Why Study Italian: Diverse Perspectives on a Theme

Why Study Italian includes essays by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Claudio Bisogniero, Roberto Dolci, Clorinda Donato, Fred Gardaphe, Hermann W. Haller, Silvana Mangione, Vincenzo Marra, Berardo Paradiso, Eugenia Paulicelli, Natalia Quintavalle, Anthony Julian Tamburri, and Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata. The idea for this editorial project was born out of discussions that paralleled those that were taking place around the re-implementation of the Advanced Placement Program in Italian, which the College Board had suspended after the 2010 administration of the Advanced Placement Exam in Italian. The goal of this collection is not to speak to the specifics of the Advanced Placement Program in Italian in any direct way. Instead, this compilation offers an array of different voices that address the general question, Why study Italian, which is presented here in its somewhat ambiguous manner. The phrase, why study Italian, may be understood as a statement or an interrogative. The underlying issue is that Italian is, today, a language very much alive, useful, and employed by many in a multitude of venues and sectors across the world.