Online Italian courses at St. Jerome’s University (SJU) continue to be supported by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto. Further to a successful 2022 grant application made by SJU Associate Professor Bruno Tremblay and Assistant Professor Roberta Cauchi-Santoro, the Istituto has renewed its financial commitment to courses at SJU that promote the Italian language and culture.

Each year the Istituto, the cultural wing of the Italian Embassy in Canada, issues a call for applications for grants from departments of Italian Studies at Canadian universities. The Italian Studies program at SJU has been the recipient of an annual grant since 2016, when the university’s first application was submitted by Professor Emeritus Gabriele Niccoli. Earlier this week the good news came that the Istituto will continue to help SJU develop its online courses in Italian language and Italian Studies.

Thanks to the support of the Istituto and the efforts of Cauchi-Santoro and her collaborators, over the years the department has been able to create a series of new online courses that have proven popular with University of Waterloo students. The most successful one is Introductory Italian I, an intensive study of the fundamentals of Italian grammar and conversation. The department also has seen great interest in its new online courses Understanding Modern Italy (an examination of Italy's transformation from Unification in 1861 to present day) and Italian Culture and Civilization I (a survey of developments in Italian culture — history, literature, and the arts — up to and including the Renaissance). Introductory Italian II (the second-level Italian language course that emphasizes conversation and everyday uses of the Italian language) will be offered online for the first time next spring. The funding also provides support for other new projects and courses, including the new course offered as part of the new Health Humanities Diploma:  Italst 263 Illness and Contagion in Italian Literature and Cinema. Other approved new courses that the department will be offering in the coming years are Italst 243 Black Italy and Italst 261 Italy by Design.

“The Department of Italian and French Studies remains immensely grateful for the generous support of its program by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura,” stated Cauchi-Santoro. “These funds are invaluable in aiding the department in its mission to have professionally developed online versions of its core courses.”

To find out more about courses offered in the Department of Italian and French Studies at SJU visit www.sju.ca/italian-french-studies