The Matthew Online

JCU hosts 4th annual InVerse poetry festival

By Andrew Granger

Rome, April 24 - “We will die alone,” poet Andrea Raos told poetry enthusiasts at John Cabot University on Wednesday night.

Raos was one of five poets to speak during the InVerse poetry festival Wednesday. The two-day event was held Tuesday and Wednesday at John Cabot University this week as a way to bring the words of some of Italy's most promising poets to JCU students.

There were more uplifting messages of course.

JCU students prepare fund-raiser for Ghana's deaf students

By Marzia Ferraris

ROME, April 24 - A fund raiser will be held in the entrance hall of John Cabot University during the final examinations week to benefit the development of the Cape Coast School for the Deaf in Ghana.

The fund raiser will be held between May 2-8 , from 11 am to 6 pm.

JCU student Dean Torosian, one of the four organizers of this fund raiser, conceived of the fund-raiser idea after attending a two-week political science course, offered by The American University in Rome, in Ghana. The aim of this course was to learn all about Ghana’s history up close.

$800 million spent on U.S. presidential campaign, and for what?

By Ottavia Criss

ROME, April 24 - A though-provoking panel discussion took place on Wednesday at John Cabot University's Aula Magna Regina Auditorium hosted by the Guarini Institute.

This interesting debate kicked off with a power point presentation by Lucio Martino, a specialist in U.S. politics. Did you know almost $800 million has been spent campaigning? He said the world is tired of hearing about the American elections, which have been discussed since 2000. Martino pointed out that history has shown that the party that remains divided until the last minute is usually the one that loses the White House. He predicts John McCain will win.

 

Meet your new leaders: a Guarini Insitute event for April 23

 

By Ottavia Criss

ROME, April 17- The political balance of power is shifting in Italy and the United States. What will this mean for the future?

The Guarini Institute for Public Affairs will host a roundtable discussion entitled "After the Italian legislatives and the Pennsylvania primary"  on Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. at John Cabot University's Aula Magna Regina auditorium.

The speakers of this event will be: Giorgo La Malfa, former President of the Partito Repubblicano Italiani, Lucio Martino, political analyst, JCU professors Pamela Harris, Professor Lawrence Gray and Federigo Argentieri, plus JCU President Franco Pavoncello.

All of these experts in the field will give students an insider’s look at what is happening in both country’s political sphere.

JCU students hear hard lesson on the environment

By Molly Robinson

Rome, April 14 – Market forces are beginning to take on the problem of climate change.

That was the message last Thursday from Giovannella D'Andrea, a partner at B-Legal an international law firm that concentrates on corporate and social responsibility, environment regulation, energy resources and international trade. D'Andrea came to John Cabot University to discuss with students the impact climate change is having on the planet.

JCU theater students take center stage in “Doubts”

By Amanda Baker

ROME, April 15— Beginning tomorrow evening, John Cabot University’s theater group presents “Doubts”, a collection of takes on relationships written by JCU alumnus Christopher Sean Larsen. 

The group, consisting of both degree-seeking and visiting students, puts on a new production every semester. This semester’s work consists of five different pieces surrounding the theme of relationships. Integrated into the performance are various Ray Charles songs including “Hit The Road Jack”, “Unchain My Heart”, and “Aint That Love”.

Led by Director Lenore Lohman, the theatre group welcomes anyone with an interest in the performing arts. No formal auditions are held; the group believes anyone interested in theater should have the opportunity to act.

Melancholy, paranoia and miscommunication, and all before lunch

By Meagan Haessig

ROME, April 4 - The idea that “love is always accompanied by its opposite, fear” was discussed in detail on Thursday at a John Cabot University lecture featuring scholar and author Jeremy Tambling of the University of Manchester.

But not just fear, he said; you can add melancholy to the equation, he told students and faculty in JCU's Aula Magna Regina auditorium.  He discussed melancholy and exaggeration in literature with references to German sociologist Theodor Adorno and Sigmund Freud. 

 

Nearly 70 years on, JCU grapples with an unsavory visitor

On March 31 in John Cabot University’s Aula Magna Regina auditorium, the screening of a documentary directed by Piero Melograni entitled "Hitler’s Visit to Italy-1938" took place. The packed event was hosted by the Guarini Institute for Public Affairs, Ottavia Criss writes.

This film showed Italy’s enthusiasm for one of the most notorious leaders in history, Adolf Hitler. Director of the film Piero Melograni said before the film was played, “I saw Hitler with my own eyes in Naples when I was only seven years old…A film at times can say more than a book, this documentary is like an essay with images.”

The film documents Hitler’s seven-day visit through Italy in 1938 accompanied by an entourage of 500 people. During his stay, he visited Rome, Naples, and Florence and was always greeted by huge crowds of cheering Italians, enthralled by Benito Mussolini, Hitler, and the fascist ideology. The documentary also reveals that 1 in 20,000 Italian school teachers refused to pledge to fascism in school and only 1 in 1,000 university professors would not support the ideology.

 

JCU's Model UN program breaks new ground

Congratulations to Elena Ravano, Ian Foley, Kristen Mapes, Emily Menaurd, Giulia Lorenzini, and Ottavia Criss, the new board members of John Cabot University’s Model United Nations Society. There positions are President, Vice President, Secretary, Fundraising Chair, Treasurer, and Press Secretary, respectively.

The board meets each Tuesday to discuss everything from upcoming fund-raising events, plus setting new agenda items.

Henry James returns to Rome

By Emily Finkelstein

ROME, March 25 — Henry James’ novels, characters and inner turmoil were on display in John Cabot University's Aula Magna auditorium last week in a lecture entitled “Roman Fever”  hosted by literary expert Dr. Kate Brooks.

Brooks, a New York University professor of 19th and 20th century literature, spoke Tuesday to a crowd of John Cabot University students, faculty and visitors. With distinct inflections, she spoke of James’ endless love/hate relationship with the Eternal City and its effect on his works.

“I aim to convince you that Henry James is the most important novelist,” said Brooks. Listeners seemed to be either sharing Brooks’ passion or desperately attempting to keep up with it.