EMBASSY COUNSELOR TO DISCUSS “LA BELLA LINGUA”
Our first program of the New Year will be a wonderful event featuring Italian Embassy official Catherine Flumiani, on the topic of “Promoting the Italian Language - Italy’s Rich Heritage.” The luncheon meeting will be held at Casa Italiana on Sunday, January 29, 2017, at 1:00 p.m.
Italian language classes are so popular today, even though Italian is not as widespread in the world as, say, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic. So there must be something that makes learning this beautiful, elegant language so popular. Now what can be done to make it more so? We decided it would be a good idea to find out the answer to that question.
So we turned to Ms. Flumiani to enlighten us. Ms. Flumiani is the First Counselor for Consular Coordination and Social Affairs, responsible for coordinating the activities of the Italian consular network in the United States. She will talk to us about the goals and strategies to further promote the teaching of the Italian language in both public schools and private schools in the United States. Our speaker will illustrate the tools that the Italian government has put in place in this regard and the importance of interaction and cooperation with the Italian American community and associations in this respect. (Please be sure to read additional details about this endeavor in the article “Promotion of Italian Language and Culture in American Schools: Strategic Plan for 2017”, which follows after Recent Society Events and Activities).
There will be an opportunity for comments and questions after Ms. Flumiani’s presentation, so we invite attendees to participate with their thoughtful remarks and questions.
Our speaker, Ms. Flumiani, arrived in Washington a few months ago after a distinguished career elsewhere. She is a native of Varese and graduated from the Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano with a degree in political science. Her areas of expertise include the Middle East and North Africa, the United Nations and the transatlantic relations. In 1997, she took her first overseas diplomatic post, in Amman, Jordan. Later, Ms. Flumiani was stationed in Berlin, where she held the important position of First Secretary for Emigration charged with assisting the 700,000 Italian immigrants in Germany, and in Brussels to the Italian Permanent Mission to the North Atlantic Council (NATO). Since coming to Washington a few months ago, Ms. Flumiani has hit the ground running, such as giving inspiring remarks at the Columbus Day ceremony at Union Station shortly after her arrival here.
Before Ms. Flumiani’s talk, we will enjoy a delicious lunch catered by Osteria da Nino, with a menu of mixed green salad; rice with mushrooms, in a parmigiano reggiano cream sauce; crispy Brussel sprouts in a beet puree with roasted pistachios; chicken marsala with fingerling potatoes and carrots; cavatelli in a lamb ragu; dessert (tiramisu and cannoli siciliani); and homemade focaccia. We will also have a short business meeting whereby we will recognize outgoing officers Maria and Sergio Fresco, and Rocco Caniglia; and swear-in board members Jeff Clark, Helen Free, and Albert Paolantonio. We will also hear remarks from Nicholas Rao, one of the AMHS/NIAF scholarship recipients for the 2016-2017 academic years.
Paid reservations are due by January 26, 2017. Please reserve early to guarantee your place, and invite your family and friends to this wonderful event.