By Michelle Tarnopolsky
Our longstanding conversation and cultural exchange program, Spazio Conversazione, is seeing a rise in popularity this semester after experiencing a pandemic-related slowdown over the last couple years. More and more of our students are coming out to chat with local Italian university students in this out-of-class activity held most Wednesdays from 4 to 6pm in the Villa Rossa Garden.
Loredana Tarini founded the program in 1995, a year after she became the coordinator of the Italian department. She originally called it Casa Italiana, inspired by similar initiatives at American colleges, and in the early years when the Student Life Office organized less extra-curricular activities, it often involved site visits, fieldtrips, and events like open-mic nights. “I wanted to open our school to the city and vice versa,” explains Tarini. “Not many others were doing this at the time.”
Professor Tarini changed the name a few years later to highlight the focus on language exchange. Otherwise, the set-up remains the same as in the early days, with a rotation of different Italian language professors running the activity each semester. Seasonal or themed snacks are offered, and students either do a 50/50 blend of Italian and English, or they start with one language and continue with the other. Board games are a popular icebreaker. It is all very informal; a fun, relaxed way to practice speaking a foreign language.
The help of Italian department interns from the University of Florence has done much to enrich the activity, especially since they are great at getting the word out to their friends and peers. This semester we have political science majors Alessandro Clementelli and Matteo Sigismondi, and Mariasofia Ottaviani, whose studies in education management and clinical pedagogy align perfectly with the aims of the program.
Interested students are always warmly welcome and can simply show up to future events. Più siamo, meglio è!
