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By Phil Williams
These are golden days in Italy, days of lovely fall weather in hill towns that are the cradle of Western art and literature. One native of the area, however, is living happily in Soule Hall on South Campus, a pioneer in a new program to bring the study of foreign language closer to UGA’s students.
Federica Goldoni, an instructor in Italian, is the first faculty member to move into a residence hall in an initiative designed to transform residence halls from places of retreat from teaching and teachers to places of active learning.
“I like travel and new experiences, and so this has appealed to me very much,” says Goldoni, who at 27 is not much older than many students in the Myers Hall area. “I hope to have a broad view of the world, and this has helped me very much.”
As faculty-in-residence, Goldoni lives in an apartment in Soule Hall, an older residence hall that was completely renovated several years ago. Her main jobs include bridging the gap between classroom and extracurricular activities; supplementing student development and achievement; and helping students better understand the world of academia.
This fall is actually Goldoni’s second year in residence, and the first went very well indeed, according to housing director Jim Day.
“Our residents had been asking for more opportunities to have contact with faculty outside the classroom, and Federica’s enthusiasm for meeting with students where they live has been very well received,” he says.
Goldoni’s residency, in fact, is the first step in more elaborate plans being developed by University Housing and the department of Romance languages. Starting in fall semester of 2000, two wings of nearby Mary Lyndon Hall will be converted into language-intensive living units, with space on each wing for 18 male and female residents, a graduate assistant and a small study area and computerized language lab.
The idea came out of discussions among Tom Dyer, interim vice president for instruction; Hugh Ruppersburg, associate dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; and the faculty of the department of Romance languages. Professors Catherine Jones and Diane Ransom of Romance languages are coordinating development of the academic program, and the Division of Student Affairs has also been involved.
While the language-house idea is still a year away, however, Goldoni has been eagerly jumping into her second year of working with students in the Myers community. She grew up in a small town near Bologna and speaks and writes English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.
After a year teaching at Bard College in upstate New York, she discovered that the University of Georgia was seeking a teacher of Italian at the instructor level. She applied for the position and started to work here in the fall of 1998.
“Since I don’t even own a car, I wanted to see if there was a place for me to live on campus, and so I talked to Scott Anderson and Cindi Avery of University Housing, and it just so happened that consideration was being given to a faculty-in-residence position,” Goldoni says. “It was really just serendipity.”
Anderson, manager of contracts and assignments for the housing office, and Avery, assistant housing director for the Georgian-area residence halls, immediately saw how Goldoni’s need for nearby housing could be a boon for everyone.
“We got lucky, and Cindi and her staff have made the most of the opportunity,” says Day.
Although being available to students is an important part of Goldoni’s position as faculty-in-residence, she also helps plan events for the Myers community residents. The first, last year, was--naturally--a cultural program called Italian Night, with plenty of food and interaction, but also with serious discussions about differences between the United States and Italy in culture and behavior, body language and habits.
Other programs focused on preparing for finals, scheduling, memorization and study skills. Goldoni works closely with resident assistants and coordinators for residence life and housing. In all, she organizes several programs each semester about academics, entertainment, cultural diversity and other areas.
In addition to her faculty-in-residence duties, Goldoni is teaching two beginning and two intermediate courses in Italian each semester.
Goldoni knows that some day she will return to Italy, but for now she seems to be having a fine time interacting with students in the residence halls and then dashing across campus on her bicycle to Gilbert Hall to teach her classes.
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