Students worked hard practicing their songs in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. There was food from around the world and prizes for best solo, small group, and whole class acts. Read more to find out who won and hear a bit of their songs.
Thursday, April 20 at 5:30PM
French House Lawn
The French House & Italian House will combine to host a Bocce/Pétanque Contest and Ice Cream Social on the lawn of the French House
Dr. Martini presented an essay titled “Italian Immigration in the American South: Incorporating DEI Goals in the Italian American Studies Curriculum” at the 2023 Decentering Pedagogy and Research Conference by Diversity, Transformation and Italian Studies. The presentation focused on the redesign of her course ITAL 309: Italian Americans in Cinema and Literature done by Dr. Martini in collaboration with the Roberson Project on Slavery, Race and Reconciliation thanks to a DEI grant received by the university in 2022.
Saturday, February 18
3:00PM-5:00PM
Experience how Carnival is celebrated around the world by touring the language theme houses. In no particular order, you may drop in on all or just some of the language theme houses.
Friday, Dec 2 at 4:00PM
Italian House
The French House and the Italian House are teaming up to host a bonfire at the Italian House
Monday, Nov 21 at 5:30PM
Torian Room of duPont Library
Cultural heritage preserves community values and social cohesion. What tools helped preserve the Italian heritage from the urban and historical changes that occurred through time? And how is such heritage managed and kept? Dr. Soviero will discuss processes and dynamic law systems.
Sunday, Nov 20 at 4:30PM
Join the residents fo the Italian House for a fun evening of cooking and eating Italian dishes! Limited to the first 20 reservations.
At International Karaoke Night, students of all levels sing songs in the language that they are studying. It's a night of fun, food, music, prizes, friendly competition, and learning about other cultures and their music. Read more to see video highlights and find out who won!
Alessia Martini (Italian) had an article "Scolpito nella pietra: testimonianze scultoree della comunità italiana di Barre, Vermont" published in a special issue of the journal Italian Canadiana (36.1/ 2022). It focuses on ethnic identity among the Italian diasporic community in Canada and the United States in the twentieth century.
Join us for a night of fun, food, music, and prizes! Brave students will sing in the language that they are studying at Sewanee. Get your name on the roster to sing by contacting Helen Stapleton hfstaple@sewanee.edu.
The Italian House and French House will co-host a bocce/pétanque tournament and ice-cream social On April 14 at 5:00. Come over to the French House lawn to enjoy a game of bocce, have some gelato and a lot of fun!
The Department of Spanish and Italian at the University of the South will welcome the Basque writer Kirmen Uribe for a campus visit and public talk on Sunday, April 10, at 7pm, in Gailor Auditorium on Sewanee's campus. Uribe's lecture, titled "How to Tell a Real Life: My Year Writing at the New York Public Library," will be held in English.
Join us for our first Italian Karaoke Night at the Italian House this Thursday (March 31) at 7pm. If you'd like to sing, please sign-up. If you don't feel like singing, come listen to Italian music and have fun with us! There will be refreshments.
Experience how Carnival is celebrated around the world by touring the Language Theme Houses on Friday, February 25
-Try King Cake, make crafts with Mardi Gras beads, and play bead toss at the French House!
-The German House will offer Faschingskrapfen (jam-filled donuts) and face painting!
-Decorate masks at the Italian House!
-Enjoy bliny (thin pancakes), a bonfire, tug-o-war and other games at the Russian House!
-Foam fight, piñatas, and other games at the Spanish House!
Whether it's Mardi Gras in the Francophone world, Fasching in Germany, Carnevale in Italy, Maslenitsa in Russia, or Carnaval in the Hispanic world, Europeans welcomed the return of the sun and the approach of the Spring Equinox with celebrations involving pancakes and other traditional foods, games, bonfires, costumes, parades, and role reversals. With the arrival of Christianity, these celebrations evolved into one last indulgence before the austerity of the Lent.
Students gathered at the Italian House on Friday, October 29 to watch Dario Argento's Profondo Rosso.
The 7th Annual International Karaoke Night was held on October 27 and featured acts in all the modern languages that Sewanee offers: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. There was fun, food, music, and incredible talent on display. Read more to find out which Italian acts won.
Come to the Italian House on Thursday, Sept 23 at 7:00pm to watch "Luca," an animated film set in Italy. Bring your mask
The French House & the Italian House will combine to host a Bocce/Pétanque Tournament and Ice Cream Social. Come on over to the lawn of the French House on Tuesday, April 27 at 5:00pm to enjoy a friendly game of pétanque/bocce, a pastime that is central to French and Italian culture, and have some ice cream.
Meet on the lawn of the Italian House on April 15 at 7:00PM for an outdoor screening of Perfetti sconosciuti. During the course of a dinner, the hostess suggests everyone reveal all the info on their cell phones. What starts as an innocent game slowly turns into target practice, and old friends and couples find out that they don't know one another as well as they thought.
Students gathered on a beautiful spring day around the new fire pit on the lawn of the Italian House for a bonfire to have s'mores.
Post your best photo from Carnivals past on our Photo Contest Wall by March 20. We will vote and award prizes on March 24. Include a caption in both English and in the language you are studying.
In many parts of the world, some form of Carnival is celebrated, combining Christian and pre-Christian traditions indigenous to the region. This celebration goes by many names: Maslenitsa Масленица in Russia; Mardi Gras in the Francophone world; Carnaval in Spain/Latin America, Carnevale in Italy, Fasching in Germany-to name a few. Common threads include celebrating the end of winter darkness, sometimes parades, often outrageous costumes, role reversal, consuming pancakes, or marking the beginning of Lent. We include the Lunar New Year in this category since it honors the end of winter and the return of the light.
Students gathered at Cravens Hall for the The 6th Annual International Karaoke Night on Saturday, October 24. It was a little different from past International Karaoke Nights when students sang live in front of a panel of judges and an audience. Instead, they submitted videos of themselves singing in the language that they are studying. The videos representing Chinese, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish were screened at the event, and students and faculty were able to view the videos and vote online in person or remotely.
In many parts of the world, some form of Carnival is celebrated, combining Christian and pre-Christian traditions indigenous to the region. This celebration goes by many names: Maslenitsa Масленица in Russia; Mardi Gras in the Francophone world; Carnaval in Latin America, Carnevale in Italy, Fasching in Germany-to name a few. Common threads include celebrating the end of winter darkness, sometimes parades, often outrageous costumes, role reversal, consuming pancakes, or marking the beginning of Lent. On Sunday, February 16, various language houses hosted a progressive festival starting at the Russian House, continuing on to the Spanish House, the German House, the Italian House, and ending at the French House.
The Italian House celebrated Carnevale on Saturday, February 23 with mask making and other fun activities in the Italian tradition.
On a rainy February day, students gathered at the Italian House to learn the art of "la pasta fatta in casa" from McClurg's Chef Caroline.
An article by Dr. Alessia Martini, "'A Tumultuous Shipyard': Urban Visions of New York in Fortunato Depero’s Art and Narratives" has been published in the journal, "Annali d'Italianistica, vol. 37 (2019)."
The 5th Annual International Karaoke Night took place on November 7, 2019 at the Tiger Bay Pub. There were songs in 8 different languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.
The Italian House residents have organized fun Italian-themed event this semester including learning how to make tiramisu and pasta from scratch. Many students came to share in the cooking and later in sharing a community meal with great food and conversation (in Italian, of course).
