Initiatives at Palazzo Gallenga as part of the Week of the Italian Language in the World
As every year, the University for Foreigners of Perugia is participating in the Week of the Italian Language in the World, scheduled from 19 to 25 October 2026.
The Week, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation through its diplomatic and consular network and the Italian Cultural Institutes, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, reaches its XXVI edition this year with the theme “Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano” (“Ingenious Language: Designing, Planning, Creating with Italian”), aiming to highlight the strategic link between culture and Italy’s economic development, for which the Italian language and Italophonia are privileged tools.
As the heir to a rich historical tradition, the Italian language represents and promotes the excellence of our country worldwide: from design to gastronomy, from science to literature, as well as in technology, engineering, fashion, and art, Italian expresses the very best of our expertise.
Alongside the university’s institutional missions conducted in various parts of the world, the theme will also be in the spotlight in Perugia, in the classrooms of Italian language and culture courses and for students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
In October, the university will welcome 290 students from a wide range of countries, who will take part in special learning activities designed to explore Italian as a language of imagination, planning, and creativity during their classes.
Students will be invited to discover how words have supported Italian ingenuity in its most celebrated fields, and will be encouraged to actively participate, using the language to imagine, describe, and create.
Wednesday 21 October, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Aula Magna, Palazzo Gallenga
Professor Francesca Malagnini, language historian and Rector’s Delegate for Training, Master's, Advanced Training and Doctoral Programmes, will give a lecture entitled “To Not Lose Kindness and to Continue Creating”. The lecture will focus on three topics: the use of gentile in literary works, aspects of the language of gastronomy, and fashion.
Professor Sabrina Stroppa, Director of the Department of Italian Language, Literature and Arts in the World (LiLAIM), will give a lecture entitled “Brilliant Language: Poetry and Landscape”, to illustrate how poetic language has shaped and imagined the way we perceive the Italian landscape.
The event will be moderated by Professor Francesco Asdrubali, Vice Rector for Buildings and Relations with Local Authorities and Enterprises.
The entire community is invited to attend.
During the morning, the creative workshop “The Ingenious Language... for Green!” will also be presented, organized by Andrea Civile, Italian language collaborator and expert, together with artist Ayumi Makita, as part of the Italian language and culture courses. The workshop will be offered to B2, C1, and C2 level students on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.
The project, with the subtitle “Create, Choose, Tell: An Environmental Gamebook”, is inspired by the Erasmus+ Green SAGA project coordinated by the Grimm Sister Association in Perugia. After an initial exploration of an Adventure Book, participants, divided into small groups, will invent a story on an environmental theme with several narrative pathways and present it to the other groups. The objective is to create a short collective gamebook. This activity fosters advanced language skills, creativity and collaborative writing, reflection on sustainability, and the ability to work in teams.
