Etta’s experiences teaching Italian university students as a William J. Fulbright scholar, teaching US university students abroad, and her onsite research in Italian archives feed her love for All Things Italy. Gain a taste by subscribing to her newsletter and blog and following on social media.
All Things Italy Summer 2021
Hello, friends and fellow travelers. It’s been two years since I’ve been in Italy—two long years—and I’m definitely feeling withdrawal. But pictures, memories, and my imagination help. A friend and fellow traveler of my last...
Margaret Fuller: Writing and Social Activism in Massachusetts and Italy
Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Fuller lived here during her early years. Fireflies, Fourth of July, fireworks, family reunions--the month has flown by--with lots of U.S. memories-in-the-making for me. Meanwhile, I have had little time to think about “All Things Italy.” Earlier in...
All Things Italy Spring / Summer 2021
Hello, friends and fellow travelers! Thanks for joining me in this second issue of “All Things Italy.” Primarily, my goals are to update you on the progress of my book projects and associated talks, to share a few thoughts about works I’ve...
Mothers Without Borders: A Tribute to Surrogacy
Today I’m thinking of all those who “mother” -- beyond those who have born biological children. Think Mother Teresa, for example, or Mother Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers, known for their communal living...
After Pasqua and Pasquetta . . . Liberation Day
Pasquetta--one Italian spring tradition I wish we could import to the US--blurs sometimes into another holiday, Liberation Day. Pasquetta, or “Little Easter” (since Easter is Pasqua), follows on the heels of Sunday’s colomba, Easter sweet...
All Things Italy Winter/Spring 2021
You're among the first recipients of my All Things Italy newsletter! Thanks for starting this journey with me. I hope we'll have a long ride and a buon viaggio together. After months of planning to...
Utopian and Dystopian Visions: Sicily and Engaging Italy
Monte Argentario, off the coast of southern Tuscany Emeralds in a sea of sapphire—gems among gemstones—to a romantic dreamer. To those who have removed the rose-colored glasses, perhaps they emerge more like...
A Sicilian Memoir: Simeti’s On Persephone’s Island
Mandarins and pears at an open market in Sicily. Photo: Andrew Malone , Wikimedia Commons via Flickr Mary Taylor Simeti’s memoir of Sicily as an American expat will not be for everyone....
A Past January Inauguration Day in Sicily Spurs Hope for Future
Gray skies above Catania, Sicily, in January A few years back--twelve, to be exact--I was adjusting to an unfamiliar climate and culture. Less than two weeks off the plane in Catania,...
Riding the Winter Waves: Reading for Health
Elizabeth Blackwell writing on happiness in 1845 Here’s the second part to a post from just after Thanksgiving 2020, “Riding the Holiday Waves: Writing for Health.” Because some consider early January as...
Coincidence or Signs? Waldensians in the News
Twice in less than 24 hours—actually, within about 12 hours—I received notice from two friends* of two recent but very different news stories about the Waldensians. One was in here, in Friday’s New York Times,...
Riding the Holiday Waves: Writing for Health
Hello, friends. How have the first of the holidays been for you? Have the emotions of 2020's elections and COVID caused these past few days to seem calm, by comparison? Or are you riding those...