Introduction

My name is Jamie Steele, I am from California and am so excited to learn about the Italian culture! I am currently a freshman at Franklin University in Lugano, Switzerland. At Franklin we are required to take 3-credit travel course that incorporates a 2 week travel every semester with an academic topic. This course of Italian Studies aims to help educate students about the abundant Italian culture. We will travel to Marche, Umbria, and Emilia Romagna and study the many places that correlate with our pre travel readings such as Dante’s Divine Comedy to Leopardi’s poems. While traveling I also wanted to ask the question about how past Italian culture is integrated into modern Italian society. This blog’s purpose is to inform you about Italian culture and the events on my academic travel to Marche, Umbria and Emilia Romagna this past March. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions!