Fulbright Italy 2009-2010: A Portrait

There are 21 of us lucky recipients of the Fulbright fellowship in Italy this year. Our research and study projects are as varied as the Italian regions themselves. We are scattered all over the country, some of us living in modern metropolises such as Milano, Roma and Firenze, others living in small villages, "paesini" as they are called in Italian, tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the Italian countryside, as far as one can get from modern civilization while still in the Western world, and everyone else somewhere in between. Some are living with family friends, others with international roommates, still others with Italian roommates, some with their spouses, others have apartments of their own and then there's me, in organized housing provided by my study program. Our stories are unique, our paths and histories diverse, but the one thing we all share is passion - a passion for our topics of research and study, a passion for life, and a passion for Italy. For me, the Fulbright orientation that took place in Roma the 20th and 21st of October, was an exciting and inspiring experience. To be surrounded by such intelligence, drive, and that magic "p", was thrilling, and reinforced my belief that the Fulbright was a god-send, and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now.

So without further adieu, I give you the Fulbright scholars of Italy 2009-2010:

Meagan - from Duke, now living in Padova, researching the connection between Mendicant churches and their aesthetic style, and the social and economic institutions in the city during the Medieval period.

Emily - from Rutgers, now living in Roma, researching the connection between religion and science in renaissance Roma, using the Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace as a primary case for examination.

Letha - from Berkeley, CA, studied at UC Berkeley, is now living in Venezia, studying Tintoretto's San Marco Painting Cycle, hoping to draw a conclusion as to the political and social influences on its unique style.

Katie F. - from UC Irvine, now living and carrying out her research in Roma on the french artist Poussin, hoping to call more attention to and make a case for the period he spent in Roma and the works he produced while there.

Ashley - From Iowa, having gotten her master's at the University of Kansas, now living in Padova, looking at Sacristy Reliquaries of the 14th and 15th centuries from a art historian's point of view.

Michael - from The City University of NY Grad Center, now living in Roma, examining how the development of engraving affected the transmission of Baroque music, in comparison to the prior practice of typography as a method of recording "toccatas" (baroque music).

Elinor - From McGill University in Montreal, now living and studying in Lago di Como, studying and researching Italian baroque and modern cello.

Bianca - from New England Conservatory, now living in Roma, studying piccolo and opera repertoire.

Lauren - from U. Penn, now living in Firenze, studying/researching the transmission of Trecento song (musicology).

Melissa - from U. Chicago, now living in Venezia, researching the Lament movement in music in from Italy during the 17th century.

Jeremiah - from U. of Illinois at Chicago, now living in Palermo, studying Sicilian boat craft, as a means of implementing weekly art workshops for disadvantaged kids in Palermo, and creating a socially significant large-scale sculpture that will foster communication.

Stefanie - from RISD, now living in Venezia, studying under Pino Signoretto, one of, if not "the", top names in the glass craft tradition.

Juliet - from the U. of Michigan, now living in Bologna, researching the Italian narrative theatre tradition and its social significance.

Bradford - from Stanford, now living in Roma, researching the common practice of the 16th and 17th centuries of dissecting saints in an effort to find out what it is that made them holy.

Courtney - from Wash U. in St. Louis, now living in Padova, studying the convent culture of Renaissance Venice.

Diana - from U. of Iowa, now living in Pavia, researching the Italian/French/American author, Amelia Rosselli and the specifically the works she produced while in Italy.

Peter - from U. of Iowa, now living in Genova, researching Translational Neuroengineering.

Katie S. - from Mt. Holyoke, now living in Avellino (in Campania), do research on the effects of polyglutaminase on the immune response of Celiac Disease.

Clelianna - from U. of Minnesota, now in Milano, conducting research on immigration and the way it effects community, identity, and culture.

ME!! (OK due to request I am giving the 411 on what the hell I'm doing next year :-) - So my name is Brittany Goodrich. I am (as of recently) 23 years old. I am originally from southern California, L.A. area to be exact. I however went to Uni in D.C., where I received my Bachelor's of Science degree in Public Health in May of 2008. I am currently living in Munich, Germany, taking care of two amazing (and sometimes challenging) kids, Martin, 4 and Irene,6. I will be here until January, when I will go home for a brief visit and to battle with the Italian consulate for my visa, until I come back to Europe in March. I will be moving to either Parma or Colorno (pictured at the left) at this time. I am not sure because the Uni itself is in Colorno, but student housing is offered in both cities due to the fact that Colorno is not so big and Parma is the nearest (only 20 minutes by train and bus) big city. The Uni I will be attending is The University of Gastronomic Sciences of Slow Food. There I will studying to get my Master's in Food Culture and Communications (don't worry I will explain in a bit). But before I move on I feel it is necessary to explain that the Fulbright grant/fellowship that I received is quite unique compared to the majority of those given out. It lasts a whole year (most only last 9 months), is geared to a specific University and Master's program, begins in March instead of in October, and is all in all much more structured than the normal research and study grants. I am also the very first person to receive this specific grant, The Casten Family Foundation Award, as it is the first year that it is being offered. And it was started by Damien Casten (with whom I am now in contact) and his family, in the hopes of furthering a global agriculture and food system that is more sustainable, localized, small-scale, and follows the "quality over quantity" motto. So my course of study will be broken down into several stages. The first of which will be exploring the historical and cultural aspects of food, the second will be learning about the different and most effective methods of marketing small-scale, locally-produced, and high-quality food products so that further demand is created and the producers themselves have a means of continuing their way of life. The idea being that by working with the current system we can slowly and gradually change it. If more and more food producers who use methods that are sustainable and adherent to local food traditions are able to make enough profits to support themselves, then large-scale, mass-production oriented agriculture systems would lose business and hopefully lose their stronghold on the market, which in turn would allow poorer countries to finally support themselves as far as food is concerned, a.k.a. become food sovereign. This of course is the ultimate goal, and will take a long time to reach, but hey not a bad goal to aim for. Anyways, so towards the end of my year of study I will do an internship, I still have no idea where, and an independent research project on a related topic. And throughout the year we will split our time between the classroom and "field trips" of sorts around Italy and also to Spain, France and another European country. So yeah that pretty much sums it all up. Please feel free to ask further questions :-)

Apart from my fellow scholars, I also met the entire Italian Fulbright Commission, several people working at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, including the ambassador, Benjamin Ziff, himself and the head of the American Academy of Roma, Carmela Franklin. And as part of the orientation we were given 4 very interesting lectures by various professors from the Roma Tre University, where our orientation was held. In fact, in the span of three days I must have met at least 50 new people, and possibly many more than that. Basically those three days were filled with tons of new information, even more new people, and so many exciting prospects for the future. I cannot even begin to describe...probably because I haven't even had time to process it all yet.

Regardless, woohoo!!! for next year :-) CAN'T WAIT!!!

P.S. Here are some interesting and related links:

http://www.parmaitaly.com/ - so you can see for yourself a bit about where I'll be living...

http://fulbright.state.gov/ - a bit about the Fulbright program