From the Director

Hello to everyone, and for those of you who are still in school welcome to a new semester!

This new issue of the SSLA newsletter will keep you up to date with everything that has been going on in Siena, our projects, our people, our school! But as we reach out to you with our news, we hope that you will also keep in touch with us via our new Facebook page (thanks, Mason!) and, of course, emails and letters.

New Programs:
Siena School with and for the Deaf

As some of you may already know, our involvement in the world of deafness has grown very much over the last year. This summer we were able to launch two exciting new programs. The first was the Language and Art Program for Deaf Italians and Americans. Twelve students - from RIT, Gallaudet and other institutions - lived and studied in a beautiful villa just outside Siena, but came into town regularly for pizza, gelato and other forms of Italian 'culture'. It was a huge success and we very much hope to continue and expand it next summer.

A former student Williams student, Susie Yeo, documented the programs on film. Having no previous experience with signed languages, she was blown away by the experience, and is currently producing a video testimonial for the school. Thank you Susie!

The other program was mainly for students who are majoring in ASL Interpreting. We had five lovely students, four from the University of New Mexico and a fifth from Gallaudet. It was wonderful to be able to run the two programs simultaneously; moments of socialization among these hearing and signing students became a totally crazy and elightening mix of languages: ASL, LIS, Italian and English!

During the first week of these programs, with the help of a deaf French friend of the school - Delphine Caron- we organized a SSHH.. party.

A silent party with deaf and hearing people, all having to communicate with gestures and facial expression (and with the help of posters we'd hung around the restaurant that illustrated certain basic signs in Italian sign language). Probably because it involved socializing as opposed to studying, the party was a big success. It was amazing to see hearing people who'd not even known about sign language trying to communicate with everything… except their voice.

There will be another SSHH… party around mid-December in NY, so we'll keep you informed in case you are around and want to join in. It's a lot of fun!

Our connections in the deaf community also made it possible for us to offer a very unique opportunity to Alessio Convito, a 17 year-old deaf hip hop dancer from Siena. One of our Advisory Board Members, Prof. Sharon Friedler of Swarthmore College, met Alessio last year during our annual Advisory Board Meeting. She very graciously found a Dance scholarship for him at the University of the Arts Summer Session in Philadelphia. This July, Alessio arrived in New York, where he met Susie and Scottie Allen. Scottie, a Gallaudet MA student and recent alum of our June program, accompanied Alessio to his dance classes. This trip may well have changed his vision of the possibilities life can afford him. It's amazing to think that this has happened through our school. Our deepest thanks go to Sharon for organizing the scholarship!

Creative Writing

This August, the Siena School launched our Creative Writing Workshop. Esteemed author, Martha Cooley, (The Archivist, a NY Times Notable Book of the Year, Thirty Three Swoons) led the weeklong program. Our group of students was wonderfully heterogeneous with two mature students, two young ones just starting off on their university career and a fifth student who had just finished her MFA in Writing. Former student and current editor of the SSLA magazine VERSO, Will Schutt, beautifully organized this workshop and deserves our thanks. He is off to Virginia for his MFA in Writing but will continue working with us on VERSO.

VERSO

And of course the new issue of the magazine VERSO has just been released. It is beautiful; definitely everything you would want an art/culture magazine on Tuscany to be! Contact Kevin or I if you would like a copy. For those of you in New York, copies are available at St. Mark's Books, Housing Works Bookshop, and others! Contact Kevin for details.

Family and Friends

As many of you may know, Donatella Di Pietro has been on sick leave now for a while. In December she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately it was caught very well in time. She had surgery in March and has since been undergoing chemo- and radiotherapy. She has met this challenge with courage and sense of humor. She misses the school and we certainly miss her but, in a couple of months, the worst part will be over and we'll hear her booming voice all the school once again! I'm sure she would love to hear from any of her former students: d.dipietro@sienaschool.com

On a more cheerful note, at the beginning of August, Roberto Fineschi and his lovely wife Silvia had a beautiful baby girl. Margherita Fineschi is the couple's second child.

This spring and summer has been a great period for happy memories and visits. I was lucky enough to be able to catch up with some of you who made it to Siena, either on your way back or to some other exciting place. It was a delight to show off the school to Mason McCamey, (Oberlin), who is about to dive into musical theater in NY; Julia Irwin, (Oberlin) finishing a History PhD at Yale and Allen Frost, (Swarthmore) currently teaching English Literature in Hong Kong. Thank you all for coming here, you have no idea quite what a pleasure it is to see what you are all doing and know that Siena is still in your hearts!

Meanwhile, Back Stateside…

After a long summer sojourn, Kevin is ready to tackle the open road in search of new students, and more importantly new friends for the school. Looking forward to the January music program "Heavenly and Earthly Powers, Music of Siena…And Beyond," Kevin anticipates lots of time in Central Massachusetts with co-coordinator Robert Eisenstein of the Five College Early Music Program. Kevin will be working with Mason to make sure the Facebook page has updates about the school and about each other.

Meeting in NY in 2008

Last but not least: what would you all think of organizing a reunion in NY at some point in the summer of 2008; or alternatively one in Siena in the Fall of 2008. Write and share some thoughts/suggestions!

Thanks for keeping in touch. We sincerely hope to hear all of your stories, adventures, and accomplishments.

A presto!

Miriam Grottanelli de Santi,
Director
Siena School for Liberal Arts
www.sienaschool.com