Italian Language Meeting – October 27, 2021
When: October 27, 2021
Where: St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, 1501 32nd Ave. S, Seattle 98144
Speaker: Albert Sbragia
Topic: Prima dei Romani . . . Gli Etruschi!
Gli etruschi costituirono la prima grande civiltà autoctona della pensiola italiana, con un territorio corrispondente all’incirca alla Toscana, all’Umbria e al Lazio settentrionale con propaggini nell’Italia del Nord e del Sud. Gli etruschi furono una potenza importante nel mare mediterraneo. Ebbero rapporti commerciali e artistici con i greci e con il mediterraneo orientale ed esercitarono una profonda influenza sulla prima civiltà romana. Popolo misterioso anche per i romani a causa della loro lingua non-indoeuropea e dei loro riti religiosi segreti la civiltà etrusca scomparve quasi del tutto dopo la conquista romana nei primi secoli avanti Cristo. Esploreremo questa affascinante civiltà, i suoi contributi alla civiltà’ occidentale e la sua arte.
Before the Romans… the ETRUSCANS
The Etruscans were the first great indigenous civilization of the Italian peninsula, whose territory corresponded more or less to contemporary Tuscany, Umbria and northern Lazio with extensions into northern and southern Italy. The Etruscans were an important power in the Mediterranean. They had commercial and artistic ties with the Greeks and the eastern Mediterranean and they exercised a profound influence on early Roman civilization. A mysterious people even for the Romans because of their non-Indo-European language and their secret religious rites, Etruscan civilization disappeared almost completely after the Roman conquest in the early centuries BC. We will explore this fascinating civilization, its contributions to Western civilization and its art.
Albert Sbragia is an Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Washington, member of the Cinema Studies program in the Department of Comparative Literature, and a faculty member of the European Studies program. His publications include a book, Carlo Emilio Gadda and the Modern Macaronic (University Press of Florida, 1996), and publications on 19th Century and 20th Century Italian literature and culture. His current research project is entitled “Modernity in Rome” and deals with urbanistic, literary, and visual constructions of the Italian capital from 1870 to the present. He also teaches in the Italian Studies program at the UW Center in Rome.
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.
Born in the fabulous 80’s, Isabella was raised in Rome where she got her Degree in Teaching and Translation in foreign languages at the University ‘La Sapienza’.
Eric was born and raised in Como by an American mother and an Italian father. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s in Corporate and International Finance from Durham University in the UK. His international background led him to pursue a business career in the United States, ultimately settling in Seattle, where his wife grew up.