Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

This paper is based on the new Italian program launched in Fall 2018 at Morgan State University, one of the largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States. The program is of historical importance because it is the first time Italian has ever been offered. I reflect on the positive elements as well as the challenges I faced in introducing Italian to minority college students by emphasizing both the question of diversity and the reality of being “a minority” in Italian Studies. The main positive component in teaching Italian to minority students is the creation of new trends that could revive and enrich a field that is currently stationary, and that often does not reflect the current changes in place in our modern society. New connections could be created between Italian and African-American culture, thus energizing Italian Studies as a more inclusive and global discipline. The main challenges in teaching Italian to a body comprised mainly of minority students is the limitation provided by the primary material of instruction that is currently available in the market. Textbooks of Italian language for English-speakers are often geared toward a less diversified representation of Italians, and scarcely represent the emerging population of young native Italian speakers who are not of European descent. This contribution concludes by offering some reflections about the significance of teaching Italian in an HBCU in relation to the current situation of decline in Italian Studies.