Tuesday November 4th,
7-8 pm
1915 Room, Butler College

From the Huffingtonpost.com please read here

“Astronauts aboard the International Space Station will have authentic Italian espresso to enjoy during their orbits around Earth […]” from The Washington Post. To learn more please read here

If you think that Italy is an old country and that Leonardo Da Vinci was the last Italian inventor, think again!
Here find a list of Italian inventions that changed the world:

1. Telephone: invented by Manzetti (1844) and Meucci (1871)
2. Moplen Plastic: yes, the one we use every day in many shapes and colours, it was created by Natta in the 60′s
3. Piano: this musical instrument was born in 1698 (in its modern form) and was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori
4. Battery: Alessandro Volta was the father of this invention (1799). The measurement unit Volt takes his name.
5. Eyeglasses: a great invention for people who can’t see very well, born during the 14th century
6. Bank: a system created in Italy, during the Early Renaissance period
7. Radio: invented by Guglielmo Marconi and the Spanish Cevera in 1895
8. The first commercially available Microchip (4004 project): Federico Faggin created this small but so important component of every electronic device during the 60′s
9. MPEG technology which is the basis for MP-3 was developed by Leonardo Chiariglione in 1988
11. Modern Musical Notation invented by Guido d’Arezzo in 1028 AD
12. Personal Computer (Olivetti Programma 101) by Pier Giorgio Perotto. See HERE.

Looking for reasons to learn italian?
First check: http://blogs.princeton.edu/italian/2013/08/29/top-ten-reasons-to-learn-italian/

50 Italy Fun Facts:
1. Italy is often called the Bel Paese, which mean beautiful country.
2. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
3. Italy is home to the largest number of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites – more than 40.
4. Italy has 20 regions and 6 islands.
5. Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect.
6. The Vatican is a separate sovereign nation, its own country.
7. Italy is slightly larger than Arizona.
8. The thermometer is an Italian invention.
9. The piano hails from Italy.
10. With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.
11. The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine a year.
12. The typewriter is an Italian invention.
13. Italy became a united country only in 1861.
14. The Italian Wolf is considered the national animal of Italy.
15. Italy has over 3,000 museums.
16. The national sport of Italy is soccer (known as football outside of America).
17. Italy’s national dish is pasta.
18. Napoleon spent his first exile on the Italian island of Elba.
19. The Vespa scooter was invented in Italy in 1946.
20. Italy has the most hotel rooms of any European nation.
21. Everyday 3,000€ gets tossed into the Trevi Fountain.
22. Italy’s national flower is the Lily.
23. Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy.
24. Opera was created in Italy.
25. Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14th century.
26. Italy has won the Soccer World Cup four times.
27. The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year.
28. The violin and the cello were both invented in Italy.
29. Pizza originated in Naples during the 18th century.
30. Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators.
31. The national bird of Italy is Bluebird.
32. Italy is famous for its sports cars like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lamborghini.
33. The oldest university in the world in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
34. Italians invented optical eye glasses.
35. Italy has been making wines for over 2800 years.
36. The oldest film festival in the world, beginning in 1932, is the Venice Film Festival.
37. Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country.
38. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.
39. Carabinieri uniforms are designed by Valentino.
40. The highest mountain in Italy is Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), in the alps at 15,770 feet.
41. The longest river in Italy is the Po.
42. Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world.
43. Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.
44. The patron saint of Italy is Saint Francis of Assisi.
45. The national Italian airline is called Alitalia.
46. The largest white truffle in a half century weighing over 3 pounds,was unearthed near Pisa, Italy.
47. Italy is home to some of the world’s greatest composers, like Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini.
48. The espresso machine was invented in Italy.
49. Venice has over 400 footbridges.
50. The oldest olive tree in Italy, in Umbria is reportedly over 1700 yrs old.
From: http://mymelange.net/mymelange/2010/06/50-italy-fun-facts.html
Do you have any to add to this list?
Are you still wondering why you should learn italian?

Here for you some Italian hand gestures to learn during your summer.
The US Consulate in Milan presents: “Italian Hand Gestures Rap”

The Department of French and Italian and L’Avant-Scène present:
Gl’innamorati by Carlo Goldoni

THURSDAY, May 8th, 7:30pm, Princeton University Art Museum.

– Beginner’s Italian
– Advanced Italian
– Italy on Film: Political and Cultural Landscape
– Italian Civilization Through the Centuri
– Topics in Medieval Italian Lit & Culture: Petrarch’s Lyric Poetry
– Topics in 20th-Century Italian Lit: 20th Century Italian Fiction
– Seminar in Italian Literature & Culture: Performance and Spectacle in Modern Italian Theater and Film

Italian movie director/actor Luca Barbareschi discussed his latest movie about trafficking of adulterated food with ITA 319 captivated students 

“The Pirelli Post is a project which is part of the five-year partnership agreement, signed by Pirelli and Princeton last October, aiming to contribute to the spread of the study of Italian history and culture via new media and new technologies […]”
To learn more, please click here

Adesso sono i ragazzi che fanno la pasta!

Una bella tavolata!

Al mercato di Palermo

Indovinate!

I mosaici di Piazza Armerina

Il teatro greco di Taormina

Un viaggio come una festa

Abbiamo preso un fulmine, ma almeno siamo arrivati in Sicilia!

Le case vecchie, il cuore della Sicilia

Le sculture magnifiche di Serpotta.

Chiesa della Martorana a Palermo

Arcobaleno sul paesaggio siciliano

Le zeppole!!

A tavola!

Il mare a Taormina

Il professore del formaggio a Siracusa

Ecco alcune foto del viaggio in Sicilia con il professor Pietro Frassica degli studenti del corso ITA 309 – gennaio 2014.

Si ringraziano Natalie Berkman e Daisy Lopez per le splendide fotografie.