The University of Gastronomic Sciences Begins a New Academic Year
Students from 11 different countries are welcomed to Pollenzo
October 3, 2005 – Today the University of Gastronomic Sciences
welcomed 68 new students to its Pollenzo campus for the undergraduate
degree course in Gastronomic Sciences. The University’s international
identity was confirmed by the presence of 22 foreign students from
Kenya, Turkey, Canada, Greece, Switzerland, Great Britain, the
Netherlands, the United States, Germany and France, who joined 46
Italians.
The campus also welcomed back the 60 students who are beginning their
second year of the course, having just returned from a two-week stage
in either the Veneto, Valle d’Aosta, Ireland or Austria.
For the new students, the first week of lessons will serve as an
introduction to the unique world of UNISG, with a series of lectures on
the various branches of the University.
Monday began with a presentation of the UNISG project by the dean, Professor Alberto Capatti and Slow Food President Carlo Petrini.
“UNISG is officially recognized by the Italian government and therefore
forms an integral part of the educational landscape of our country. It
was born from a different set of ideals and concepts than a public
university. The University was conceived by Slow Food, the
international association which has been instrumental in promoting a
fresh approach to the teaching of gastronomic sciences,” explained
Capatti.
“UNISG will educate ‘gastronomists’, who are not food technologists,
but instead know how to analyze a product with an understanding of its
history and who have the skills to promote it. This course offers an
oppurtunity to learn directly about products through the stages, field
trips during which the student is not just an observer, but comes into
first-hand contact with production processes,” continued the dean.
He concluded by underlining the international nature of the University,
where both English and Italian are the official languages of
communication between the students and staff, as well as among the
students themselves.
Carlo Petrini then spoke about the importance of the concept of
“new gastronomy”, which forms the foundation of the University’s
teaching. “Gastronomy is a complex and multidisciplinary science, made
up of economics, politics, history, anthropology, natural sciences and
cultural identity. Here in Pollenzo and at Colorno this complexity is
studied in the classroom and in the field. The University’s uniqueness
comes also from a strong link to Slow Food and its activities. UNISG is
devoting itself to increasingly important themes such as those that
emerged from Terra Madre, the meeting of global food communities held
in October 2004 in Turin. Terra Madre will be held again in 2006,
and it represents true teaching in the field as a place where
food-producing communities can enter in a dialogue with ‘official’
science. The University, the farmers – who I define as intellectuals of
the earth – and cooks. Everyone together, with slowness and constancy.”