Emanuela Corbetta, Program Director

Brought up in Venice, graduated with a thesis in Theater Semiology at the Department of Italian Literature and Philosophy of the University of Bologna, Emanuela received her MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Spanish Ministry of Education DELE C2 Certified, Emanuela also has a diploma in interpreting and translation. Co-founder and board member of the Italian Cultural Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul with extensive experience in L2  teaching and curriculum development, including Italian and Spanish at Washington University in St Louis, Italian at The University of Rochester, Loyola University of Chicago, University Language Center in Minneapolis.

Giada Licastro

Brought up in Padua, Giada attended both the University of Padua and the University of Bologna, earning a Bachelor of History and Protection of Cultural Heritage in the former and a Master Degree of Art History in the latter. She then decided to specialize as an Italian teacher, receiving the Diploma from Dilit International House in Rome in 2011. She also received Ditals 2 Certification from the University for Foreigners of Siena in 2012 and a Master in “Advanced planning of teaching Italian language and culture to foreign students” from the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice in 2015. In 2016 she also started co-authoring Italian textbooks from the publisher Casa delle Lingue. She taught Italian at many different language learning facilities, such as Dilit International House in Roma, Italian Cultural Center in Seville and the General Foundation of the University of Malaga. She is currently living in Malaga, where she keeps on teaching Italian language and culture with passion.

Alessandra Castoldi

Born and raised in a city near Milan, Alessandra completed Classical Studies at the high school and graduated with a degree in Italian Language and Literature from the University of Milan. She has taught Italian and History at public school in Italy for almost 20 years.

In 2016 she moved with her family to Dubai and she continued teaching Italian as a second language at all levels. Now she lives in a beautiful town in Florida. She loves traveling and meeting people from different cultures.

GIOVANNA ARENARE

Born and brought up in Milan, Giovanna graduated from the University of Pavia in 1997 with a degree in Literature and Languages - English and French. She then received her Master in Research Methods in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in 1999, while teaching Italian as a foreign language at the Language Centre of the same institution. For almost two decades she has been a tenured EFL teacher in the Italian public school system, where she also taught Italian as a foreign language for migrant students for several years.

She is currently living in Barcelona, on a three-year leave with funding from the Italian Ministry of Education, working on her PhD on plurilingualism in language teaching/learning (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).

Viviana Ardesia

A native of Pescara, a tiny city on the Adriatic Sea, Viviana attended high school in Classical Studies. She has a degree in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the world, and a PhD in Italian History from the University of Udine. She has lived in Pisa, Milan and Turin teaching Italian Grammar and Literature at the public school level and History at university for more than 10 years. Viviana moved to Florida recently with her family and is enthusiastic about sharing the language and culture she loves.

Sergio Agostini

Born and raised in Pennabilli, he attended High School and University in Urbino where he graduated in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature in 1977.

After his graduation he moved to London where he lived and worked for a period of 16 years. He moved back to Italy in 1990 and started his teaching career in Italian public schools.

During the summer he also taught Italian, from Elementary to Intermediate and Advanced  level, to American Opera singers, who attended courses in the nearby town of Novafeltria.

Carmela Parisi

Carmela grew up in Rome, Italy, and graduated in Classics from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”.

In 1990, she moved to Berkeley CA, then Washington D.C., where she  spent many years teaching Italian at all levels and taking care of her four children. She went on to teach at several prestigious institutions, including Washington University, the State Department and Casa Italiana.

After moving from D.C. to Minneapolis in 2006, Carmela began teaching at the Italian Cultural Center there. In 2014, she moved back to Italy, and currently lives in Rome with her children. There, she teaches Classics full time at the Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II.