arte." Vedete: www.goricoll.it

Rachel aiuterà a dare visite guidate

alle tante persone che vengono per

vedere la vasta collezione, e si occu-

perà anche dei lavori da compiere in

ufficio. È questa la terza volta che

una studentessa di UVa "vince il

concorso," per così dire. Fare lo stage

alla Collezione Gori è un'opportunità

straordinaria che viene offerta ogni

anno. Ci si annuncia di solito ai primi

Salutiamo Rachel Perry che è già

partita per la Toscana per fare lo

stage estivo (summer internship)

presso la famosa Collezione Gori!

Rachel studia la letteratura com-

parata (inglese e italiana) ed è stata

selezionata per coprire il ruolo di

assistente della Signora Miranda

MacPhail, curatrice della collezione di

arte contemporanea alla Fattoria

Celle, ossia la tenuta appartenente

alla famiglia Gori. La rinomata collezi-

one fu fondata dal Dottor Giuliano

Gori, insieme esperto, collezionista, e

gran promotore delle arti contempora-

nee in Italia e nel mondo. Situata nei

di dicembre, e le domande si fanno a

gennaio. Le nostre stagiste in pas-

sato comprendono Jülide Etem e

Katie Dodds; entrambe si sono ap-

profittate dell'occasione facendo delle

ricerche che poi hanno contribuito

alle loro tesi, in quanto partecipavano

al Distinguished Majors Program in

Italiano. Auguriamo a Rachel una

buonissima permanenza in Toscana e

una fantastica esperienza, sia artis-

tica che italiana!

-Adrienne Ward

Plath, Prof.ssa Pelliccia went on

to earn an MA from Georgetown

University and work for the United

States government.

However, the career for which she

is most fondly remembered here

at The University of Virginia, was

as a lecturer in Italian from 1967-

1979.

During her twelve years here,

Prof.ssa Pelliccia inspired many

students to love the language and

culture of Dante, and now we are

quite pleased to commemorate

her with the new plaque, which

bears her portrait.

- The Italian Studies Program

Lola Pelliccia’s daughter, Emily unveils the plaque.

The library located in Wilson Hall

107 bears the name of legendary

lecturer of Italian, Lola Pelliccia,

and now thanks to Prof.ssa Pellic-

cia’s family, a plaque will properly

mark the spot.

Prof.ssa Pelliccia graduated from

Smith College in Northampton,

MA, where like many of her future

students, she took advantage of

the opportunity to study in Flor-

ence, Italy. Following her gradua-

tion from the alma mater of Sylvia

Rachel Perry passerà un’estate

indimenticabile in Toscana.

V i v a I t a l i a n G a r d e n P a r t y 2 0 1 2

R a c h e l V a i n T o s c a n a

P a g e 2

A P l a q u e f o r l o l a “The library in

room 107 of

Wilson Hall

will receive a new

plaque

commemorating

Lola Pelliccia’s

life and work.”

Prof.ssa Ward and little Lola-

prepare to hand out the

awards.

L a v e n d e m m i a

UVa's 2012 Distinguished Majors Program in

Italian Studies! Katie's DMP thesis is titled

"Giuliano Gori e il flusso di arte contemporanea in

Toscana dal 1982" ("Giuliano Gori and the

Progress of Contemporary Art in Tuscany Since

1982"). It traces the evolution of contemporary

art in Tuscany, and concentrates on Dr. Giuliano

Gori's ground-breaking efforts to establish and

promote contemporary art in Tuscany in the late

20th century. Katie conducted much of her

research while working as a summer intern at the

Gori Collection in 2011. She conducted

interviews with Dr. Gori himself, his assistant and

collection curator Ms. Miranda MacPhail, and

other figures -- artists, critics, experts -- in the

Tuscan art world. She then completed the thesis

during her fourth year, under the supervision of

Prof.ssa Adrienne Ward. The insightful thesis

explains that before Dr. Gori spearheaded the

cause, art from the modern and contemporary

periods was eclipsed by the emphasis on

medieval and Renaissance art and architecture in

Florence and the surrounding region. Gori's work

has served multiple goals: to educate fellow

Tuscans on the importance of today's artistic

thinking and creations, to support budding and

renowned contemporary artists, and to facilitate

the installation of outstanding works by brilliant

Italian and international sculptors, painters, and

other artists, in public spaces in the region. His

own collection at the Fattoria Celle near Pistoia,

which includes a 70-acre sculpture park, is a star

in the constellation of contemporary art sites now

active in Tuscany. Katie's thesis fills a gap in

assessments of Gori's work, insofar as it

spotlights his landmark accomplishments in the

past thirty years and their profound effect on the

Tuscan art scene.

(Continued below).

with department chairs and faculty

supervisors. The program allows

participating faculty to develop and

implement special projects to

enhance the student experience

here at The University of Virginia.

As though this news were not excit-

ing enough, there’s more.

Prof.ssa Ward, along with Prof.ssa

Emily Scida, also received a grant

to conduct a longitudinal study

assessing the linguistic compe-

The Italian Studies program is

positively bursting with pride over

news about Prof.sse Ward and

Scida.

In March, Prof.ssa Ward received

an invitation to join the Mead Hon-

ored Faculty, a program that exists

to encourage faculty to “become

more actively involved with stu-

dents and student life." Profes-

sors are nominated for considera-

tion by their Deans, in consultation

tency of Italian majors as

they progress through the

program here. The professoresse

aim to determine how, and to

what extent, study abroad affects

students’ proficiency and to gain

information to help them achieve

greater degrees of fluency in

Italian by the time they graduate.

Keep an eye on La vendemmia to

hear what Prof.sse Ward and

Scida do next! -The Editors.

Greco Library.

Next year three Italian Stud-

ies majors will participate in

the Distinguished Majors

program: Molly Frear and

Emanuel Grant will work on

medieval Italian works with

Prof. ssa Deborah Parker,

and Rachel Midura will

work on early modern Ve-

netian literary culture with

Prof.ssa Ward. Look for

more information on their

thesis topics in the next

issue of La Vendemmia!

For information on applying

to the Distinguished Majors

Program in Italian Studies,

see the Italian program

website.

-Adrienne Ward

(Continued from above). On

April 20, 2012, Katie

presented a short form of

her thesis (in English) at the

Spanish, Italian and

Portuguese Department’s

DMP presentation event.

She will graduate with High

Distinction, and her thesis

will be available for reading

both in the Lola Pelliccia

Libary for Italian Studies,

and in the department's Del

W i t h D i s t i n c t i o n !

B u r s t i n g w i t h p r i d e !

W i t h D i s t i n c t i o n : w h o ’ s n e x t ?

P a g e 3 V o l u m e 1 , i s s u e 5

“Next year,

Molly Frear,

Emanuel Grant,

and Rachel

Midura will follow

Katie Dodds in

the Distinguished

Majors Program.”

Prof.ssa Ward

(left) and

Prof.ssa Scida

(below).

Congratulate Katie Dodds, who has completed

Katie Dodds presents her thesis on the Gori

Collection.

not here at The University of Virginia. Stu-

dents of Advanced

Italian II (Italian 3020)

recently contributed a

series of special reports

to the syndicated Italian

-language radio show,

Caffè Italia.

Caffè Italia broadcasts

each Sunday from the

campus of Southeastern Louisiana Univer-

sity and reaches audiences in Salamanca,

Spain and Middletown, CT. On April 22 and

29 it also invaded Charlottesville, thanks to

the efforts of our students in Italian Stud-

ies.

The Advanced Italian class provided reports

on a variety of topics, ranging from a virtual

tour of the Uffizi, to an explanation of last

winter’s natural gas crisis in Italy. They

wrote and recorded their broadcasts with

the help of late, famed Italian writer Carlo

Emilio Gadda, and Caffè Italia’s host Prof.

Francesco Fiumara of Southeastern.

Did you miss it? Don’t worry, you can listen

to both shows at http://www.kslu.org/

caffe_italia_samples.php, password

kslu. –Sarah Annunziato

nal articles on a variety of topics,

ranging from our museum’s exhibit

on Bartolo di Fredi, to the eco-

nomic crisis in Italy. The students

also selected all of the photo-

graphs to accompany their work to

create an informative and visually

interesting newsletter.

However, you need not be a stu-

dent in Italiano 3020 to write for

La vendemmia.

Anyone with a passion for Italian

You may not be graduating just yet,

but you may already be thinking

about what you want to do after

you leave UVa for the “real world.”

Have you ever considered a career

in journalism?

Some of the students who took

Advanced Italian II (3020) this

spring now might be. In April they

took control of this publication to

produce a special Italian-language

edition. April’s issue featured origi-

and a story to tell

about the boot-

shaped country can

submit an article or

artwork for publica-

tion.

La vendemmia is your paper, so

don’t be afraid to put your personal

stamp on it.

-The Editors

by historical period and by genre.”

ITTR 3559: Frenemies: Italy and the

U.S., Cross-Cultural Perspectives.

“This course will examine both media

representations of Italy in the United

States and representations of America

in the Italian media. We will analyze

examples from literature, film and

television that come from both nations.

Readings from Highsmith, Pavese,

Severgnini. Films by Amelio, Coppola,

Lattuada, Minghella, and Tucci.”

ITTR 5250: Dante’s Purgatory in Trans-

lation.

“Close reading of Purgatory, the second

realm of the Afterlife. Lectures focus on

Dante’s social, political, and cultural

world. Incorporates The World of Dante

a multimedia pedagogical and research

website, that offers a wide range of

digital materials related to the Com-

edy.”

ITTR 5820: Italian Pop Culture

“This course is an historical examina-

tion of the cultural and socio-political

transformations that took place in Italy

during its recent history.”

-The Editors.

What’s new this fall? Italian courses in

a wide variety of styles. If you are look-

ing to finalize your schedule, and not

yet sure what to take, you might want to

sample one or more of these offerings:

ITAL: 4350: Angels, Birds, Prostitutes,

and Lambs: Representations of Women

in Italian Literature.

“How do men portray women in Italian

texts? How do women represent them-

selves? What does representation

mean? This course will study issues of

gender and representation, looking

especially at how they are conditioned

R a d i o d a y s a t u v a

L a V e n d e m m i a w a n t s y - o - u !

S p a n k i n g N e w C l a s s e s !

P a g e 5 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

“Are you

wondering which

Italian course is

best for you?

You Might want

to look into some

of these

offerings!”

Uva means grape and

University of Virginia!

Radio is most certainly not dead, at least

UVa students took control of Caffè Italia’s air-

waves for two shows.

Please wish good luck and

congratulations to our de-

parting Italian Studies gradu-

ates, and stay tuned for news

on all the Italian majors and

minors who will reunite next

fall!

I NUOVI LAUREATI

Patrick Duffy

Katie Dodds

Shea Fitzgerald

Rachel Fleischer

Taylor Hart Odom

Sydney Saunders

Ashley Winston

CLASS OF 2013

Randy Alston

Christopher Banks

Nick Carullo

Molly Frear

Sandy Glennie

Emanuel Grant

Rachel Midura

Emily Schreiber

Brittany Smith

Filadelfia Soto

Ashley Taylor

CLASS OF 2014

Stefani Bell

Alexia Casaus-Leppo

Alessandra Cox

Stephen Grado

Eric Johnson

Zoe Kemp

Virginia Nyce

Lacey Prestipino

Alexander Preve

Kiana Ricks-Bell

Frances Sarrett

E. Naz Tanoglu

Caitlin Willis

Taylor Wilson

La Vendemmia, the

newsletter of Italian

Studies at The Univer-

sity of Virginia, is born.

In April, students of Ad-

vanced Italian wrote

and edited their own

issue in Italian.

In September,

Italian Studies

Students at-

tended La

Traviata at the

Paramount Thea-

tre in Charlottes-

ville. For many, it

was the first

chance to see a

live opera per-

formance.

Soccer (calcio) was a popular

topic in April’s Vendemmia.

A u g u r i !

O c t o b e r …

O t t o b r e

P a g e 6

2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2 : A l o o k b a c k

September

Settembre

Above: Students attend La Traviata. Center: Katie Dodds at the Gori Collection. Below: Lola Pelliccia

Essay Prize winner Peter Lizza (center) with his TA, Noemi Perego (left).

N e w s l e t t e r T i t l e

In January, Prof.ssa Ward and

Prof. Cesaretti (far left) accom-

panied a group of UVa stu-

dents to Tuscany, to study the

region’s language and culture.

The group stayed in Prato, and

made trips throughout Tus-

cany, including an excursion to

the region’s capitol, Florence

(pictured).

peers, and also their profes-

sors. Second-year MA students

Jülide Etem, Emiliano Guar-

aldo, Hiromi Kaneda, and

Noemi Perego (center)

spoke on a variety of topics,

ranging from Giuseppe

Berto’s novel Il cielo è

Rosso, to the poetry of Gia-

como Leopardi. First-year

MA students Alicia Persson

(left), Laura Petrik, Dan

Frullani, and Alessandro De

Stefanis (right) organized the

event.

In December, candidates in

the MA program at The Univer-

sity of Virginia presented their

theses to an audience of their

N o v e m b e r . . . N o v e m b r e

J a n u a r y . .

. G e n n a i o

D e c e m b e r . . . D i c e m b r e

P a g e 7 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

February…

Febbraio

In Febru-

ary,

Professor

Dennis

Looney

(left)

visited

grounds

to speak about his

book,

Freedom Readers.

In November, the Italian Studies program

hosted a dinner at the Shea House to allow

students interested in the major, minor, or

study abroad to learn more. Italian Majors

Randy Alston (far left), Sydney Saunders

(second from left), Brittany Smith (third

from left) and Sandie Glennie (second from

right) spoke at the event along with Katie

Dodds and Shea Fitzgerald.

Food catered by Mona Lisa and funny stories

about why students decided to major in Italian

made the night a lot of fun.

Deborah Parker.

Ringraziamo:

ASCIT.

Caffè Italia.

Shea Fitzgerald.

The Gori Collection.

Mona Lisa.

Opera Viva.

The Pelliccia Family.

Rachel Perry.

Claudio Rinaldi.

Eric Stauffer.

Editor: Sarah Annunziato.

Editorial Board:

Enrico Cesaretti.

Cristina Della Coletta.

Deborah Parker.

Emily Scida.

Adrienne Ward.

Contributors:

Sarah Annunziato.

Adrienne Ward.

Photography:

Emiliano Guaraldo, MA, ‘12.

Hiromi Kaneda, MA, ‘12.

Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

115 Wilson Hall

PO Box 400777

Charlottesville, VA 22904

Phone: 434-924-7159

Fax: 434-924-7160

E-mail: sipinfo@virginia.edu .

The Department of Spanish, Italian

and Portuguese offers three kinds of

specialization in Italian Studies: a ma-

jor in Italian Studies leading to the

B.A. or B.A. with distinction; a minor in

Italian Studies; and a graduate

course of studies leading to the M.A.

in Italian language and literature.

For information on becoming a major

or a minor in Italian Studies, please

contact Professor Adrienne Ward

(aw7h@virginia.edu).

If you would like more information on

the M.A. program in Italian, please

contact Professor Enrico Cesaretti

(efc4p@virginia.edu).

ITALIAN STUDIES

C h i S i a m o ?

Your business tag line here.

HTTP://WWW.VIRGINIA.EDU/SPAN-ITAL-PORT/ITALIAN/

INDEX

Virginia is for lovers of Italian!