The Cultural Experience of International Students

The European Commission (EU Research and Innovation Programme “HORIZON 2020 Excellent Science”, Social Sciences and Humanities) has approved my research project proposal The Cultural Experience of International Students: Narratives from North and South Europe. As an experienced researcher, I have been awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship Grant.

I am extremely pleased about this recognition. MC individual fellowships are granted following an extremely competitive global-scale selection and independent evaluation by experts in the field. My research proposal was approved with a brilliant overall score and endorsed by appreciative comments from the experts, such as “The research is innovative, original, credible, well founded and rigorously described. The proposal is clearly interdisciplinary. The proposed research would certainly contribute to the scientific advancement of the project field.” The fellowship entails mobility, and my host institution for the next two years is the University of Helsinki, Department of Social Research.

My research project is a comparative study (Helsinki and Florence). This means that I will be back in Italy doing fieldwork.

The Passage from Youth to Adulthood: Review (by Prof. Jeylan T. Mortimer)

The Passage from Youth to Adulthood: Narrative and Cultural Thresholds is an ethnographic study that examines the plight of Italian youth whose passage to adulthood is thwarted by an array of structural and cultural obstacles. Deficiencies in the Italian educational system, the absence of bridges from school to work, youth unemployment, and escalating costs of living make it difficult for many young people to acquire the traditional markers of adulthood. In addition to these structural problems, Birindelli identifies a ‘‘culture of collusion’’ in which parents and children cooperate in extending youth dependency well beyond what prior generations would consider normal… 

Read more here.

Mortimer, Jeylan T. “The Passage from Youth to Adulthood: Narrative and Cultural Thresholds.” Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 45.2 (2016): 147-149.

CarneItaliana.it: The First Web Portal on Italian Grass-Fed Meat

In CarneItaliana.it you can find information and news about Italian cattle, swine, poultry. Through this website you can follow the latest scientific research on native breeds, stay in touch with ongoing events and learn about curiosities: who knows the story of Florentine T-bone steak?

Strolling in the Italian outdoor green pastures, away from intensive animal farming, you can reconnect with the early history of humans and animals. And by retrieving the recipes handed down from mother to daughter since ancient times, we rediscover tradition.

Rediscovering Italian tradition is a matter of taste, health and sustainability.

CarneItaliana will soon be in English and, thanks to the geolocalizing app, be able to indicate where you can TRULY buy and eat genuine grass-fed meat in Italy. CarneItaliana is on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Sociology of the Arts – Spring 2016

Baseman Emily, Cope Adrea, D'Attilio Caroline,  Harris Jessica, Jacobson Jennifer, Kalev Cassandra, Levinson Haley, Murphy Erin, Noseworthy Jennifer, Orekhov Daria, Patinella Joanna, Silverman Gabriel, Susskind Benjamin, Taylor Brendan.

Sociology of the Arts – Spring 2016

Atherton-Ely Tinnina, Bierman Dana, Ciccotelli Eric, Dalena Isabella, Degnan Shannon, Garufi Natalie, Geier Meghan, Giosa Blake, Gismondi Victoria, Green Arissa, Ingall Emily, Kalman Jenna, Knowles Emily, Lindsey Morgan, McCormick Ryan, McGarvey Cooper, Morgan Haley, Murphy Jessica, Nicosia Brenna, Reiben Erica, Smilowitz Zachary, Solley Jessi, Szczepaniak Nicolette.

Identity and Culture – Spring 2016

Babineau Hayley, Baseman Emily, Bellucci Nicholas, Brady Brian, Carter Julia, Cohen Jessie, Constantine Olivia, Dolce Jamie, Doyle Colleen, Eckhoff Peri, Essenfeld Rachel, Goldstein Hayley, Gunzy Brianna, Ingall Emily, Kaczegowicz Chloe, Moribe Haruka, Pancer Carly, Perniciaro Lisa, Proko Deanna, Saracco Lindsay, Spinogatti Ariana, Taccariello Nicole, Tamerius Maggie, Utley John, Volpe Jessica, Winigrad Ethan.

Cultural Globalization - Spring 2016

Carpenter Matthew, Donahue Devin, Flaherty Meagan, Hernandez Eric, Hickey Meredith, Iacomini Lorenzo, Leonetti Paul, Mc Kittrick Robert, Muntean Kylie, O'Leary Simon, Rice Kailey, Smith Riley, Unsworth Chelsea.

Globalization, Supranational Dynamics and Local Experience

European Sociological Association 

RN 15 Global, Transnational and Cosmopolitan Sociology

Mid-Term Conference

“Globalization, supranational dynamics and local experience”

15-16 April, 2016, Milan (Italy)

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

One of the main challenges that sociology and social sciences face today is to understand how individuals, collective actors and structures cope with the dilemmas, tensions and ambivalences of modern societies embedded in supranational dynamics. This interim meeting of RN 15 on global, transnational and cosmopolitan sociology calls for papers dealing theoretically, methodologically and empirically with issues related to the transnational dimension. We welcome all manner of papers that deal with how the local, the transnational and the global are entwined and construct the meaning of one another, and how individuals, organizations or states manage this predicament for instance by emphasizing a cosmopolitan outlook or by cherishing local culture. We also encourage papers that deal with the current intensification of migration and asylum seeking in Europe from the perspective of local-global entanglement.

Within the conference (programme), I will give the following lecture. 

Double Boundary and Cosmopolitan Experience in Europe

Pierluca Birindelli

(pierluca.birindelli@gmail.com)

This contribution aims to open up the debate about national, European and cosmopolitan identity through an interpretation of Simmel’s double boundary dialectic: human beings are boundaries and only those who stand outside their boundary can see it as such. One of the difficulties of defining oneself as European stems from what could be called the “double Other” (intra- and extra-European) diachronic recognition process. Exploring the possible/impossible cosmopolitan meta-synthesis can identify certain traits of the cosmopolitan experience in Europe. Furthermore, a critical interpretation of the intellectual, aesthetic and romantic representation of a “Europe without Europeans” suggests that travelling to or within the Old World (North–South; East–West) does not necessarily mean crossing social and cultural boundaries. Therefore the cosmopolitan globetrotter might not be the best “broker of knowledge” in our globalized world. As for the mental life of the metropolis represented by Simmel, in a G-world even socio-psychological life might degenerate into a series of defensive mechanisms. The boundaries could become the walls of an overinflated self: a social actor who fails to mediate between objective and subjective culture. Clearly, a cosmopolitan individual can cross national boundaries. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find evidence of any real transcending of class barriers and physical rather than mythical divisions. It would appear that, if and when they do occur, transcultural travel experiences are not necessarily trans-social.

Key words: Boundary, Simmel, Europe, Cosmopolitan, Transcultural, Trans-social

MY TRAVEL PARADIGM: A PRELUDE (by Matt Ouimette)

It all began in May of 2011 when I was studying abroad in Florence under a man whose name rings familiar to college students across the world- Pierluca Birindelli. Pierluca approached education with much more freedom than the typical college professor. There was rarely a defined topic on a paper, no page minimum or maximum (or suggestion for that matter) and most astounding of all- papers could be handwritten. In a class of American students accustomed to a strict adherence to the syllabus and detailed study guides, there was a glaring disconnect…

… The course I enrolled in with Professor Birindelli was titled Identity and Culture in Italy: A Comparative Approach. The course centered on identity and awareness, specifically during the passage from youth to adulthood. Identity to find purpose in life and awareness to understand how that purpose fit into a global environment. I cannot claim to have understood the entirety of these concepts at just 21 years old, but I never stopped trying. 

I had caught the travel bug.

To satisfy my need for adventure, I sought out a career in college admissions. If you haven’t seen the Tina Fey movie, admissions counselors are assigned a territory to recruit prospective students based on a region of states such as the Mid-Atlantic or New England. Fortunately, I was able to land a position with a territory spanning Chicago to Miami, allowing for unlimited travel within my jurisdiction. Nearly five years after my abroad experience I have logged close to 50,000 miles and met people from all over the world, witnessing firsthand how travel can shape both identity and awareness. There are numerous surface reasons why travel is beneficial, however, I have identified three underlying reasons that inspire my wanderlust.  

1. I want to know.
2. I want to perpetually push the limits of my comfort zone.
3. I want to be a Global Citizen.

… Continue reading at Matt Ouimette’s blog: MATTWEMETT

A Tale of Two Cities: Florence and Rome from the Grand Tour to Study Abroad

International Conference 

A Tale of Two Cities: Florence and Rome from the Grand Tour to Study Abroad

1^st Tuscan Anglo-American Festival in Florence

Florence, 9 march 2016 – Palazzo Vecchio, Salone dei cinquecento (10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.)

In North American society, travel and cultural interchange have always played a central role in the education of citizens. Travelling abroad has frequently represented the opportunity to define one’s identity in American culture, and it is precisely for this reason that the United States has constantly striven to renew and maintain cultural and economic relations with the rest of the world.

Until the end of the nineteenth century, travel abroad, particularly in Europe, signified personal and cultural enrichment for Americans. The history and culture of the Old World served as a source of inspiration for the construction of customs and habits for the citizens of the New World. Over the course of this century, therefore, numerous accounts and novels were born, inspired by the experience of travel, and even today such literature continues to beckon generations of young people overseas.

Within this context, from the beginning of the early twentieth century, several North American universities began to incorporate a period of study abroad into their educational curricula. The IRPET Report of 2013 highlighted the fact that Italy is considered a favourite student destination, while among Italian cities, Florence and Rome attract the majority of foreign students above all.

This conference discusses the myth that surrounds these two cities in the collective Anglo-American imagination: the first, Florence, by virtue of its republican political system honed during the Renaissance; and the second, Rome, for the central role it played in the Classical age.

Within the conference I will give the lecture: American Cultural Experiences in Florence and Europe: Reality and Perpetuation of a Myth.

Here you can find the program of the conference (organized by  AACUPI, ISI Florence, Kent State University, California State University) and this is the link to the 1^st Tuscan Anglo-American Festival in Florence.