About the Program
The Cagli Project is a hybrid course that combines classroom instruction, field and lab work, aspects of internship, and practicum courses in a setting unfamiliar to the participating students. Students in the Cagli Project are assigned to teams and work to develop an intercultural narrative. The course modules emphasize skill building in: Interviewing, Storytelling, Photography, Intercultural Communication, Journaling, Italian Language and Culture, and Elements of Web Design.
While in the program students have the unique opportunity to interact in a foreign culture and to acquire practical language skills through immersion. The ability to assimilate quickly and recognize another’s cultural values are indispensable tools for preparing in a career field where globalization and intercultural communication are increasingly important. At the micro level, students will learn how “to read” another culture on its own terms — thereby eliminating cultural bias. At the macro level, students will be ready to become facilitators in the intercultural dialogue that the modern world requires. Students learn how to understand a foreign society by developing ethnographic skills, which facilitate experiencing a place from an insider’s perspective. The students share their immersion experience over a range of topics from economics and health care, to language and culture– through the people of Cagli.
Why Cagli?
Hidden from tourists among the Appennini Mountains in the Marche region of central Italy, Cagli offers a unique opportunity to explore authentic Italian life. Cagli has a rich history dating back well over 2,000 years. Cagli became part of the Roman Empire in 295 BC and quickly grew in prominence as a vital stop on the ancient Via Flaminia, one of Rome’s earliest and most important roads. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Cagli’s strategic location made it a popular staging ground for battles. In 1287, the city was destroyed by fire in a battle among noble Italian families, but was rebuilt two-years later under orders from Pope Nicholas IV. It was held by various noble families until it was incorporated into the Papal States in the 17th Century, eventually becoming part of unified Italy in 1860.
Though its history is apparent throughout the town, Cagli boasts a rich modern social scene, summer concerts and festivals, and one of the region’s most beautiful theaters. The town is also home to numerous churches, chapels, grocery stores, cafès, restaurants, artisanal shops, soccer fields, a bocce ball club, and has its own hospital. Other possible outdoor activities include hiking, biking, and swimming.
Despite its relative seclusion, Cagli is easily accessible from Rome through the bus depot, which includes service twice daily. Students can also take advantage of locally run buses throughout the day to important nearby cities such as Gubbio, Urbino, and the beach towns of Fano and Pesaro on the Adriatic coast. Using Pesaro as a point of departure students are able to transfer onto the Trenitalia train network that stretches the entirety of the Italian peninsula to popular destinations such as Rimini, Bologna, Venezia, Assisi, Cinque Terre, Firenze, Milano, Torino, Verona, Pisa, Napoli, as well as the Amalfi coast. Cagli however, home to about only 9,000 citizens, is full of unique charm that has many stories to tell. It truly is la dolce vita!
More Information:
Contact Dr. John S. Caputo for more information regarding the Cagli Project at caputo@gonzaga.edu
Gonzaga-in-Cagli Facebook page
Center for Intercultural Dialogue
Order the Gonzaga-in-Cagli book at MagCloud
The Institute for Education in International Media (ieiMedia) Gonzaga-in-Cagli ‘sister’ programs
City of Cagli piazza Matteotti webcam
City of Cagli at Wikipedia (english version)
City of Cagli at Wikipedia (italian version)