Students Blog

Friday, December 12th, All Day

Visit to the Palladian Villas

This activity is part of the course “Preservation of World Heritage Sites” (Prof. Gianighian) and is a rescheduled class of the course “Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice” (Prof. Savy/Pattanaro).

For all the other students who want to join the trip, please send an email to intern@univiu.org. There are limited places. The cost will be 9.50 euros for the entrance tickets (transportation cost is covered by VIU). Please bring the 9.50 euros to the Front Office no later than Friday, Dec 5, 5 pm.

Meeting Point: 9.15 am, Tronchetto Boat Stop (no Tronchetto Mercato)

This trip will give you the unique opportunity to visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites, see two of the most beautiful villas designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in the second half of the 16th century and to confront the real building with the original project as drawn in the “Four Books of Architecture”. Students will also experience the beauty of the ancient Venetian countryside, when the most important families used to have a second vacation house in the mainland. Wealthy Venetian families started acquiring plots of land for farming to diversify their income after the beginning of the decline of their maritime business, but this also become an occasion to show their power through the commission of magnificent decorated buildings, devoted to their intellectual otium.

Detailed Program:

There will be the opportunity to have lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria “La Cucina del Palladio” (Vedelago, near Villa Emo).

The menu proposed for the group is classic pizza + water at the cost of 8 euros.
If you choose to have lunch at Pizzeria “La Cucina del Palladio”, please bring the 8 euros (precise amount) at the Front Office no later than Friday, Dec 5, 5 pm.

The only alternative is to bring with you a packed lunch and eat outdoor, as there are no other restaurants or bars near Villa Emo.

Friday, December 5th, 5 pm, Room 9A

“The Caiman” (Il Caimano), 2006

by Nanni Moretti

starring Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy and Jasmine Trinca

A producer of b-movies, famous in the 70s, wants to produce a movie about the figure of Italy’s Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a subject so controversial that even the public television refuses to produce it.

112 mins, ITA

Wednesday, Dec 3rd, 5 pm, Room 9A

“Farewell my Concubine”, 1993

by Chen Kaige

starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li

Monday, December 1st, 5 pm, Room 1G

VIULECTURES 2|14 “The Quality of Mercy. A Reflection on 30 Years of Humanitarian Work and International Cooperation”

Venice International University continues the series of the VIULECTURES 2|14, a cycle of appointments open to the public, as part of VIU Fall 2014 term academic offer. This open lecture is organized in association with Collegio Internazionale Ca’ Foscari.

You are all invited to the lecture, that will take place in room 1G at 5pm.

Guest speaker: Filippo Grandi, Italian diplomat who has served in Iraq, the Congo, Afghanistan, the Middle East and other humanitarian frontlines, engaging in refugee and humanitarian work over the past 26 years, 22 of which have been with the United Nations, encompassing refugee assistance, protection, emergency management, donor relations and humanitarian and political affairs. Filippo Grandi served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees from January 2010 to March 2014, after having served as UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner-General since October 2005.

Monday, November 24th, 5 pm, Room 9A

“The Seduction of Mimì” (Mimì Metallurgico), 1972

by Lina Wertmuller

starring Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato

Hardheaded Left-wing Sicilian worker, emigrated to Turin, contended by his flower-power communist Northern lover, the Mafia, his wife and, once back in Catania, by the wife of an officer of the Tax Police in an intricate and surreal plot. Award for Best Director at Cannes.

125 mins

Tuesday, November 25th, 7.10 pm

Night Visit to the Basilica di San Marco

Meeting Point: 7.10 pm, Piazzetta dei Leoncini

The Basilica di San Marco is the most famous city church and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture. It lies at the eastern end of Piazza San Marco and it is connected to the Doge’s Palace. It has been the city’s cathedral since 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice.
Famous all around the world for its opulent design, its golden mosaics and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building has been known by the nickname Chiesa d’Oro (Golden Church).

Don’t miss the unique opportunity of a night-time guided tour of the Basilica!

Wednesday, Nov 26th, 5 pm, Room 9A 

“Departures “(Okuribito) , 2008

by Yojiro Takita

Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue and Tsutomu Yamazaki

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a “Nokanshi” or “encoffineer,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of “Nokanshi,” acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

130 mins

Friday, November 28th, all day

Trip to Vicenza

This activity is part of the courses “Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice” and “The Architectural and Urban Heritage of Venice in Modern and Contemporary Time” (rescheduled class) and it is counted as a class.

For all the other students who want to join the trip, please send an email to intern@univiu.org no later than Wednesday, Nov 26, 5 pm. There are limited places. The cost will be 5 euros for the Museum Pass (train tickets are excluded). Please bring the 5 euros to the Front Office by Wednesday, Nov 26, 5 pm.

Meeting Point: 8.15 am, Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station, outside the main entrance

Today Vicenza is one of Italian cities with the highest number of monumental complexes compared to its extension. This makes it a real unexpected jewel to those visitors who take a walk in the old town center.
A great part of the architectural works by Palladio was created in the Vicenza territory, starting from 1540. The architect worked without distinction both for private and public clients, thus helping to profoundly change the city’s aspect.

Detailed program:

For students of the courses “Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice” and “The Architectural and Urban Heritage of Venice in Modern and Contemporary Time”: remember to keep your train ticket (way back), in order to be refunded by showing it at the Front Office; remember to take a regional train (Regionale or Regionale Veloce, 5.90 euros).

Friday, November 21st, 10 am, Campo del Ghetto

Visit to the Jewish Ghetto and Madonna della Salute Celebration

This activity is part of the courses “From Venice to Seoul” (Prof. Zanalda) and “History of Venice” (Prof. Pes) and are counted as classes.

Meeting point: Campo del Ghetto, in front of the main entrance of the Museum, 10 am

Jewish Ghetto: When, on March 29th 1516, the Government of the Serenissima Repubblica issued special laws, the first Ghetto of Europe was instituted. It was an area where Jews were forced to live and which they could not leave from sunset to dawn. The area was closed by gates watched by guards and up till now the marks of the hinges are visible there. The Ghetto existed for more than two and a half centuries, until Napoleon conquered Venice

Madonna della Salute Celebration: In October 1630, the Venetian Senate decreed that if the city was delivered from the currently raging plague, that had killed about a third of Venice’s population,  a new church would be built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The city was so delivered and Baldassare Longhena was selected to design the new church. After the construction, the annual Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin (November 21) saw a major procession of the city’s officials from San Marco to La Salute for a service of thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague.

After the visit to the Jewish Ghetto, we will continue our tour to Madonna della Salute Church.

Those of you joining the visit to Padua Botanical Garden (in the afternoon) are instead free to go directly to the train station after the end of the Ghetto guided tour.

Friday, November 21st, Afternoon

Visit to Padua Botanical Garden

This activity is part of the course “Preservation of World Heritage Sites” (Prof. Gianighian) and it is counted as a class.

For all the others who want to join the trip, please send email to intern@univiu.org no later than Wednesday, Nov 19, 5 pm. There are limited places. The cost of the visit will be 5 euros (train tickets excluded). Please bring the 5 euros to the Front Office by Wednesday, Nov 19, 5 pm.

Meeting Point: Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station, outside the main entrance, 12.45 am or 2.15 pm at the Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden of Padua, affiliated to the University of Padua, was founded in 1545 by the Venetian Republic and is the world’s oldest academic botanical garden. It is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and of the awareness of the relationship between nature and culture. In 1997 it has been inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural good.

Detailed Program:

For students of the course “Preservation of World Heritage Sites”: remember to keep your train ticket (way back), in order to be refunded by showing it at the Front Office; remember to take a regional train (Regionale or Regionale Veloce, 4.05 euros).