This past Friday, April 24th, our community of ECE Italian Instructors enjoyed a morning on the UConn Hartford Campus for their annual professional development experience. The guest speaker for the event was Martina Di Florio, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies at Trinity College. Dr. Di Florio’s work explores modern and contemporary Italian literature and cinema, with a strong focus on migration — from postcolonial and migrant writing in Italy to Italian diaspora narratives. She has published articles on Italian cultural and literary studies and is the co-editor of Longing for the Future: Mal d’Afrique and Afro Optimism in Perspectives on Somalia (Routledge, 2024) and co-author of Migrazioni Contemporanee: Testi e Contesti (Farinelli, 2017). The discussion topic for the event was Italian Identity and American Life in the Pages of La verità (Connecticut 1926-1946). 

ECE extends our sincere thanks to our guest, as well as faculty coordinator Tina Chiappetta-Miller, Ph.D., for their efforts to make this event successful!

UConn ILCS (Italian) courses offered through Early College Experience.

Some of our favorite professional development experiences are when we get to take our instructors off-campus, to engage with their field of expertise in a more hands-on way. We got that opportunity this past Friday, April 4th, when our Italian instructors convened at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. We extend our thanks to Tina Chiappetta-Miller, Ph.D., our faculty coordinator for ECE Italian, for her tireless work to make this experience happen!

Our instructors were treated to a private guided tour of the museum, followed by a wonderful presentation by Stephanie Barnett, School and Teacher Programs Manager for the Wadsworth. We also got a lot of great photos of the event, which we encourage you to take a look at below!

UConn Italian courses available through UConn Early College Experience.