About Cagli, Italy

Cagli is an ancient town of just under 10,000 people, nestled on the eastern slopes of Italy’s Appennines Mountains in the Le Marche region.

The Adriatic coast and its beaches are a 40-minute bus ride away, but Cagli has plenty of attractions amid its small cobblestone streets: upscale shopping, a gem of an opera house, a weekly street market, numerous cafes and amazing restaurants, mountain hiking, a modern fitness center, bike rentals, excellent medical care, two hotels, a waterfall, river swimming, and a fantastic, lively piazza.

Cagli has a rich history dating back well over 2000 years. Cagli became part of the Roman empire in 295 BC and quickly grew in prominence as a vital stop on the ancient Via Flaminia, one of Rome’s earliest and most important roads.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Cagli’s strategic location made it a popular staging ground for battles. In 1287, the city was destroyed by fire in a battle among noble Italian families but was rebuilt two years later under orders from Pope Nicholas IV. It then would be held by various noble families until it was incorporated into the Papal States in the 17th Century and eventually part of the united Italy in 1860.

Though its history is apparent throughout the town, Cagli boasts a rich modern social scene, summer concerts and festivals, and one of the region’s most beautiful theaters. The town also has a hospital, dentists, a gymnasium, grocery stores and several outdoor cafés and restaurants.

Photographs from events covered and stories produced during the 2009 Cagli Workshop.

The Workshop

The Cagli Workshop is actually a pair of two 3-credit courses: Digital Storytelling in Italy, and Intercultural Communication in Italy, which can be taken for undergraduate or graduate credit. Daily lessons in Italian are part of the workshop as well.

Classes begin at 8 am and conclude about 3:30 pm with an hour break for lunch. Open lab hours are extended into the evening during the final weeks of the workshop.

By the end of the Workshop, each student will complete a magazine story, a slide show, and a video on the same subject. Students work in teams of four and help teammates by serving as crew and editor on their individual stories. In addition, each team has a faculty mentor.

All 24 sets of student stories are posted on the Cagli website during the final week of the workshop.

The Digital Storytelling course has two major components, a set of short instructional modules, and a set of open labs.

The modules, which dominate the first two weeks, are lecture courses with exercises designed to prepare students to create their stories. The open labs, which dominate the third and fourth weeks, give students time to obtain interviews, photos, and video footage for their stories, and to meet with the team mentor or another faculty member.

The modules include: digital storytelling, story & script, photography, interviewing, video, and web design.

Intercultural Communication combines traditional lectures with assignments related to their stories, journaling, and specific observational exercises.