Alabama in Italy: Food, Farm, and Culture in Tuscany
Dates:
June 15 - 28, 2008
Price:
~$2700/person
Program Coordinator:
Julia Cherry
Address:
University of Alabama
Box 870229, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA 35487
Telephone:
205-348-8416
Fax:
205-348-8417
E-mail:
julia.cherry@ua.edu
Preferred method of contact:
E-mail
Description:
“Food, Farm, and Culture in Tuscany” enrolls 14 students from The University of Alabama for a hands-on, two-week course at the Spannocchia Foundation, a beautifully renovated, twelfth-century agricultural estate. While at Spannocchia, students will participate in workshops, lectures, discussions, and tours on local sustainable agriculture (vineyards, olive groves, vegetable crops), animal husbandry (bees and pigs), field-to-table cooking, the Tuscan cultural landscape, and the international slow food movement. The slow food movement—in contrast to “fast food”—started in Italy and emphasizes local sustainable farming and the key role played by well-prepared meals and leisurely dining in nourishing both family and community. A course reader and writing assignments are required of all students. Dr. Cherry will partner with the staff at Spannocchia to provide the instruction, which will be in English, with Italian immersion classes available to students as an elective. The course will include one-day fieldtrips to nearby Florence and to Siena (with dining at slow food restaurants), as well as to an organic cheese farm, agriturismo farm, and fine winery. Students and faculty will live onsite in renovated historic farm buildings and dine together on meals that they and the staff prepare largely from the bounty of Spannocchia itself. The course will allow students to compare sustainable agriculture practices within the United States with such practices elsewhere and to gain an understanding of the global significance of the growing slow food movement.
Coordinator Biography:
Julia Cherry
Assistant Professor of New College and Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
Academic History:
1999-2005:
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Ph.D., Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: “Effects of herbivory, competition and disturbance on a wetland plant community with emphasis on the dominant aquatic macrophyte, Nymphaea odorata Aiton”.
1995-1999:
Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
B.S., Biology, with Honors, minor: Religious Studies
Research Interests: Wetland plant ecology; effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems; development of interdisciplinary general science pedagogies
Personal Interests and Hobbies: traveling; cuisine; films; hiking and enjoying the outdoors; spending time with my husband and 2 dogs
“Being on an organic farm, the food and the products of the farm were excellent. Seeing what it takes to keep this place running was interesting. Though I was technically a guest, I felt as though I belonged here.”