3 - The Borderless Country of Europe

The University of Udine offers culture beyond just research and learning

The idea came to Paolo Costa, European MP and Mayor of Venice: a comic book storytelling the history of the European Union to children 6 to 11 years old. The idea was recently turned into reality: the story is entitled Desiderio e il luogo che non c'era ("Desiderius and the Place That Wasn't").
Paolo Costa presents his idea in the foreword of the booklet with these words: "Many times I tried to tell people what the European Union is. Many times I told them that it is a Utopia made real. Utopia is a word coming from Greek that means 'the non-place', a place that isn't. Better yet: a place that wasn't. This is how the idea of telling kids how Europe was unified was born. You children were born in Europe, but you will have to keep building it up, following in our steps, when you'll grow up."
The story (28 full-colour pages) was an instant success. It was distributed for free in the schools of the main cities of Veneto, Friuli and Emilia Romagna, and every day new requests pile up on the desks of Costa's secretaries. Desiderius, the protagonist, is Desiderius Erasmus from Rotterdam, the Dutch humanist. Many consider him the precursor of the idea of Europe as capable of overcoming division and enmities in the name of the common roots of the populations living in it. A magic spell projects Desiderius Erasmus from his age, the Renaissance, to the present, in the home of two children, Francesca and Giulio, who explain to him what is the European Union.
The author is Giorgio Cavazzano, one of Italy's best-known cartoonists, "who was born holding a pencil". I'm quoting myself here, and maybe my readers will forgive my digression. Giorgio Cavazzano was serving as a corporal, while this scribe was a sergeant and an officer cadet. Italy had compulsory military service back then, and we were serving in the Serenissima Lagunari Regiment quartered in Villa Vicentina, near Udine. Chance had it that every time I was on duty, Corporal Cavazzano was assigned as my assistant. However, after the flag-raising ceremony, he disappeared every time: he hid in the desert barrack and drew cartoons for Mickey Mouse. Once, the Colonel found him there and punished him. Then, it was my turn: "You did not verify that the Corporal was carrying out his work. You will be punished too." "Yes Sir," I replied, "you can punish me and of course I shall be more vigilant next time. But if you punish Cavazzano you will obtain nothing: he was born holding a pencil, and he'll keep on drawing." The Colonel laughed and that was that. End of my reminiscence. Here in north-eastern Italy, where borders have disappeared and Europe can be touched and felt, much attention is devoted to children and youth, and as a result the idea of being "citizens of Europe" has established firm roots in their cultural heritage. This has been accomplished through meetings for sports and studies, visits exchanged with classes from other countries of the Union, and university projects that share degrees among every European university.
A remarkable initiative was launched by the Philological Society of Udine, that recently translated in Friulian and republished a famous essay by French historian Jacques Le Goff: L'Europe recontée aux jeunes. Now the title read L'Europe contade ai zovins. The translation and notes are by Gianfranco Ellero, Friulian historian and intellectual. "Friulian is not a dialect," says Ellero, "but a language, officially recognized as such. Therefore, translating Le Goff's essay is not a sterile linguistic exercise, but a cultural operation because in our region Friulian has the same dignity of the other languages in current use: Italian, German, and Slovenian."
This is confirmed by the very efficient Press Office of the University of Udine: within this year, they say, every faculty will open a counter that will accept requests in Friulian as well as Italian and German. Not only that, even forms will soon include versions in the language of this region.
Simonetta Di Zanutto, Silvia Pusiol, and Stefano Govetto (the Press Office staff that "adopted" me, feeding me all sorts of materials and obtaining an interview with the rector) told me that the University of Udine is one of the very few Italian universities created by popular demand. It happened after the 1976 earthquake that brought the region to its knees. When the aftershocks subsided, the Friulians took the opportunity offered by national aid for the reconstruction and asked for the establishment of a university in Udine. A bill petition collected the required 125,000 signatures and was proposed to the Parliament in the same year of the quake, and in November 1978 the first lesson was administered. Today, Udine has one of the most qualified and complete universities recently created, both on a national and international level. As for numbers, this means almost 17,000 students, some 700 professors, 10 faculties, 62 degrees, and 30 specialization schools; detached seats are located in Pordenone, Gorizia, Cormons, Tarcento, Gemona, and Mestre, and conventions have been signed with 45 foreign universities. Most of all, though, this university is open to Europe: for instance, the Tarcento seat has just created a Master's degree in European Law and the Integration of Transports, administered by the Faculty of Law.
"Here," said Rector Furio Honsell, "innovation is not merely a good idea: it is concrete experience. We've been among the first in Italy who applied the reform that brought Italian universities in line with Europe's higher education sector. This brought us good fruits: in the past 10 years, the University of Udine increased its enrolment and activities by 70 percent."
How did you achieve these results?
"I'll summarize it in a few words: research, higher education and community service. In general, universities have a twofold mission: research and higher education. We have a threefold one, including service. This is how we repay Friulians for their passionate plea for a university of their own."
What does this mean, in practice?
"Exalting local resources and providing services to local authorities and private companies, especially as regards their international projection."
Udine is called a 'European University'. Leaving aside teaching subjects and links with other Old World universities, which can be found in other academic institutions, how else do you justify this fame?
"I'll give you some data: in Italy one student out of every hundred takes advantage of the projects that allow studies to be completed in other European universities; in Udine, the figure jumps to four percent. All of our specialization courses have been accepted and funded by the European Union. Just think of Wine-growing and Oenology, in collaboration with German universities; Environmental Sciences with the British; German Language and Literature with the Austrians; and of the agreement we have with the University of Nancy, in France, on Ph.Ds. I just mentioned a few random data, showing that our constant goal is the one identified, again recently in Lisbon, by Europe's ministers of University and Research: harmonization of our university systems, which until very recently were deeply different. I can state that we recognize this as a legitimate goal because Europe is not just a common market..." What else is it?
"Europe means freely moving ideas and services. This is guaranteed in every treaty. This is why projects like Erasmus, Leonardus, and Socrates were created. We use them massively, because they allow students to spend a part of their studies in other European universities, thus acquiring a European mindset. Moreover, they guarantee that the degrees will be recognized all over Europe. And that's not all..."
What else do you do?
"We exchange organizational know-how with universities in eastern European countries that will soon join the Union. We are helping them create Offices of International Relations modelled after ours. We can only dialogue if we speak the same language, don't you think? This action, with the exchange of students and teachers and degree recognition, is our contribution to the creation of a European University Education, one of the building blocks of the Union. Being in Friuli, then, gives us an additional trump to play..."
What might that be?
"Ours is the only university located where the Latin world meets the Slavic and Germanic areas. This allows us to absorb a whole lot of knowledge, far beyond the purely local dimension. Think of the Friulian Diaspora all over the world, and how it helps us in our international vocation."
Why does that help you?
"The baggage of knowledge that we derive from that when we prepare and carry out projects relying on Friulians living abroad is really enormous. It's not just a matter of what we receive, but also of what we give out; Friulians in Argentina, for instance, often adopt entrepreneurial models taken from our small- and medium-sized enterprises, or implement winegrowing innovations developed here. This requires highly qualified faculty, fully immersed in foreign realities. We have this sort of people. Do you know, since you come from Canada, that we have professors of Canadian English and of Canadian French?"
Fulvio Salimbeni teaches Contemporary History at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Udine. Professor, what will keep together the 10 countries that will join the European Union in 2004 with those that joined it earlier?
"Culture, once again," replies Salimbeni. "The common background shared by all Europeans, both Westerners and Easterners, gives strong cohesion to the Union. This includes music, art, literature. There's a Latin, Germanic and Slavic Europe which kept cultural dialogue open despite political differences."
Will the European Union succeed in becoming a credible counterpart to the only surviving superpower, the United States?
"To the United States, which are far from the monolith they seem, Europe can oppose its huge cultural variety and a pluralism that can overcome any inferiority complex. Europe, however, is not a political heavyweight yet, only an economic and cultural one. It will grow in importance when it will become a real federation. As of today, it is just a Union, building an identity. As soon as this process will be completed, it will be a credible counterpart not just for the USA but for any other important nation of the world."
On via Ginnasio Vecchio, in Udine's historic core, there is a nice two-storey house. It is painted pink, and its windows are adorned with geraniums. The façade bears a plaque: "Here lived Gio.Batta Amarli - Great Patriot - Expert Numismatist - Good Man".
Then the dates of birth, 1819, and death, 1895.
For rock-solid Friulians, European citizens all, what one does is important, but so is what one is. And Gio. Batta Amarli was "a good man".

This is Part Three of the series The Newest Europe

Publication Date: 2004-08-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4320