Rashi Bhatt: Hello, everyone! My name is Rashi Bhatt, and today I am in conversation with Rita Levoni Bemposti from Alma Mater Studio Room, University of Bologna. Hello, and welcome, Rita. How are you doing today?


Rita: Hello! I'm very good. Thank you.


Rashi Bhatt: Justt to start off with Rita. Do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? From what I understand, you are an international visitor from Italy, and you're spending a few weeks here in the U.S.. In San Francisco, and you've also been making the rounds of USF. So how are you liking it? Tell us a little bit about yourself. And how is the trip going so far?


Rita: Yeah, sure. So as you said, I'm an international advisor at the University of Bologna. I work in an office called International Desk which supports international students and international scholars.


Rita: And I've been in. I've been invited to stay here in San Francisco and in particular at USF for 2 weeks as an international visitor, so I can observe and compare a similar office, like the one that I work in, and I can.


Rita: I can observe which kind of activities you do.


Rita: If I can take some like tips that we can use as well in our daily job.


Rita: And it's been great until now. Yes, I really I got the chance to speak with a lot of different offices and to meet a lot of people, and it's kind of I mean.


Rita: It's very useful, and it's very


Rita: I would. I'm enjoying it because I'm also reflecting a lot about my job. And so, yeah, it's been great until now. Yeah.


Rashi Bhatt: Excellent, well welcome. And so I'm guessing, like the Rita at the University of Bologna is kind of the corresponding office to ISSS here at USF, so you help international students get connected to resources, provide them with support systems when they come to Italy and to the university.




Rashi Bhatt: And how exactly. Do you define international students? Because I understand it to be slightly different from the international student category here in the U.S.




Rita: Yeah, that is true. It is true that we are similar offices that provide similar services.


Rita: But at the same time we called international students students that are of. They don't have Italian citizenship. So they are non-european citizens or a European citizen, or they have a foreign qualification. So for us, this is what we call international students. So it's a very wide category, like, we include a lot of students.


Rita: And of course, our university is different because we are a very big university compared to USF, and we have a lot more international students. But yeah, I can say that more or less the services that we offer are similar, and so we can still compare them.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, definitely. And I know you were starting to talk a little bit about how big the university is. And the student population obviously corresponds to that. Do you know where, like, the biggest population of students are coming from?


Rashi Bhatt: Are there any trends of more EU students? because it's just, you know, closer by and more convenient? Or


Rashi Bhatt: Are there students from Asia? I know we here at USF have a lot of students from India, my home country as well.


Rita: Yeah, I found it interesting because we also have a big population of students from Asia, especially from China.


Rita: But we also have a lot of Indian students as well. So I found it similar. And, as you said, of course, the majority of our students are European, or they come from European countries. Yes, we have


Rita: a very varied population of students of international students. They literally come from every country in the world.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, I'm sure that's exciting. It's like a very diverse population of students with a lot of cultural exchange and exchange of ideas. So that's exciting.


Rita: Yeah, I think one of the biggest like one of the thing that the students tell us and they like about University of Bologna is, they can meet literally people from all over the world. It's such a small city in Bologna. It's not that big, but it's so interesting that you can find so many people from different countries in such a not a big city, you know.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, no, definitely, I can relate to that, because I feel like San Francisco has a very similar sort of multiculturalism.


Rashi Bhatt: You know, atmosphere to it in the city as well. If you go from one neighborhood to the other, you can definitely see the variety in the ethnic grocery stores, restaurants, and cafes. So you feel like you can run into people from all over the world, even in San Francisco. So I totally understand that.


Rita: Yeah, that's nice.


Rashi Bhatt: Before we get into how your experience has been traveling here to the U.S. I wanted to ask you a little bit about students coming into Bologna from all over the world. Do you see any trends in maybe, like linguistic challenges where they have a little bit of time? Kind of adapting to a lot of people speaking Italian? Or is the coursework offered in English and Italian? And maybe another language? Is that something that your office kind of comes across and supports students in understanding?


Rita: Yeah, definitely. We offer, we, we have a lot of degree programs, of course. And we offer it's like more than 200, and we offer a very large number of international courses like degree programs that are entirely taught in Italian, sorry, in English language. So that is what is attractive for our international students.


Rita: And, as you said, we see that the language per year is still quite strong.


Rita: Because especially for the majority of our students. It's not easy to learn. Italian, it's not an easy language like English, that is used everywhere, so I will say that one of the biggest challenge for students that they, when they come to Bologna, is their language per year, because, of course, they they have to use Italian, not only for school, they have to use Italian everyday life like the groceries


Rita: It's true that we have. We are a city that welcomes a lot of international students and a lot of tourists lately. But we are not like that, it's not like everybody speaks English, you know what I mean. So this is definitely one of the biggest challenge, and


Rita: We try to encourage the students that want to study Italian to start learning Italian before coming to Italy.


Rita: and we also offer Italian language courses for international students, so they can improve their Italian while they study, even if they study in a program in English language, like in a degree program taught in English language, they still can learn Italian at the same time.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, definitely. And it will be a very kind of immersive learning experience as well. You know the textbooks and reciting phrases and words. But then, when you go to the grocery store, you kind of are put on the spot, and.


Rita: Of course.


Rashi Bhatt: Start speaking in it and get the pronunciation right? So that's awesome. Thank you for sharing a little bit about the different courseworks, and how that works at University of Bologna. So, from what I understand, this is your 1st visit to San Francisco, and perhaps the U.S. As well. Is that correct?


Rita: Yeah, that's correct. It's actually my 1st time in the U.S. And San Francisco. Yeah.


Rashi Bhatt: Lovely, so do you want to tell us a little bit about how you prepared and kind of like what you had in mind about the city. Did you expect it to be as windy and hilly as San Francisco is? Talk to us through how you prepared for it and how you kind of packed. And then, were you surprised by anything when you were here?


Rita: Well,


Rita: You probably know that in the previous months there there will. There was a lot of conversation regarding like how the borders are getting.


Rita: You know.


Rita: Like they made more checks. And so I was following a little bit the news to understand if there is something different that I had to do


Rita: I mean Italian citizens can account for the tourism without a visa.


Rita: They just have to make an authorization which is called Esda.


Rita: So it's a kind of visa. But it's not really a visa. It's like an authorization to travel which is very easy to get. If you're a tourist because you just have to declare that you're coming as a tourist, and you have a place to stay, of course the return flight.


Rita: Well, the experience at the immigration when I landed was interesting, because it was a very long queue.


Rita: And yeah, it was something that was my 1st time. So it was different. Let's say.


Rita: I haven't been questioned that much. Ever. They didn't question me that much, but still, it was an interesting experience by cool


Rita: Thinking about the time we are living in. It's an interesting time to be in the U.S. I think.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, definitely.


Rita: And well, I didn't expect that much wind, because we don't have it where I live.


Rita: So that was a kind of like something new for me, but I packed a window jacket so.


Rashi Bhatt: Nice.




Rita: Useful, and some, of course, some not not only light clothes, which can be chilly at night.


Rita: Well, if I have to say I have a lot of friends that came to San Francisco. Some of them also lived here. And I have a friend who lives in California now. So


Rita: I was actually expecting this, so it was not a big surprise. I expected a variety of population.And I think people here are very welcoming. Yeah, definitely, a place where you can feel at home. And this is very nice. I was not surprised. I think I expected that. Yeah.


Rashi Bhatt: Oh, that's good to know that we don't have, you know, like a sort of face to the world that isn't welcoming. So I'm happy to hear that and then also you said that you have friends that live here in California. So that you kind of have an opportunity to meet with them, or at least experience their home state for a week or 2. And I know you've been meeting with different departments here at USF. And you've been experiencing some of the student-led community activities that we did. We had the Denim Day Tabling where you saw a few different departments kind of have, like some engaging activities and polaroid photos and things of that nature. So what has your perception been of the University of San Francisco? I know it's way smaller than the University of Bologna, population wise.


Rashi Bhatt: Have you been able to see specific differences, or maybe even similarities, between our universities?


Rita: Well, it is true that we have been very different also, because we don't have a campus like you have.


Rita: The buildings of the university are spread all around the city. So we don't really have a campus. But it's something that is different from universities in Italy and universities in the U.S.


Rita: Yeah, I, what I found it interesting is that and like the number of the average number of students in classes here is really small.


Rita: And so this is something really different from our university, because our university, of course in a class you can have like 100 students, or even a thousand, so very, very different relationships between professors and students.


Rita: And the biggest difference, I see is that here at USF in general, probably. In general, U.S. Universities, and the student is part of the university is like in it’s like it's not separated, you know, like, from where I come from our university. It's more like I go to class and I go home. I study, or I go to the library I study, and then I go to take the exam, and then I go home again, you know. Like we are trying to build up some activities.


Rita: Lately, also to engage more the student with the university life. Here the student, I see that the engagement is very, very strong, and the student is really part of the community. So the university community. So this is the big difference I see. You have a lot of activities to engage students. And this is what we are. We still have space for improvement in that.


Rashi Bhatt: I see that's a very astute observation. Yeah, students do take ownership of a lot of different cultural activities. We have a big sort of multicultural dance and music show that happens in November part of International Education Week. And it's primarily student led. So they plan the whole thing, you know different kinds of clubs from on campus put their dance performances on. So it's really fun. When you know, student led activities draw in more students, and then you can, as staff members also. Come, bring your family, bring your kids. So it is definitely very community based in that sense. Not that we don't take academics just as importantly, but we try to maintain a balance for students to feel like they are just as much part of the community here at USF. So that's a really, really.


Rita: Yeah, and.


Rashi Bhatt: The reason.


Rita: And also


Rita: I realized that also because I see that, for example, students here at USF, they actually live between brackets like live and stay in the same building where the staff is. You know.


Rashi Bhatt: Yes.


Rita: And I know that maybe it's like normal for you. But for me, it's like we have a kind of separation between staff and students like we work in another building. We see them, but we are not with them. So this is another big difference that I see.


Rita: But, as I said, we have tried to improve that. So we are actually working on that.


Rashi Bhatt: You mean like different student led offices as well as the like. More staff led Admin departments are.


Rita: I see I see a lot of students walking around the offices, you know, or very close to your office, if it's not. It's something that you don't see at my university.


Rashi Bhatt: Oh, interesting. Yeah, we have, like, I am a graduate assistant at ISSS. So I am primarily a student. But then I work very closely with the ISSS staff members, and so that kind of carries along with all of our different departments where we have students, staff members and full time staff members working closely. They come in the back office. They have access to the staff members.


Rashi Bhatt: You know. And when something comes up so that boundary isn't as strict as maybe.


Rita: I mean.


Rashi Bhatt: In other kinds of universities and institutions around the world, definitely.


Rita: Yeah, we still have student tutors that help us.


Rita: Are not like staff like U.S, and when we have them during the year


Rita: I think it's like an added value, because you have also the perspective of the students doing your work. It is very important to not forget what we always say at the University of Bologna that the student is the center and the university needs to be around the students. You know what I mean. You have to start from the student, which is the center. And then you build everything around the student.


Rashi Bhatt: Yeah, that's a nice way to think about it. Well, thank you so much, Rita, for spending your morning speaking with us. I know you have a lot of things already set up for you. I know you're speaking with a group of Italian students here, so I hope that goes really well, and I wish you luck in your journey back home too.


Rita: Thank you. And it's been a very. It's been a pleasure. And it's been very nice to be here. I learned a lot, and I definitely, it's definitely an experience that I would like to make again. So maybe we will see each other again. Who knows.


Rashi Bhatt: Definitely I look forward to it. Bye.


Rita: Thank you.