Valeria Cardarelli and LGBT Resource Center Director Brandon Johnson have a walking meeting during Cardarelli’s 20-hour internship.
The Ph.D. candidate in philosophy is writing her thesis on sexual differences, women and gender. The internship gave her a chance to see the gender and feminist philosophy she’s researched put into practice — along with visits to the Women’s Center and multicultural centers on campus.
Cardarelli is one of five doctoral students from the University of Macerata in Macerata, Italy, who participated in a 20-hour internship with a St. Cloud State department during a two-week study abroad program this October. The students served their internships in Student Disability Services, Career Services, Athletics, First Year & Transition Program and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
In addition to working directly with St. Cloud State University staff and faculty through their internships, the visiting students also toured campus.
During her internship Cardarelli did a lot of listening and observing in the LGBT office as she sought to gain an understanding of the work done by the LGBT office. She also attended a Safe Space workshop and seminar.
The internship also gave Johnson and Cardarelli a chance to talk about the cultural differences between Italy and the United States.
In Italy it’s difficult to talk about sexual orientation and identity, Cardarelli said, adding that the internship helped her to better understand ideas she had while studying in Italy about the need to create categories for understanding identity.
A delegation of students, faculty and staff from the University of Macerata in Italy visited campus.
“To be able to talk about this topic so much and so naturally is just eye-opening to me,” she said.
Cardarelli has a strong background in gender and identity theory and philosophy, which led to some in-depth conversations along with exploring the different cultural dynamics, Johnson said.
“Learning from her experience about the ways in which sexuality and gender are perceived or experienced as different in the different cultural context has been great,” he said.
Speaking about the center to individuals with differing proficiencies in English forces you to strip away the jargon and get to the basics of your mission, Johnson said.
“It’s been a really good exercise to get back to the foundation of what is important,” he said.
Also visiting St. Cloud State University were a University of Macerata program director and Vice Rector Paola Nicolini, who co-presented a lecture during their stay.
The visitors were the third delegation from the University of Macerata to visit St. Cloud State University. The delegation and internships complement the short-term study abroad program in the Higher Education Administration master’s and doctorate programs that brings St. Cloud State students to stay and study at the University of Macerata. The exchanges are through an official partnership St. Cloud State University has with the University of Macerata.
Participants in the St. Cloud State University program attend three classes and have a 20-hour internship with University of Macerata faculty and staff. They also tour the University of Macerata along with other Italian Universities to learn about their organizational structure, education system and accreditation.
University of Macerata
- Located in the region of Le Marche in central Italy.
- Formed in 1290 and is the second oldest university in Italy.
- Offers bachelor, master and doctoral level programs.
- Programs and courses focus on the humanities and social sciences.
- About 16,000 students attend.
- Classes are offered in the cities of Macerata, Jesi, Fermo and Civitanova.
