The Art of Teaching Italian Through Italian Art in Italy

FAIN: ES-50339-10

Italian Cultural Society of Washington, DC (Bethesda, MD 20814-2752)
Roberto Severino (Project Director: March 2010 to May 2012)
Luigi Maria De Luca (Co Project Director: March 2010 to May 2012)

A four-week institute for twenty-five K-12 teachers on teaching Italian language and culture through Italian art, to be conducted in Rome and Tuscany.

This proposal seeks a grant for a four-week National Summer Institute from June 27 to July 22, 2011, for teachers of Italian K-12, whose knowledge of humanities will be greatly enriched, by the study of Italian artists and their major works as available in museums and churches in Rome and the region of Tuscany, Italy. Primarily the participants will learn how to teach the Italian language and culture via a content-based approach using Italian art and will be immersed in linguistic and cultural environment. The teachers will be provided with ample time to study, reflect and interact with scholars, experts in the field of Italian linguistics and Italian, and Roman art. In addition the teachers will visit museums, churches and other cultural sites in Tuscany and will meet with artisans living and working there who will demonstrate and will help them practice techniques such as ceramics, mosaics and marble carving. Lead teachers will be identified to assist the other participants.