An Interview with Matt Absalom: Cultivating a critical understanding of Italian language and culture with UMOS in Florence, Italy
Hangyu
Matt Absalom, Lecturer in Italian Studies at the University of Melbourne, led the University of Melbourne Overseas Subject (UMOS) programme, Italian Cultural Studies A, in Florence, Italy this winter, hosted by our partner, the International Studies Institute (ISI Florence). He was ably assisted by Elisabetta Ferrari (week 1) and Riccardo Amorati (remainder of the subject). Hangyu interviewed Matt about his experiences and insights about this incredible subject, which is dedicated to cultivating students’ critical understanding of the Italian language and culture through intensive in-country learning.
An Introduction to Italian Cultural Studies A (Winter Term)
According to Matt’s introduction, Italian Cultural Studies A is a core subject in the Italian major and is usually taught in the second semester – before the Winter Term in 2024, It had never been an intensive subject, and it had never been taught overseas. It is Matt who actually activated this possibility.
When Matt taught it as a Semester 2 subject, he realised this subject would be perfect as an overseas intensive given the focus he had given to issues in the Italian language. Before the pandemic, Matt talked to one of their university partners in Italy and changed the description in the handbook to include the possibility of a winter intensive. After two years of the pandemic, responding to students’ desire for opportunities to go overseas, Matt led the programme in Florence, Italy this winter.
“It’s called Italian Cultural Studies, which is designed for students who started Italian, typically as beginners. Basically, all of our subjects are fairly broad in the sense that they are never just grammar subjects. There are different contents and topics. But this subject (Cultural Studies A) obviously has a much clearer focus on content than, say, language learning, but taught through Italian, obviously, but typically focuses on a particular aspect. Given my sort of linguistic background, I decided to give the subject a little bit of a linguistic slant.” Matt shared his initial motivation to teach this subject overseas.
To elaborate more on the focus of his teaching on this subject, Matt said, “It basically focused on the history of the Italian language and the regional variation in Italian. There’s something called the ‘questione della lingua’, which translates to ‘the question of the language’ or ‘the issue of the language’.” This is an ongoing discussion that has been happening for 700 years about what Italian should look like and what the Italian language should be. A contemporary manifestation of this is the current debate about how language can adapt to the 21st-century spectrum of gender possibilities, given that Italian has a binary grammatical structure.”
“So, nouns, adjectives, and articles in Italian are categorised as masculine or feminine, creating a very rigid system. What do you do when someone doesn’t identify as binary? Or when someone doesn’t want to be referred to as “he” or “she”? Italian wrestles with this, and it’s pretty difficult. Florence is also where the Italian language originated. While it’s not accurate to say it was “born” there, Tuscany claims a key role in the development of Italian. It is also the home of important literary figures like Dante Alighieri.”
Upon this account, Matt argues for the significance of making it an intensive subject taught in Florence because then students can experience where the language developed. He added, “We were able to invite the sociolinguist, Vera Gheno to come and speak to our students concerning gender issues. Obviously, an intensive three-week period is a fantastic experience for students, particularly for those coming from the beginner’s track.” By teaching this subject in Florence, Matt was creating an immersive and fruitful overseas experience for his students, which is pivotal in consolidating language skills and enhancing students’ relationships with the language and culture.
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The Advantages of Being in Italy
The Italian Cultural Studies A (Winter Term) programme provided students with an invaluable chance to look at regional variations in Italian. As the leader of the programme and the instructor, Matt highlighted, “Being in Florence, I was able to structure one of the assessment tasks as a linguistic landscaping task. So, what does that mean? Basically, the students had to examine how language is used in public spaces. I asked them to find examples of local language, specifically the Florentine dialect or Florentine Italian. Florentines often say they don’t have a dialect because it’s the same as Italian, but it is different from standard Italian. This task was fantastic to conduct in situ, rather than when I taught the subject on campus.”
On campus, Matt offered students examples of texts in different dialects that they had to analyse. However, undertaking an overseas subject surrounded by people speaking a regional variety made the task much more immediate and realistic for the students. “It made the language less a thing that you were studying but more of an actual reality,” summarised Matt.
In line with the on-campus version, Matt adopted the same structure and assessments that he would have done in the classroom. Instead of 12 lectures and 12 seminars over 12 weeks, Matt and the students completed them over just 12 days. The subject structure mirrored the on-campus version, but it was just accelerated. With over 20 years of experience in leading groups in Italian studies, Matt leveraged his own teaching strategies to foster students’ learning experiences in Florence.
When sharing his teaching experience, Matt said, “I ensured that the students had free time as well because one of the things with a bit of difficulty is that whenever I take groups away, I want them to do everything. I think, ‘We are in Italy. Let’s do this!’ and tend to fill up the days. But I’ve learned that I have to avoid overfilling the schedule. I need to leave students space to study and also to experience on their own. So, I structured the days to include either a lesson or a cultural activity because we had a number of cultural activities as well while we were there. These are important because I like my students to take advantage of the unique possibility of being in Italy, and those cultural activities are conducted in Italian as well.” In addition to a well-designed curriculum, Matt also maximised the amount of Italian they heard during any formal moments. Being in an Italian-speaking environment, there is a lot of incidental language around the students all the time.
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The Most Memorable Moments
Among the diverse cultural activities, many hands-on activities have left Matt and the students with a deep impression. Matt recalled a cooking class that he described as interesting and surprising.
“I kind of assume everyone studying Italian knows how to cook because food is so central to a lot of aspects to do with Italy. So, I was surprised that some students didn’t know how to cook better. That was interesting! We also had a fresco workshop where we painted a fresco, which was really cool because some students were so talented and created fabulous works of art. That was just a small sideline, but I really enjoyed it because often in university, we are just doing what we do in class, and then students are completing assessments. In short, you don’t often get to see students’ full potential, so this experience offered me a different perspective on their abilities.” Matt recalled this memorable activity, which allowed him to know his students from a different perspective.
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The Achievement of Progressive Learning
The Italian Cultural Studies A in this Winter Term was incredibly surprising for students, allowing students to conduct studies in Italy and see how people use the language in practice. In terms of acquiring a language, Matt pointed out, “When you study a language from books or other resources, what we teach typically represents a general idea of the language. But actually, as we know, people never use a language exactly the way it appears in books or the way we teach it. Thus, being in Italy and realising that people speak with a local accent, use local words, and don’t always have to speak in perfect sentences was really eye-opening. Through this overseas subject, students learned that they could communicate even with a few words.”
Another benefit of teaching this subject in Italy for students’ learning achievement is concerned with the Italian culture. “It’s really hard to appreciate Italy without actually being there. When students are there, there’s a lot going on at the same time. It’s an amazing environment, particularly in Florence. It’s like you are in a real and living museum. You turn a corner, and there is always something fresh,” Matt stated.
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Overcoming the Challenges
Despite the prominent opportunities and benefits, leading an overseas subject also led to certain challenges. Reflected on by Matt, the first one lies in the time limitation. “When you are trying to teach a semester’s worth of work in just 2.5 to 3 weeks, there’s already a challenge,” argued Matt, “Further to this, students arrived the day before, and they were jet-lagged as well as in an extremely unfamiliar situation.”
In addition, Matt also mentioned other challenges, such as students’ experience of culture shock, students’ lack of previous room-sharing experience with classmates, and social interaction among the students. Compared with doing the subject in one semester, there was no room for delays and students needed to keep up with the readings and be in the right mindset to maximise the immersive learning experience within the Winter Term. Another challenge is avoiding illness. According to Matt’s review, many students ended up getting sick since they were not used to managing themselves, not getting enough sleep, not eating properly, or not taking good care in the sun.
“Not only do I want them to learn, but I also want them to have a great time and be able to fully benefit from the whole experience,” Matt highlighted, “I had given them a number of tasks before the subject. We had two or three meetings before we left, and I asked students to do a reflection on what they thought Italy was like and what they expected to gain from the subject. Then, at the end of the subject, I had them revisit that reflection to see how their perspectives changed. Even though three weeks seemed like a short time, the feedback was, ‘I feel like I’ve been here for six months.’ I think that’s the main takeaway. Additionally, doing some preparatory work and reflection beforehand was helpful. I also gave students some readings so that they had a foundation to build on by the time they arrived in Italy and got to start.”
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Students’ Feedback on Their Overseas Study
Although I initially was hesitant to participate in the program as it was significantly outside my comfort zone, I am so grateful that I decided to take on the challenge. Overall, the experience was extremely rewarding and has given me a more open-minded outlook on life, and I feel more confident to step outside of my comfort zone again in the future and learn from new experiences, despite any feelings of doubt. This has also inspired me to take on any opportunities that may come up in the future that encourage experiences involving other cultures, as I really enjoyed being immersed in another country and experiencing their traditions and other aspects central to their identity first-hand. Overall, the Italian Cultural Studies A program in Florence was an eye-opening experience that has had a profound impact on my personal and academic development and is something that I will remember forever!
I can’t believe this is already all over just like that. It’s all already happened. Although I’m not walking away with simply photos in my camera roll and these entries for memories, I am walking away with a newly lit passion for this language, with friendships, and with having met my people! There is so much to look forward to. Everyone tells you that you will change when you travel. What I didn’t expect was how changed I’d be because of all the people I have met. I am inspired and newly driven and want to learn more than anything. I am changed by the places I’ve seen and the lifestyle I have observed. Although above all, it has come from all the new lives I have learned about and am now part of. It is beautiful and everything I was hoping for years ago without even realising it. I feel blessed and new and myself. This is all just the very beginning.
Having 2.5 weeks to experience a range of activities and having time to walk, watch, and think was a real benefit for Italian learning. Instead of worrying about trying to fit everything in a few short days, knowing there are still more days to learn and having time to join classes at the gym and be part of everyday life in Italy was a special treat to savour. It reinforced my growing awareness of slowly but steadily continuing with the learning journey.
Spending time in a city like Florence has affected my perceptions of Melbourne. I have been viewing the city from the eyes of a tourist as I commute to university, and it has been interesting noticing how they interact with the city. My favourite things about Melbourne are not part of the most popular image of the city, and this disconnect between a tourist’s experience of a place and a local’s highlights what only saw a sliver of in Florence- the interesting events happening on the outskirts of town. I learnt things about myself too, like which parts of my personality change when exposed to new environments and new people, and which parts remain. For example, I thought I was quite an extroverted person, but I found myself feeling comfortable and relishing the quiet ‘in-between’ moments like walking to class and peacefully eating gelato together. My final reflection is that I wish I had spoken more Italian, but it is good to recognise all the language learning I did and the great experiences I had.
I’ll remember this city, and the course, as a momentous occasion in my life when I was comforted by a curiosity and love of life. I’ve felt so grateful for every day in Italy.
Overall, reflecting on this experience I have learned many things but also been inspired to discover more. I was initially uncertain about my level of engagement with some of the content, but I think having such a close connection to Florence and having visited so many times, I was able to relate and show genuine interest in the topics covered. I think my most active reflection occurred while I was speaking with the other students doing the subject and also speaking to my Italian relatives. However, it has also been interesting to reflect on the experience as a whole and discover new topics that I am now interested to learn more.
The course had a surprising balance between work and free time; it allowed us to apply what we had learnt in class and realise it in the real world which I really enjoyed as it displayed the relevance of what we were learning and kept me engaged. The best part of the course and my time in Florence was being able to experience everything with like-minded people who inspired me to pursue my passions and find joy and curiosity in everything, especially when at face value, something may seem uninteresting. I am very grateful for this course and my trip overall and excited for what the future holds with my studies and Italian language development.
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Looking Ahead for UMOS in Future
Matt continues to devote himself to other UMOS programmes, and he embraces the following expectations when looking ahead.
“We should be offering, particularly to all undergraduate students, the opportunity for international experience during their degree. There is ongoing support for overseas subjects, and a lot of resources are available to support them. The other subject I teach, Contemporary Italy Study Abroad, is offered every two years. It’s a pretty nice subject. It’s three weeks with a focus on contemporary Italy, in November and December 2024. This time around I am looking a bit at traditional artisan activity in Italy, including food and crafts. At the School of Languages and Linguistics, it’s definitely the case that overseas subjects are being developed for all language programmes.”
Thanks to Matt’s sharing of his UMOS teaching experience this Winter Term, we got to know the critical role of doing this subject in Florence, Italy, in cultivating students’ understanding of the Italian language and culture. Along with a splendid, immersive, and rewarding journey, we can foresee the promising development of UMOS programmes on the horizon, which allow students to construct knowledge and build their global and intercultural competencies.