UCSB Italian Studies Department Hosts Italian Consulate

This Tuesday, a luncheon organized by Associate Professor of Italian Studies at UCSB Claudio Fogu to host the Italian Consulate of Los Angeles was supposed to feature one of the world’s top acrobatic air force squadrons: the Frecce Tricolori (the Tricolor Arrows). Leading up to the event, however, the show over East Beach was canceled, which we have the marine layer to thank for.

But just as one display of cultural appreciation was canceled, another more than made up for it. Fogu, Valentina Padula, Director of the Italian Language Program at UCSB, and Renato Moisio of Via Maestra, created a cultural epicenter for Italians and Italian-Americans throughout Southern California. 

The tables of the Cabrillo Pavilion’s large dining hall were adorned with Italian flags and olive branches and supplied with an abundance of San Pellegrinos. The mingled conversations were almost entirely on the topic of where each guest’s family hailed from in Italy and their happiness to speak to someone new in a native language or of a common background. 

“When I see and meet someone in the United States who has Italian heritage, I just want to connect,” said Padula. “I want to express the connection through, whether it’s the language or the food or the history, whatever interests we have in common. To me, my Italian heritage means that I can find my home that I left many years ago through anyone here.”

Presidents and board members of other local foundations were also in attendance: the Italian Cultural Heritage Foundation of Santa Barbara, the Italian American Boot Club of Santa Barbara, along with the Santa Barbara Newcomers Club.

Half an hour into the event, the consul general, Raffaella Valentini, arrived with Emanuele Amendola, director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles (ICTLA). Immediately following them was Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez.

As guests found their seats, Fogu took to the podium and expressed gratitude for the funding provided by the Italian government, which has been supporting UCSB’s Italian Studies program for the past 15 years, allowing it to host hybrid classes and a transnational studies program. Before handing it off to the consul general, in honor of the absent Frecce Tricolori, Fugo launched a tricolored paper airplane from the podium. 

Valentini gave a brief but powerful speech laying out the important duties carried out by the consulate, as well as the responsibility that every Italian in the States has as “ambassadors” for Italy’s culture and pride. In an effort to bring a “little bit of the consulate to you,” Valentini said those with Italian citizenship could conveniently renew their passports in the front of the Pavilion at a station operated by a consulate official. 

Amendola with the ICTLA said the organization works to spread the wealth of culture that Italy has to offer, and by reaching out to Italian-teaching institutes like UCSB, it can establish even more connections with Italian communities throughout California.