Zachary Nowak has worked for The Umbra Institute since 2005. Nowak received his PhD from Harvard University in 2018 and is a food and environmental historian with an interest in how place and taste go together (or don’t). He has written about the history of pizzerias in Naples, Chianti in California, unsalted bread in Perugia, polenta in Italy, terroir nowhere, and truffles all over the world.

Director

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Elgin K. Eckert got her BA in Classics from Brooklyn College (City University of New York) and her Ph.D. from Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) in Romance Languages and Literatures. She has been with the Umbra Institute since 2010 and has taught classes in Italian literature, history, and media studies while also working on the academic side of the Institute’s administration and remaining active as a research scholar. Her research interests include cultural memory in literature and film, the history and literature of ethnic conflict in the South Tyrol, and the portrayal of crime in narrative and cinema. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on those subjects and is co-editor of the book Representing Italian Food (Bloomsbury, 2016). She is the AATI (American Association for Teachers of Italian) representative in Italy.

Coordinator for Academic Programs & Curricular Development

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Laura is a one of the Co-Coordinators (along with Jacopo Bernardini) for Umbra programs. A native of nearby Assisi, Laura joined the Umbra Institute in 2013 after completing her Laurea in Interpretating and Translation from the University of Perugia and having studied abroad at the University of Leeds (UK). She visits the US regularly, particularly to Boston where part of her family resides.

Program Coordinator & Adminstrative Affairs

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Jacopo Bernardini is one of the Umbra Program Co-Coordinators (along with Laura Fronduti). Jacopo worked for six years as a Postdoctoral Researcher of Sociology and Methodology of Social Research at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Perugia before joining the Umbra team in 2018.

He has published several academic articles and books on Age and Life Cycle, Transition to Adulthood, Generational Conflicts, and the Information Age.

Always ready to lend a helping hand, or contribute to the latest video project, Jacopo is a jack-of-all-trades dedicated to developing quality study abroad programming in and out of the classroom.

Program Coordinator & Community Relations

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Alessandro Varazi is the Housing Coordinator at the Umbra Institute, where he has been working since 2017. Alessandro is a professional real estate agent, Perugia native, he graduated from the Liceo classico, and studied philosphy at The Università degli Studi di Perugia. Having been an athlete for many years, in his free time he is a Judo teacher.

Alessandro is always available to assist the students with their apartments and daily life to ensure students have a safe and rewarding study abroad experience. 

Coordinator for Student Housing

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Manuel Barbato has been working since 2018 at the Umbra Institute, where he serves as an Assistant for the Food & Sustainability Studies Program. In addition to working with Umbra faculty and staff, he is involved in the management and development of all of the Institute’s projects run in cooperation with the Perugian community.

Student Services & Community Engagement

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Stefano Console has been working at Umbra since 2018. His main duties include Community Engagement and Social Media. He has lived and worked abroad (Belgium, Republic of Korea, Germany) for nine years, and gained experience in international institutions and NGOs. He is a certified sommelier since 2015.

Student Services & Social Media Communications

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Arianna was born and raised in Assisi, a small but well-known town (home to St. Francis) located just a few kilometers from Perugia. She received her B.A. in Translation Studies from the University of Perugia, and has always been passionate about foreign languages, cultures, nature and hiking. She has been at the Umbra Institute since 2017. 

Student Services & Activities

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My name is Eleonora Branchesi, Student Services Assistant. I started working at Umbra in the fall of 2019. I studied TISL (Teaching Italian as a Second Language) at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia and am currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages at the University of Perugia, Department of English Linguistics and Literature. I studied abroad in Tübingen (Germany) and Seattle.

Student Services Assistant

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US Office
University Relations & Enrollment Management

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