Wed, September 26th, 2018 – Federica Gabardi
La testa degli italiani di Beppe Severgnini
For some foreigners Italy is only a great immutable poetics “mental Tuscany”. A land of light and perfumes, aperitifs at sunset and friendly natives. But in the heads of Italians – unfortunately or fortunately – there is something else. Traveling along the Peninsula in the company of friends from abroad, Beppe Severgnini becomes an ironic and implacable Dante. Beppe describing and explaining the cities, the streets, the houses, the squares, the shops, the churches, the stadiums etc.. describes a country that “has too much style to be hell” but is “too disorderly to be heaven.”
Federica was born and raised in Milan and she is very fond of her city. She studied Latin and ancient Greek, among other subjects, in high school at the Collegio San Carlo of Milan, and after her diploma, she graduated in Political Science from the Università Cattolica di Milano. Over the past 15 years Federica, driven by her passion for brand communication, has been working in different marketing and communication roles. In addition, Federica, extending her passion for brand communication and interpersonal communication, began a parallel career as a professional coach. As of today, she is a consultant, coach, and professional trainer in communication, style, and personal branding. Federica loves teaching Italian, sharing her language and bringing alive with her students the Italian style and way.
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.