-
Italian Archaeologist First ULM Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence
ULM
recently brought Italian
archeologist Dr. Vincenzo Di Giovanni to campus for the spring semester as
a part of the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program. The program is
funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the
U.S.
department of State. This is the
first time the university has received a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence.
Di Giovanni is working
throughout the spring 2004 semester, teaching an honors seminar on Roman
and Etruscan archeology. On March 18th, he gave a Chautauqua
Nexus on the archeological site in
Campsa
,
Italy
. Recently, he has been to
Chicago
,
Wisconsin
, and is presently in
Washington
D.C.
, giving lectures on his work. Last semester, Di Giovanni worked as a
scholar-in-residence at
Northwest
University
, where he taught a seminar in archeology.
“I am excited at the
opportunity this gives our honors students to study with an
internationally renowned archeologist,” said Dr. Holly Wilson, associate
professor of philosophy, director of the University Honors Program and
interim head of the Department of History and Government at
ULM
.
The Fulbright Program,
signed into law in 1945 by Senator J. William Fulbright, was built on the
idea that a mutual understanding of cultural differences needed to be
established in the wake of the Second World War. Today, the program
involves up to 140 countries worldwide, who are able to communicate
directly to students in the
United States
through their respective Fulbright scholars. The scholars are asked to
come on an individual basis, according to their field of expertise.
Di Giovanni is
co-director of New Archeology, a region of professional archeologists who
excavate sites in
Campania
, in south central
Italy
where
Naples
is the principal modern city. Work done by Di Giovanni and his colleagues
has brought to light artifacts that realign the current understanding of
the Greek, Etruscan, and Italic roles in the formation of Roman
Civilization.
A graduate of the
University
of
Rome
, Di Giovanni has participated in various excavations in the
Campania
region for the Italian Superintendence of the Antiquities. He has also
served as a visiting scholar for the National Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers held in
Campania.
In addition to working
closely with Di Giovanni here on campus,
Wilson
is part of a group currently trying to find financial support to send
three
ULM
students to
Italy
over the summer to work on a dig at Campsa. If this goes through as
planned, the students will receive class credit for the trip, and the
university will be given formal credit for being involved in the dig.
[Back
to Smoke Signals]
| 
