Lingua Franca

New Teaching Assistantships Program in Piedmont, Italy

By Anna Rocca, WLC

When Professor Domenico Savio-Teker contacted me in July 2014, little did I suspect the great news that I was about to receive. Sent to two additional professors of Italian, one at Harvard University and the other at Northeast University, the email asked me if Salem State would be interested in continuing its collaboration with the Italian Government regarding the assistantship program, this time in the region of Piedmont.

The first agreement between the Italian Government, the Lombardy region, and SSU was signed in 2009. At that time, the Director of the Educational Office at the Consulate General of Italy, Dr. Carlo Cipollone, granted one assistantship to SSU students of Italian in the region of Lombardy. In his last month of activity, Dr. Cipollone initiated a new relationship with the Piedmont region too, but had no time to carry out the project. Three years passed, but then last summer, as a symbol of trust in our university and our students, the new Director of the Educational Office, Dr. Savio-Teker, in the name of the Italian government, offered SSU two, not one, guaranteed yearly fellowships to teach English and study Italian in Piedmont.

At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Italian Government. From left to right: World Languages and Cultures Chair Michele Dávila, University President Patricia Meservey, Interim Provost Amie Marks Goodwin, Professor Anna Rocca, Director of the Education Office at the Consulate General of Italy is Domenico Savio-Tecker, and student Ryan Walsh.

The program provides at least 25 hours per week of training in the “Network” schools, of which 12 hours are as English language assistants, always in the presence of the Italian teacher of English, and 13 hours of study and self-training, project-related activities, conversations with the students, excursions, office hours, and meetings with an assigned tutor. Each school autonomously decides upon the type of accommodation and assigns to each selected student an academic mentor. The program is open to:

• undergraduate students in their senior year or recent graduates (within the past 18 months);
• students with a major or minor in Italian.

Starting January 2015, the agreement allows SSU students of Italian to:

• Teach English and study Italian in 12 institutes (middle and high schools) in the cities of: Turin, Novara, Alessandria, Biella and Vercelli;
• Stay from four months to one year in Italy;
• Receive a monthly study grant of net €700 (about $900) that will provide for lodging and food;
• Take courses at the local university.

Our first SSU student to leave on January 2015 is Ryan Walsh. Majoring in World Languages and Cultures with a concentration on Italian, Ryan decided to stay in Italy for one whole year. He has already been assigned a school in the Alps, on the border between France and Italy, called: Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Statale ‘Luigi Des Ambrois’ in Oulx, in the province of Turin.

To enroll in the program, plan ahead of time! For the Piedmont region, students leaving in September should apply in February/March of the same year. Students leaving in January should apply in August/September of the previous year. For the Lombardy region, students leaving on both September and January should apply on February/March of the previous year. For information, please contact Professor Anna Rocca at: arocca@salemstate.edu