Peter Naccarato
Introduction
I first came to the Umbra Institute in the summer of 2012, with a group of eight students from Marymount Manhattan College. I had worked with the Umbra staff to recruit my students and I was excited to teach my faculty-led course, Mangiamo: Food in Italian Literature and Film. When the airplane lifted off from New York’s JFK airport, I was ready to leave behind the daily grind of the spring semester and immerse myself in the beauty and pleasure of an Italian summer. I knew that I would have my teaching duties and would need to oversee the students who were accompanying me on this study abroad program, but I also imagined an academic experience free from the usual issues and challenges that we confront regularly at our home institutions…