Announcing Interns for 2017 Season

Civitella is pleased to welcome Hope Campbell Gustafson, Molly Lapointe, and AJ Fitzgerald as our 2017 Interns. Interns at Civitella are a treasured and integral part of our community and daily life. They provide assistance with library functions, the meal program, excursions, presentations, and exhibitions at the Castle, working with both Executive Director, Dana Prescott and Program Coordinator, Diego Mencaroni on a variety of special projects built around individual interests, experience, goals, and skills.

Hope Campbell Gustafson

Hope Campbell Gustafson comes from Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a candidate for her master's degree at the University of Iowa in literary translation (Italian/English).

From Hope: "I cannot imagine a better way to spend the summer, in the midst of my MFA, than being back at the castle. I look forward to many connections, and re-connections, with the wide variety of people, art, and ideas that come together each year at Civitella."

Molly Lapointe

From Molly: "I am completely enamored with learning about languages and cultures which has led to having studied French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Chinese throughout my life, and ultimately to my French major at Mount Holyoke College. Being at Civitella with such an interesting and diverse group of people from around the globe will be a dream come true. As an American of Italian heritage, Italy is also very special to me on a personal level. I hope to be able to assist the fellows in this place which means so much to me, and to be able to contribute to the community atmosphere. I look forward to meeting and getting to know everyone!"

AJ Fitzgerald

From AJ: "Originally from New York, I currently live and work in Bisceglie, Puglia as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. I was first drawn to the Fulbright program to perform research for my writing, and in eight months I have collected countless lessons, characters and stories from the Pugliese seaside. My research interests are varied but include: education policy, energy and nuclear weapons policy, mental health treatment, and immigration politics – the last one because I can never forget the circumstances in which my Sicilian great-grandparents sought to live in the United States in 1937.

It is Civitella Ranieri’s continuing commitment to the arts, to storytellers who tackle issues so closely interconnected with my interests, that has me so excited to be joining this community in the fall. While in Umbria I hope to continue my own writing projects while assisting the Fellows and staff in any and every mode I can!"