A Cultural Dive: Getting Involved at UniCatt

By Emma Kepfer, Erika Ellsworth, Skye Nagashima, Juliana Parisi, Megan McCuaig

Two UC students discussing the Buddy Program (UC YouTube)

Events Office Cultural Services

By Megan McCuaig

The Universita Cattolica events office is located on the ground floor of the main offices of the Largo Gemelli 1 building. This office works to make many cultural activities in Milan accessible and affordable for the students of Cattolica. Including: the Milano Museo card, discounts to theatrical shows, symphonies, and other museums around Milan.

The Milano Museo Card is offered at 15 euros and gets students free, year-round admission to all 20 Civic Museums of Milan including the Civic Aquarium, Sforza Castle Museums, and Museo del Novecento. Notedly the Sforza Castle Museums is home to Michaelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini, one of his last works.

This card that the events office has connected Cattolica students with offers invaluable cultural knowledge and an understanding of not only the history of Milan but also supports the scientific, artistic, and philosophical learning here at the Universita.

Another main focus of the cultural offers is the student and faculty discounts to theaters and symphonies. The Carcano Theatre is a short ride along the M4 from Cattolica and offers a 15-euro ticket to be purchased at the box office with a student ID card. Comparable to a 25–30 euro ticket for those under 30 online, this discount is offered all season long for dance, opera, and theater performances.

Accessibility to these cultural events, services, and activities will allow Cattolica students to have new experiences, enjoy special events, find new interests, and maybe even meet new friends here in Milan.

The events office is continuously working to find new opportunities for the students of Cattolica, including the upcoming 34th Milano Musica Festival!

If you have any further questions, the office is available from 11:00–13:00 every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and reachable at eventi.milano@unicatt.it or 02.7234.3848

TedxUniCatt

By Emma Kepfer

TEDx is a well-known international community that organizes events that celebrate and elevate locally driven ideas. TEDx events are produced by TED conferences, and each event curates speakers based on the format and rules of TED.

TedxUnicatt is a unique opportunity for students to engage with these types of events in their college community. Twice a year, the team members in leadership positions produce two TEDx events. Currently, they have 31 trusted partners, 42 speakers they have hosted, and 900+ people who have attended and listened to the speeches.

In the past few semesters, some of the events they have hosted have been Beyond, Slow Motion, Find Your Why, Wor(l)ds in Progress, Countdown, Uncovered, Women — What Now?, Democrazia Digitale, Time 2.0, and more that came before these.

In an effort to have more possibilities for students to engage with this information, they have also launched a podcast, “Lights Off”. The hope for the podcast is to turn the spotlights off and turn the light of ideas on. They discuss innovative projects, valuable ideas and stories out of the ordinary.

Speaking with one of the lead student organizers, Lorenzo Locati, he explains that he hopes to influence students to “stimulate their curiosity”. Along with this he adds “It allows for participation and involvement from all students. On one side, there are the students that help create the events, and on the other side there are the students that attend the events.”

When asked what the impact he hopes from this organization will be, he responds, “With our events, we always try to raise awareness on topics that aren’t that much known or debated with experts, both internal and external from the University”. This enhances the overall experience for everyone involved and invigorates fascinating discussions.

To get more information and find ways to get involved you can check out their website TedxUnicatt. They also have social media channels on TikTok and Facebook @TedxUnicatt.

International Week

By Erika Ellsworth

International Week (IW) is an organization known for its commitment to giving students a place to connect with each other. Hosting events at various locations such as clubs or local pubs, IW draws in students from various backgrounds.

Prominent personality and graduate student, Pietro Moracavallo, speaks about the mission of IW.

“We want international students to feel at home and have the best time while they’re in Milan. We help them discover the city, meet new people, and experience all the amazing things Milan has to offer — especially when it comes to culture, nightlife, and social life”

Events hosted each night of the week offer a wide range of social activities for students to attend all around Milan. Generally, events begin around 21,00 for pub and social events and end at 02,00. Club and party events happen beginning at 23,00 and typically end at 05,00. Start and end times vary but all information is available on their website.

Students at Cattolica regularly attend these events at a discounted rate, or even free of cost. Social and pub events are free and allocate discounted rates on drinks to students who attend. Meanwhile, club and party events generally cost €15 but can range from €15–25 depending on the venue.

All tickets are purchasable on internationaweek.it and promotions for the events are posted on their socials, @internationalweek. WhatsApp groups and Instagram stories are where students find and share the most up to date information.

A favorite of the school is King’s Pub. Hosted every Thursday and located in Navigli, King’s has become a social hub where students gather with the sole purpose to make new, lifelong, friends.

Through International Week, UC has been able to connect the international students by offering safe and enjoyable events for everyone.

Link to more information.

Buddy Program

By Skye Nagashima

University Cattolica Sacro Cuore offers a unique advantage called the Buddy Program. This entails creating a sense of community through connections with other Cattolica students and to help students and mentors continue with their international experience. Plus, it’s completely free! Most of the mentors in the Buddy Program have experienced studying abroad and understand what it is like to be in a new environment. This is very helpful because it makes it easier for people to connect on a similar level. This program was discovered through an international education fair, where people were introduced to the developers of the Broaddy Program. This inspired Cattolica to develop a similar program to get students connected with one another.

The program started in 2018 and the program has grown to about 60 to 80 students per semester to about 200 buddies and over 130 active mentors.

Some of the advantages of volunteering to be a mentor are keeping up language skills acquired while studying abroad, developing social networks, serving as an ambassador to international students studying in Milan, making new friends and learning from students from other countries and backgrounds, and giving back after having had a buddy while studying abroad.

Some advantages for international students to ask for a mentor are to connect with Italian students, understand Italian culture, ask questions about Milan and the University, and find Italian students with common interests.

When interviewing Alicia Maria Quijano, head of the Buddy Program at Cattolica, she admitted that “one of the concerns that we have regarding the Buddy Program is that at the moment we are simply a facilitator in making the initial connections but we have limited ways of making sure that those connections are being made and that the experience for both mentors and buddies is a positive one.” This makes a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things because the creators of the Buddy Program don’t know the extent of the friendships being made, and they can not initiate positive interaction between the two.

Quijano also states that they measure the success of the program through customer service-type surveys. Unfortunately, they have not been getting a great response rate. However those that have responded have had quite diverse experiences, with some making lifelong friendships while others have not gotten in touch with their mentor/buddy. Less than 10% of students have responded to the survey.

The prime thing that has been taken away from the Buddy Program is that in order to improve this experience, the team needs to dedicate more resources in making sure that connections are being made and that the program is meeting expectations.

Link to more information.

RainbowCatt

By Juliana Parisi

Among 49 European countries, Italy ranks 35th in LGBTQ+ human rights and equality, according to ILGA-Europe, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. When it comes to LGBTQ+ acceptance and rights, Italy has a long way to go. LGBTQ+ Italians are not permitted to marry, adopt, or undergo IVF treatments, and Italy saw a surge in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric this winter.

RainbowCatt (RC) is a student group at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore that aims to provide a much-needed safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ students.

“It provides a safe space for LGBTQIA individuals in the university,” said Arianna Selleri, a leader of RainbowCatt. “ It is a place where they know their identity will not be questioned or ridiculed.”

RainbowCatt meets every Wednesday at 6 pm, in Aula G.123, open to all students, including those not registered for the club, international students, and allies. RainbowCatt also hosts movie nights at local cinemas, showcasing LGBTQ+ stories such as Boy Erased and Brokeback Mountain.

Finding friends in university is always a difficult task, especially for LGBTQ+ students in fear of discrimination. For Selleri, RainbowCatt proves to be a vital part of enjoying university life.

“RC was one of the reasons why I decided to start studying in Cattolica,” said Selleri. “When I discovered there was an LGBTQIA collective in the university, I was sure I was going to find people I could be openly myself with. As a member and the leader of the club, I can say this role really helped me get out of my comfort zone, go out of my way to meet new people, and express freely and fearlessly my identity.

Despite RainbowCatt’s efforts, the club has not been without its challenges.

“We did struggle a bit before becoming recognized as an official club by the university; I would say we were approved of when we agreed to be more discrete (e.g. changing our name from LGBcatT to RainbowCatt to appear less “obviously” queer). We did face a few minor unpleasant reactions from the community (e.g. ruining our posters),” said Selleri.

Nonetheless, Selleri explained how RainbowCatt can be a shining light for many students and has an overwhelmingly positive effect on UniCatt’s LGBTQ+ community.

“One time, a girl who had spent years in Cattolica told me that getting to know RC was the first time she felt comfortable simply existing as a visibly queer person in Cattolica, and we probably were the first real friends she’d made since she started studying in Cattolica. As heartbroken as I was knowing that she had to face that, I was really proud we were there to help her,” said Selleri.

Link to more information.