Ciao tutti –
FIRST ITALIAN MEETING of the 2018-2019 PROGRAM YEAR
THIS COMING WEDNESDAY
Our presenter next Wednesday September 26 will be Federica Gabardi. Some of you will remember her from her energetic and entertaining Italian classes. Federica will discuss the recent book by the Italian journalist and cultural critic, Beppe Severgnini: La Testa degli Italiani.
In this book, Beppe travels along the Italian peninsula in the company of friends from abroad, becoming like an ironic and implacable Dante. He describes and comments on the cities, the streets, the houses, the squares, the shops, the churches, the stadiums, etc., that make up 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. After her diploma, she graduated in Political Science from the Università Cattolica di Milano. Over the past 15 years, driven by her passion for brand communication, Federica has been working in different marketing and communication roles. In addition, extending her passion for brand communication and interpersonal communication, Federica began a parallel career as a professional coach. Federica loves teaching Italian, sharing her language and bringing alive with her students the Italian style and way.
As usual, the evening will begin with food and conversation at 6:30. Please feel free to bring an antipasto, dolce or vino to share. The presentation will start at 7:30.
The meeting will be in our usual place, Garden House, 2336 15th Avenue South (In the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle). Directions are on the DAS website: http://www.danteseattle.org/gather.html
Feel free to come early to help set up the room and start visiting. And, in any case, please come.
A presto –
Dan DeMatteis,
President, Dante Alighieri Society of Washington
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.
Born in the fabulous 80’s, Isabella was raised in Rome where she got her Degree in Teaching and Translation in foreign languages at the University ‘La Sapienza’.
Eric was born and raised in Como by an American mother and an Italian father. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s in Corporate and International Finance from Durham University in the UK. His international background led him to pursue a business career in the United States, ultimately settling in Seattle, where his wife grew up.