Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance
Scholarship Application Form

The Board of Directors of ILICA, Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance, is pleased to announce that they will award two 2012 scholarships for a month-long course in the Italian language at UNISTRASI, the University of Siena for Foreigners in Siena, Italy. Airfare, course expenses and housing will be covered by ILICA/UNISTRASI. The course will be available to scholarship winners only during the month of August.

All interested students are encouraged to apply for the scholarship. A completed application, a current letter of recommendation, and an essay discussing why he or she wishes to learn the Italian language or perfect his or her current knowledge of the language. No previous knowledge of the Italian language is required, however upon arrival at the University in Siena, students will take a preliminary test to determine their course level, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.

All applications must be submitted by June 15, 2013, and winners will be contacted by July. Late applications will not be considered.

Download Application Form

ILICA CE* 2013 - Appuntamento di Roma

Appuntamento il 28 Maggio all'Hotel "Il Cantico"

dalle ore 16.30 Conferenza sull'Identità italiana del 3° Millennio con i seguenti relatori:

A seguire il cocktail con la premiazione dell'Avv. Stefano Zappalà della Norton Rose e la cena di gala.

How can Italy rise again?

Italy has 3 million people that are unemployed, and has lost 30% of its gross domestic product (prodotto interno lordo PIL) in the past 5 years. The per capita fixed income today has fallen below the 40^th position in a ranking of 220 nations, and it continues to drop. More than 40% of young adults under the age of 30 are unemployed while the middle class, the natural stronghold of the economy, is progressively losing its buying power. But let’s stop here for a moment and try to see what has happened. “Every morning in Italy (and not only in Italy) two individuals wake up and get out of bed, one dishonest and one honest, who spend the entire day looking for each other.” For those of us who have traveled widely, we have learned that this adage is correct and translates in every language. What has happened in Italy is similar to what has taken place in Greece: the shrewd ones continue to seek out those with poor judgment, who have nothing left to give. In other words, taxing, duping, and squeezing them is useless since there is absolutely nothing left to take.

La Nuova Resistenza - The New Resistance

Leggo da piu’ parti un allarme legato allo stile di Beppe Grillo in Italia. Il timore di una deriva totalitaria, come quella dello scorso principio di secolo (Hitler e Mussolini), si fa sempre piu’ strada tra la gente che manda cupi messaggi sulla rete. Siamo nel XXI secolo e i valori della resistenza ci hanno accompagnato dalla nascita. Abbiamo conosciuto coloro che hanno combattuto per darci la liberta’ e, nei loro racconti, abbiamo imparato la lezione di vite sacrificate al limite della sopportazione umana: “In prigione, ho diviso il pranzo con i topi- mi disse il Presidente Pertini il giorno che lo incontrai al Quirinale – e l’ho fatto con la stessa dignita’ con la quale continuo a servire il mio Paese da questo Ufficio!”

I have perceived a certain degree of alarm pertaining to Beppe Grillo’s style in Italy. The fear of a deviation towards totalitarianism, similar to what happened at the beginning of the previous century (Hitler and Mussolini), is becoming more widespread as can be seen in the numerous pessimistic posts on the web. We are in the 21^st Century and the values of the Resistance have accompanied us from our births. We have known those who fought to ensure our freedom and, in their stories, we have learned the lesson behind those many lives that were sacrificed and pushed to the very limits of what is humanly bearable: “In prison, I shared my lunch with the rats,” President Pertini told me the day I met him at the Quirinale Palace, “and I did so with the same dignity with which I continue to serve my Country from this Office!”

ITALO AMERICANI  E  ITALIANI ALL’ESTERO

Quanto e’ difficile trattare un argomento cosi’ caro alla retorica dei politici professionisti! Qualunque cosa si scriva, si presta ad interpretazione e dire che un individuo, nato in America, e’ Americano potrebbe essere messo in discussione da chi si chiama John Cirillo ed e’ nato Brooklyn, New York. Cirillo non parla nemmeno Italiano ma la sua Italia, alla 18ma Avenue in Brooklyn, e’ autentica tanto quanto quella di Arthur Avenue, nel Bronx.

It is very difficult to discuss a topic so entangled in the rhetoric of professional politicians. Whatever we write lends itself to interpretation and to say that an individual, born in America is American, could bring into question someone with the name John Cirillo, born in Brooklyn, New York. Cirillo doesn’t even speak Italian, however his “Italia” at 18^th Avenue in Brooklyn, is as authentic as that at Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.