March 20th, 2014 became an important day in the Italian cultural history. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Italian Academy Foundation Stefano Acunto, active Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Italian School  Guglielmo Marconi, and its Dean Anna Fiore, the Rector of the University for Foreigners of Perugia John Paciullo, the coordinator of the cultural exchange projects Roberto Dolci, Chief Executive Officer of the University for Foreigners of Perugia Christian Nicoletti and Head of External Relations and Institutional Fabrizio Focolari, all gathered for a very important cause: the signing of the “Memorandum of Understanding” between La Scuola D’Italia and the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, in the coming months, will allow the New York based Scuola d'Italia to organize courses of the Italian language for adults under the umbrella of the University for Foreigners of Perugia, which will be accredited as courses carried out by the University.

"For a long while we have been working with Professor Dolci. The University for Foreigners of Perugia has prepared for us an ad hoc syllabus, adapted to our needs. We are in the process of selecting textbooks and are moving to an operational phase," stated the Dean of the Scuola d’Italia, adding that the new courses will be starting in the spring.

According to Professor Roberto Dolci, head of the New York foundation of the  University for Foreigners of Perugia, the aim is to complete the circle of education, where the education of students from kindergarten through high school will be in the hands of tLa Scuola d'italia, and thanks to this project all the way to a university level…

"I always believed that the school should do more even though we have done a lot. The school should be a reference point for the Italian community in America as well as for the Italians who wish to come to the United States," said Professor Roberto Dolci, an integral part of the foundation of the University for Foreigners in New York, whom has always advocated the importance of cultural exchange between Italy and America.

Having the Italian company compete with the new trends is a key challenge for the Chancellor of the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

"To us, the relationship formed by the signing of this agreement is very important and we would like to be able to contribute effectively to make this initiative even more accessible," said Paciullo, emphasizing his appreciation for the work that the Scuola d'Italia and the academic community are doing in order to bring the project to completion.  

The Chancellor went on to explain that the joint effort has already led to concrete objectives to be pursued, and despite the difficulties, such as the reduction in the number of Italian cultural institutions, will probably lead to a strengthening of the institutions still present, and especially to a wider availability of resources creating a network which has not always been able to seize the many, already present opportunities for cultural exchange.

"We are witnessing an important cultural initiative of our university," said Paciullo. "We realize that our training should be reformulated, taking into account the growing attention to various aspects of Italian culture. All this requires action equal to what we have done in the traditional sectors," he continued. 

"We wanted to publicly announce this initiative about a month ago when, at the opening of  the academic year we gave out the Gold Seals at the University, in the presence of representatives of Italian culture, such as Ferruccio Ferragamo, Oscar Farinetti, George Ferrarae and  Pier Luigi Celli,"stated Paciullo, pointing out how the promotion of all that relates to the Made in Italy is of fundamental importance for the University which is an "ambassador of Italy in the world."

The chancellor concluded by emphasizing the importance of the relationship between the Italian reality and Scuola d'Italia Marconi, a true advocate of Italian culture at a global level, which is a model for the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

"In three words: we are very interested," said Stephen Acunto - newly appointed as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the School of Italian Guglielmo Marconi - who is very satisfied and happy because of this important step, not only for the School and the 'University but for the teaching of Italian language and culture in general.