{"id":3050,"date":"2026-08-18T13:25:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/?page_id=3050"},"modified":"2026-08-21T13:49:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T13:49:58","slug":"perugia-italy-study-tour","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/study-tours\/perugia-italy-study-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasta &#038; Prose: Food Writing and Culinary Tourism in Perugia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-3050\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-3050-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-3050-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-title panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-title so-widget-smcm-title-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h2 class=\"smcm-section-title navy\" style=\"\"><strong>Perugia<\/strong> Trip<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-3050-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-3050-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-113ccd71f3e6-3050\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\">\n\t\t<img \n\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-scaled.jpg\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-scaled.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-Mauro-Frutta-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" alt=\"Outdoor fruit and vegetable market stand displays fresh produce in wooden crates under a neon sign and warm lighting in front of a stone building.\" \t\tclass=\"so-widget-image\"\/>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-3050-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Pre-Requisites<\/h3>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<ul>\n<li>Minimum GPA: 2.7<\/li>\n<li>Judicial Check<\/li>\n<li>Academic Conduct Review<\/li>\n<li>A 200-level writing class (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/program-english\/\">English<\/a> 201 or 270); another 200-level class in English; or permission of the instructor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-3050-1-1-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Fields of Study<\/h3>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<ul>\n<li>This course is offered as an upper-level English class (ENGL 395: Special Topics in Writing), yet it may be cross-listed with one of the following disciplines as well: Sociology, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-3050-1-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-1-2-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Dates and Important Links<\/h3>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<ul>\n<li>Summer 2027: <strong>May 27-June 19, 2027<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Application Deadline: <strong>January 1, 2027<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Info Session: <strong>Friday, October 23, 11:30 - 1:00<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-3050-1-2-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-last-child\" data-index=\"5\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Costs<\/h3>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<ul>\n<li>$4,250 Program Fee + Tuition for 4 Credits ($1,600 in-state)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What's included<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Round-trip Airfare &amp; Ground Transportation<\/li>\n<li>Housing &amp; Wifi<\/li>\n<li>Visit to Local Farmers Market<\/li>\n<li>Tour of Terre Margaritelli Vineyard with Lunch<\/li>\n<li>Tour of Orsini Organic Farm<\/li>\n<li>Cooking Class with Local Chef<\/li>\n<li>Visit to Fuori di Zucca, an Agri-Food NPO<\/li>\n<li>Lecture with Slow Food Expert Domenico Lizzi<\/li>\n<li>International Medical Insurance<\/li>\n<li>24\/7 Emergency Support<\/li>\n<li>Welcome &amp; Farewell Dinner<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-3050-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div id=\"english\" class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-3050-2\" ><div id=\"pgc-3050-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-2-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-title panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-title so-widget-smcm-title-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h2 class=\"smcm-section-title navy\" style=\"\"><strong>Pasta &amp; Prose<\/strong>: Food Writing and Culinary Tourism in Perugia<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-3050-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-3050-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-3-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>Spend three immersive weeks with Drs. Jennifer and Andrew Cognard Black (aka, the CBs) at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy, exploring how food is not simply sustenance or pleasure but a cultural symbol--one shaped by tourism, history, and the environment. This course invites students to engage food writing at the intersections of appetite and analysis, approaching their writing through the complex lens of the culinary tourist. Even more, as interdisciplinary study tour, the CBs ask students to draw on literary, sociological, environmental, anthropological, and gender studies as they consider the pleasures and ethics of food tourism.<\/p>\n<p>Through writing workshops, a market visit, a cooking and tasting experience with a local chef, tours of a local farm (Orsini) and a vineyard (Terre Margarietlli), and a conversation with Domenico Lizzi of Fuori di Zucca (a local initiative bringing small food producers and consumers together), participants will examine tensions between authenticity and performance, local identity and international desire, and how culinary tourism shapes how Americans experience the Italian landscape, its citizens, and its culture. Central questions for the class will include: How are narratives about culinary traditions produced? What happens when regional food producers become tourist destinations? And how do tourists walk the line between cultural appropriation and genuine experience?<\/p>\n<p>Students will produce pieces of food writing that evoke the senses and spark original inquiry. These writings will include poems, essays, and short fiction that situate the foods of Italy within broader economic, environmental, and cultural frameworks. By the end of this study tour, participants will have sparked their culinary imaginations and honed their food writing skills, while also developing a more critical and nuanced understanding of what it means to consume\u2014and to represent\u2014both place and self through food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-3050-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"8\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-113ccd71f3e6-3050\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\">\n\t\t<img \n\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1.jpg\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/167\/2026\/08\/st-marys-college-maryland-MAES-Kasey-Disrespectful-Pigeons-1-scaled-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" alt=\"Stone relief sculpture of three figures, with a seated central figure holding a scepter and sword, flanked by two reclining figures; a pigeon is perched on top.\" \t\tclass=\"so-widget-image\"\/>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-3050-4\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-3050-4-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-3050-4-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-title panel-first-child\" data-index=\"9\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-title so-widget-smcm-title-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h2 class=\"smcm-section-title navy\" style=\"\"><strong>Co-Leaders<\/strong> of Pasta &amp; Prose<\/h2><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-3050-4-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-last-child\" data-index=\"10\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>Jennifer Cognard-Black (JCB), Professor of English, and Andrew Cognard-Black (ACB), Associate Professor of Sociology, bring 20 years of experience leading students abroad on study tours to Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and Alba, Italy. Both have also lived and taught internationally, including in England, Scotland, Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. Their new tour,\u00a0Pasta &amp; Prose, invites participants to explore Italian food through the complex lens of food tourism, drawing on their complementary expertise. For two decades, JCB has taught courses in food literature, food writing, and food and social justice and has published extensively in Food Studies, including two books, an Audible Original, and most recently the anthology\u00a0Good Eats: 32 Writers on Eating Ethically\u00a0(NYU Press, 2024). ACB, Chair of the Sociology-Anthropology Department, specializes in social stratification, race and ethnicity, and family\u2014all fields that illuminate familial foodways and food inequality. He is also a leading scholar of honors education and editor of\u00a0The Demonstrable Value of Honors Education\u00a0(NCHC, 2019). Known affectionately as \u201cthe CBs\u201d by their study-abroad cohorts, they delight in sharing international education with students and look forward to exploring Perugia, its food, and its culture of tourism together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minimum GPA: 2.7 Judicial Check Academic Conduct Review A 200-level writing class (English 201 or 270); another 200-level class in English; or permission of the instructor This course is offered as an upper-level English class (ENGL 395: Special Topics in Writing), yet it may be cross-listed with one of the following disciplines as well: Sociology, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":2092,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3050","page","type-page","status-publish","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3113,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3050\/revisions\/3113"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/international-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}