{"id":1551,"date":"2009-07-06T11:46:29","date_gmt":"2009-07-06T09:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2020-10-21T12:51:05","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T10:51:05","slug":"mediating-cultural-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/expat-life\/mediating-cultural-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"Mediating Cultural Exchange – Study abroad, volunteerism, tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the text of a talk that I am giving at 7pm on Monday July 6th at Florence Inn (Bagno a Ripoli FI). It is the introductory talk in an evening’s informal discussion of the same title. The “debate” is organized by FlorenceIN social network\u00a0and The Florentine <\/strong>free press.<\/p>\n

\"first-encounters\"<\/p>\n

Those in attendance are invited to follow along on their iphones (arttrav uses an iphone wp plugin to make that easy). This text is slightly expanded and includes links by which you can follow up on some of the things mentioned only briefly. If you enjoyed something in particular or would like to comment or expand on something, you are again encouraged to write a comment on this post.<\/p>\n

If you can’t make it to the talk but enjoy reading this, please participate by leaving comments! <\/p>\n

First encounters<\/em><\/p>\n

Last year I had the fortune of teaching art history at the University of Georgia Study Abroad program in Cortona. Like most study abroad programs<\/strong>, students come for one semester in Italy, which is three or four months. When they first arrive, they grapple with culture shock<\/strong>, they question why things are different here, and they sometimes complain about the lack of certain conveniences like being able to order coffee to take out in tall paper cups. In the first weeks, some of my favourite students worked hard to fit in, and asked me things based on their observations. They asked if it was okay to drink beer in the streets since that is in fact legal here but not at home; or if it was okay to go to a church service even if they’re not Catholic. Over time they figured it out and came to love many things about life in Italy, even perhaps prefering cappuccino standing at a bar<\/strong> instead of walking around with a gigantic cup from Starbucks.<\/p>\n

A profound effect<\/em><\/p>\n

Three months in Italy<\/strong> will have a profound effect on anyone, student or adult traveler. Most of the students I taught were artists, so aspects of their Italian experience were particularly evident in the art that they produced here and continue to produce at home. For example, AJ Weiss<\/strong> made an album of music in Italian inspired by Jovanotti (our school was literally his neighbour in Cortona). Jewelry artist Miriam Rowe<\/strong> created necklaces inspired by what she saw at local markets. The visiting professors also incorporated bits of Italy into their works; my colleague Katerina Burin saw beauty even in those small napkins in bars, which she reproduced in large scale prints.<\/p>\n

Miriam is home in Georgia now and she recently posted a list on her blog: “Things I miss about Italy” from which I’m going to loosely quote. This includes:<\/p>\n