Experience Italy in a way you never dreamed possible!
Lectures
Fascinated by the Italians? How they live today and how they (and we!) once lived the rural life?
Eager to know more about their festivities, celebrations?
Wish to learn to communicate with them (it's all in the hands!)?
These and any of my other lectures will highlight the trip of any Italy tour groups. And if you're not traveling to Italy this year, you can catch my lectures during my annual February/March U.S. Cooking/Lecture Tour! New this year: inspiring talks on Italy and the Italians for schoolchildren, ages K-12.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding my lectures or lecture tour.
Lecturing in Italy
Lecturing in the U.S
Most Popular Lectures
My Lecturing Started with an Earthquake
Lecture Praise
Lecturing in Italy
I have lectured for many years for the Elderhostel Assisi programs (having served also as site co-ordinator) as well as for the Smithsonian and National Trust tours here in Umbria. I've lectured here in Italy for Tauck Tours, Backroads, Butterfield and Robinson, Country Walkers, Earthbound Expeditions, BCT, Wilderness Travel and various American university study-abroad programs here in Italy. Topics: analysis of contemporary Italy and the art and history of Umbria. (See other lecture topics below).
Lecturing in the U.S.
I lecture annually in the U.S. during my February/March coast-to-coast tour, which also includes cooking classes (of Umbrian rural cuisine in private homes). Please see U.S. Events page for details on my annual U.S. coast-to-coast tour and the February/March 2010 tour itinerary.
U.S. Lecture Venues
In the U.S., venues have included: universities, museums, bookstores, Italian cultural organizations, corporations, arts' associations, women's organizations, Rotaries, book clubs, cultural/educational associations of every sort and even private homes. Frequently my lectures have been used as fund-raisers. Talks on Italy and the Italians in schools (K - 12) enthuse and inspire children.
U.S. Lecture Fees
For lectures in the U.S. and Canada (during my annual tour, February/March): $670 lecture honorarium plus $190 contribution to my travel.
Lectures can be arranged at any time during the year (and please contact me for honarium/travel expenses details for private bookings at other times).
Most Popular Lectures (illustrated presentations!)
Italians, HANDS ON!
- a perceptive and entertaining (it's all in the hands!) talk on today's Italians.
Folklore and Festivals in Umbria
- a splendid panorama of Umbria's magnificent medieval hilltowns and their astounding festivals.
Memoirs of Rural Life in Umbria
- the story of our rural life in the early 1970's and a tribute to our farm neighbors, who taught us everything about the land - and about life.
Please click here for a more detailed description of these lectures.
Other Lectures
Assisi: Before and After the Earthquake
Rural Life and Architecture in Umbria
The Italian Woman: From the Etruscans to the Present
Umbria, Inside Out
My Lecturing Started with an Earthquake
February, 1998 was the start of my annual U.S. lecture tours, motivated by the earthquake which struck Assisi in September, 1997 causing serious damage to the Basilica di San Francesco and, as a direct result, drastic loss of tourism here in Umbria. Unfortunately, news reports abroad misrepresented the extent of the damage: a tragedy for the populace as Italy's main industry is tourism. So... I set off for the States to try to set the record straight.
The decision to "go" was made in December of 1997, thanks to the encouragement of four Elderhostel couples (I was then the site co-ordinator of the Assisi Elderhostel programs) - on the East Coast, in the Midwest, on the West Coast - who encouraged me to come to the U.S. to "tell the story". They scouted lecture venues while I prepared slides and my talk. Alitalia and the consortium of hoteliers here in Assisi financed all travel.
Result: I left for the States in late January, 1998, ready to lecture at 26 venues, among them Trinity College (Hartford, CT), Vassar College, Smith College, New Haven Arts Council, American University, University of Texas-Austin, University of Southern California, Portland Fine Arts Museum, Loyola University (Chicago), Elvejium Museum (Madison, WI), Museo Italo-Americano (San Francisco, CA).
My first "earthquake tour" has led to many more: I've been returning to the U.S. annually in February and March ever since to lecture. In November, 1999 I was also asked to teach a cooking class of Umbrian rural cuisine (like the ones I teach here in our Assisi home) and so now my annual tours are a nice mix of lectures in some places, cooking classes in others. (Please also see US EVENTS and COOKING page).
Lecture Praise
Dr. Michael Campo, founder of the Italy Elderhostel Programs, is probably the best person to introduce me as a lecturer:
"Anne Robichaud is an exceptionally gifted and well-informed lecturer, as well as guide, coordinator and tour leader. Take your choice: in each of these capacities she is stellar. Her conducted walks and talks through Umbria and central Italy are unforgettable whether dealing with art, historical monuments and culture or folklore, local customs and the vernacular architecture of farmhouses and medieval dovecote towers. She possesses a bottomless store of informational anecdotes about past and everyday life in Italy deriving from her long residence in Assisi (where she is somewhat of a legend) as wife of an Italian husband and mother of three bright and charming children. If she hasn't scheduled her demonstration of Italian body language, get her to do so; she is a wonderfully funny mimic as well as a highly professional scholar. She is both intellectually stimulating and warm and friendly. Under her expert leadership your experience will be memorable."
Dr. Michael R.Campo, founder and former director of Trinity College's Elderhostel Programs in Italy and John J. McCook Professor (Emeritus) of Modern Languages and Literature at TrinityCollege, CT
Lecturing to the Young Presidents' Organization proved to be challenging and exciting:
"Our members very much enjoyed your presentation, 'Implications of Being Italian: Gestures', and found your ideas to be thought-provoking. They gave your presentations an excellent rating of 9.0 overall which is very high by Young Presdents' Organization standards, and especially for a first time presentation at a University (this is a tough audience!)."
Laurie Cruciger, University Education Manager, Young Presidents' Organization, Irving, TX
Comments
"Anne, just loved the 'gestures' lecture and Power-point show. It was a great combo of humor and passion and the beauty of Umbria."
Nancy Mazza, San Francisco, CA
"You made us feel like we were almost in Italy. We can't wait to go back and now we'll be much more observant of hte local people. Thank you - and please come back next year!"
Linda and Lou Golina, San Francisco, CA
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