International Planetarium Society

Lecture Tour through Northern Italy

Among the various international workshops that the CAE has been involved with was a two-week lecture tour across Northern Italy sponsored through IPS. Each year, in the spring, the Serafino Zani Astronomical Observatory (Lumezzane/Brescia, Italy) hosts an American planetarian to teach high school students at various planetariums in Italy.

Joseph Ciotti was selected to participated in the 2011 program where he taught Polynesian Astronomy and Navigation and provided hands-on lessons in constructing a home-made magnetic compass to students and teachers thoughout Perugia, Brescia, Padova and Gorizia.The lecture tour included stops at schools, planetariums, observatories, science centers and amateur astronomy facilities

In Perugia, Ciotti also participated in Planetario Ignazio Danti's unique interview series called Intervista con la Scienza (Interview with Science) which was funded by the Umbria Region with the support of the European Social Fund, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security – Directorate General for Guidance and Training Policies. The project's goal was to support the dissemination of technical-scientific culture and for the diversification of education, training and work choices. Intervista con la Scienza was coordinated by Simonetta Ercoli and conducted by the students of the State Technical Technological Institute "A.Volta" of Perugia. The series of interviews paired two different scientists with parallel interview questioins. Click below to see the paired interview with Joseph Ciotti and Bruna Bertucci (physicist, associate professor University of Perugia).

Highlights of the cities visited and hands-on activities conducted during this lecture tour was published in IPS's Planetarian.

Lectures and Activities during Tour of Northern Italy