News & Events

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.

The Italian House celebrated Carnevale on Saturday, February 23 with mask making and other fun activities in the Italian tradition.

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.

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).