OSU Alumni Association
2009 Spring Term
World Cultures Strand
It All Began With the Romans
Thursday, April 2, 1:30
Gary Ferngren, OSU Distinguished Professor of History, will present a survey of Roman history that traces the founding of Rome in 753 B.C., its rise to a world power, its decline and fall in 476 A.D. and its legacy that continues to influence Western culture.
Host: Lloyd Swanson
Music in Italian Culture in the Early Modern Period
Monday, April 6, 1:30
Beginning in the late 15th century Italian courts hired Flemish composers and Jewish musicians (after their expulsion from Spain); the Flemish contributing to the development of the madrigal and the Jews to new instrumental forms throughout the 16th century. Marc Vanscheeuwijck, University of Oregon Associate Professor of Music, will discuss how these developments led to the beginning of opera, oratorio, cantata, concerto, and sonata during the Baroque period and how these genres spread throughout Europe in the early 18th century, and, ultimately, why early modern Italy can be considered the cradle of Western music.
Host: David Eiseman
Moving Forward: Italy into the 21st Century
Thursday, April 16, 1:30
OSU Italian instructor and anthropologist Christopher Leoni will present an Italy of the past two decades, identifying key figures and forces that are helping to shape and reshape a nation in search of a balance between past and future. Politician and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, Pope Benedict of the Catholic Church, and hip-hop music pioneer Jovanotti will be introduced and discussed, alongside the notions of the first black Italians, the last Italian gypsies, and a nation-wide smoking ban that was implemented effortlessly!
Host: David Eiseman
Liberal Learning in the Renaissance
Wednesday, April 22, 1:30
Lisa Sarasohn, OSU Professor of History, will discuss the emergence of new ideas about learning in the Renaissance and how they contributed to a new social type: the Renaissance man (and woman). The talk will consider learning and education in the context of Renaissance politics and society.
Host: Lloyd Swanson
Italy's Three Crowns: Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and You
Thursday, April 30, 1:30
Straddling the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch have a permanent influence both on Italian and on European writing and thinking. U of O Professors Warren Ginsberg, Gina Psaki, and Massimo Lollini will present these three essential figures that both cap the Middle Ages and usher in the modern world. They will introduce Dante’s journey to the afterlife, and his crafting of a new poetic language; Boccaccio’s reconstruction of earthly society in the wake of a devastating pandemic; and Petrarch’s invention of a modern sensibility. They will discuss how and why the three crowns are still with us, almost seven centuries after they flourished.
Host: David Eiseman
The High Renaissance in Rome
Thursday, May 7, 1:30
By Sixteenth century Italy, Rome had become the focal point of Italian art, even though Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, had sought preeminence. By 1402, Rome, once a city of a million, had shrunk to 20,000 residents. The return of the papacy in 1420 drove Renaissance Rome and art in general. Henry Sayre, OSU Distinguished Professor of Art History (Cascade Campus), will discuss the aesthetic forces the papacy set in motion.
Host: Lloyd Swanson
Italian Immigrants in America
Thursday, May 14, 1:30
Vincenza Scarpaci, an historian of the Italian immigrant experience in America, will discuss how the cultural baggage of these migrants and their children has expressed itself within the American context. When you travel the Columbia Highway, built in 1915, are you aware that Italian stonemasons crafted the retaining walls, bridges and the Vista house? She will use images from her new book, The Journey of the Italians in America, to illustrate her presentation.
Host: David Eiseman
Gala Dinner -- Italiano Speciale
Wednesday May 20, 6:00 p.m.
A Taste of Italy
Original Class: Thursday, May 21, 3:00 - 5:00
Additional Class: Tuesday, May 12, 3:00 - 5:00
Join us at Natalia & Cristoforo's Authentic Italian deli for a brief encounter with the exquisite, robust flavors of Italian wines, meats, and cheeses. After eight years focused on Italian foods, and a tour of Italy based around the vineyards producing the wines that he sells, Greg Leytem, proprietor, is a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Sampling wines and enjoying antipasto platters will be a fantastic introduction to the vast world of Italian food. Meet at Natalia and Cristoforo's, 351 NW Jackson Ave in downtown Corvallis. Limited free parking and metered parking are available, but you are encouraged to carpool from the Congregational Church. A list of participants will be sent to those who are registered. There is a $10 charge per person. Limited to 30 people.
Host: Lloyd Swanson
Visiting and Living in Italy
Thursday, May 28, 1:30
Community members Annette Youngberg and Kathy Holman will talk about their separate times in Italy: Annette on her Elderhostel “Splendor of Rome” trip, and Kathy on her extensive travels in the Cinque Terra area, as well as in Tuscany and Venice, while she and her husband lived in Lerici for two years. Each presentation will feature slides, historical background, and anecdotes.
Host: David Eiseman
Exploring the Wine Regions of Southern and Central Italy
Thursday, June 4, 1:30
Focusing on Italy's wine regions south of the Po River valley enhances touring the country's historic sites from Sicily to Tuscany. Mary Lee Nolan, OSU Professor Emeritus of Geography, and Sidney D. Nolan, Ph.D., will take us on a tour of the vineyards of negroamaro and primitivo grapes in Sicily and Puglia to the sangiovese of Tuscany regions of Italy, visiting historic sites and scenic attractions while enjoying the hospitality of winemakers along the way.
Host: David Eiseman