Pre-Departure (Katherine)

I'm really excited to get to Italy, and especially to explore the Italian countryside. After our first set of readings, I'm particularly interested to experience regional differences in dialects and culture firsthand. I'm expecting to notice regional dialect differences mostly in the language I hear, rather than written media like brochures or signs. 

The activity I’m most looking forward to right now is our visit to the textile archives during the first couple days of the trip. I’m pursuing a career in archiving, so I think I’m going to really enjoy looking at an Italian archive and comparing their structure to the American archives I’ve worked in. I’m curious to see how they store their materials, and especially how they balance preservation with public access. To a related point, I’m curious to know more about the role of textile in Italian history, especially because our itinerary includes multiple sites related to manufacturing. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the development of Italian food (particularly while eating it). I know that the introduction of foods, like tomatoes, from the Americas during the Columbian Exchange, had a big impact, and I’d like to know more about what people ate before the exchange. I believe some of our readings, class discussions, and site activities will cover this, and our class meals may be relevant too. Finally, I’m excited to take in lots of art and architecture during the trip. My bucket list includes seeing aqueducts, which I really hope to check off!