INTENSIVE 3-WEEK IMMERSION IN ITALIAN AND ITALIAN DEAF CULTURE
The primary objective of our program is to give students and interpreters from the United States an opportunity to get to know a different "slice" of the Deaf World.
The Deaf Community is considered a trans-national community, the "Deaf Nation"
a country without borders that stretches to all parts of the world. It is, however, Sign Language-the common denominator-that varies, as do spoken languages, from county to country, from one culture to the next, from one community to another.
Our program provides participants with a basic working knowledge of Italian Sign Language (LIS) and of Deaf Culture in Italy, a culture intimately connected to the history of Deaf Education from the past to the present, and to Italian culture in general.
Historically, the city of Siena was a crucial landmark for Deaf Education, thanks to the presence here of one of Europe's most famous deaf institutes, the Istituto Pendola, founded in 1828 by Tommaso Pendola. That institution, though no longer active as a school, continues to offer a variety of educational services to deaf children in its afterschool program. It boasts an extensive library devoted exclusively to material relevant to deaf issues and education. Furthermore, it houses the headquarters of the Sienese branch of the National Deaf Association (ENS), thriving thus as a valuable meeting place and cultural center.
Participants in our program will have the chance to delight in the tastes and colors of Italian culture in the breathtakingly beautiful Tuscan city of Siena while at the same time deepening their understanding of the history of Deaf Culture in Italy through direct personal contact with community members raised and educated at the Pendola. Participants may draw further benefit from taking part in research projects currently undertaken by the Siena School. The cross-cultural exchange within our program creates a rare opportunity to gather firsthand accounts of the past in order to better understand the present, keeping alive a vital history to be discovered within the hands of the Sienese Deaf Community
Instructors
LIS - Luigi Lerose, PhD candidate University of Klagenfurt, LIS Instructor University of Trieste
Deaf Culture - Rita Sala, professional interpreter, teaches deaf culture at University of Trieste
Italian Language - Roberto Fineschi
Course Description
This course will introduce students to the Deaf Culture and Community through the lens of Italian culture, language, and the history of Deaf Italians. Though the Deaf Community is often perceived as a worldwide community, the distinct national cultures in which Deaf people live must not be overlooked. We will explore the history of Deaf education, starting from long-ago eras, through to the time of the Milan Congress, and on to the modern day. This course will present what happened in Italy before and after that historic Congress, and will further trace the growth and development of Italian Sign Language (LIS).
Siena is home to one of the oldest Deaf schools, the Pendola Institute, founded in 1828 by Father Tommaso Pendola. This crucial landmark for the Italian Deaf Community no longer functions as a school, but it still serves the Community by offering a place where Deaf students may go to receive afternoon tutoring sessions. The Pendola Institute boasts an extensive old library devoted to Deaf Issues. It also houses a small museum, including a reproduction of a classroom from the past as well as various tools that educators used in teaching Deaf students. Participants in our program will have the opportunity to meet with former students from the Institute who will share their own personal stories and discuss the broader history of the interactions of Deaf and non-Deaf people within Italian society. We will also explore other Sienese traditions, and discover how the Deaf community of Siena has been involved in the "Palio," the most famous horse race in Italy.
Language
The language used in the class will be English with some digressions in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and spoken Italian. Some classes will be co-taught together with the LIS instructor.
Course Objectives
- To experience life in a different culture and gain understanding of the complexity to be found inside Deaf communities;
- To learn of the history of the Italian Deaf community as retold by their owns hands, and to appreciate what we can learn from their life;
- To explore a different language, culture, and way of life.
Program dates:
Arrival on June 1st
end of program on June 22nd
Lodging
Italian homestay
Course hours
LIS + Deaf culture - 48
Italian language - 30
Info
m.grottanelli@sienaschool.com
www.sienaschool.com
tel +39 0577.532001
fax +39 0577.227310
