The theme of this year鈥檚 conference, Intersecting Transitalia in Communities: Nation(s), Transnation(s), Neighborhood(s), navigates community in the Italian diaspora, historically and in the present day. The programs and panels of this conference will explore how, historically, Italians have worked in building their local communities and how they have attempted (successfully or not) to bridge (linguistic, cultural, etc.) gaps across communities throughout the country or even the world.

Representatives from the university community, including faculty, staff, current students, and alumni will participate in academic sessions throughout the conference. There will be free admission for 糖心vlog students, alumni, and community members wishing to attend. 糖心vlog faculty may attend at a discounted rate listed on the .

We are thrilled about this partnership, and we look forward to gathering with many Italian and Italian American academics.

This event will take place on Tuesday, October 7th at 1pm in the Student Center Flagpole area (right next to the Student Center building). All members of the university community and beyond are invited to attend this celebration. A reception following the flag raising will take place in the Student Center.

for this event here.

The registration fee will be $80 for teachers of Italian and $30 for graduate students/prospective teachers. Registration fee includes Luncheon and Parking.

In order to receive the Professional Development Certificate, participants must stay the full duration of the Symposium. Certificates will not be issued if an individual leaves the Symposium early.

We are looking forward to welcoming back past attendees and greeting new members of the teaching community! Please go ahead and register even if you have not as yet received formal authorization from your school district/Board of Ed 鈥� we understand that it takes time!

If any questions arise, please do not hesitate to contact Mark Rotella, the Director of the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, at聽rotellam@montclair.edu or Cristina Latino, Program Coordinator of the Coccia Institute, at latinoc@montclair.edu.

The Director of the Coccia Institute is delighted to announce the 2025 Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12). Recognizing the importance of acknowledging and motivating excellence in the teaching of Italian, the Coccia family and Lawrence Inserra, Jr., have established this significant award.

The recipient of the Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12) will receive a $5000 prize for academic year 2025. These funds are to be allocated as follows:

a) $2500 is to be used exclusively to advance the Italian language and culture curriculum and programming within the recipient鈥檚 classroom;
b) $2500 is to be dedicated to the professional development of the winning teacher (for direct payment of academic fees to an institution of professional development in Italian language and culture at home or abroad).

We strongly encourage full-time language teachers certified in Italian who are teaching a minimum of two classes of Italian at the K-12 level to apply!

NEW THIS YEAR:

The application will be split into two rounds, where teachers will submit materials from Section A-Section I by Saturday, March 15th, 2025 at 11:59pm via .

The 2025 Coccia-Inserra Award application process will follow a new format in lieu of the previous video submission requirement. Our panel of judges will review and evaluate all of the preliminary applications. As part of their review, the judges will select the three top applicants and invite them to arrange a Zoom call with the Coccia Institute Program Coordinator, Cristina Latino, for a live observation of their Italian class. The Zoom meeting, which will last between 10-15 minutes, will be recorded and shared with the judges for their review. Once notified of their successful preliminary submission, the finalists are encouraged to arrange a Zoom meeting as early as possible with the Coccia Program Coordinator, and no later than聽Thursday, May 15th, 2025. The winner and runner-ups will be notified by mid-June. Our eighteenth annual Teaching Italian Symposium will take place on Friday,听October 17, 2025 at the University Hall Conference Center at 糖心vlog. The Coccia-Inserra Teaching Award will be presented on this occasion.

All applications and supporting material MUST be submitted electronically via this聽 (one submission only per applicant). No paper submissions will be accepted. Applications will be considered incomplete if sent fully via email. For your convenience, here is a copy of the 2025 guidelines for the Coccia-Inserra Teaching Award application.聽We recommend that applicants read the document first before submitting the Google form, as your work-in-progress will not be saved and the guidelines highlight all the required materials for a complete application.

If you would like additional information or have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Mark Rotella, Director of the Coccia Institute, at聽rotellam@montclair.edu聽and Cristina Latino, Coccia Institute Program Coordinator, at聽coccia-assistant@montclair.edu.

for a scholarship through the Italian Program! Swipe to see a list of available scholarships offered, and eligibility requirements. The deadline to apply is Sunday, February 23 at 5pm.

Click here to view the list of scholarships being offered in 2025-26. In bocca al lupo a tutti i candidati!

Professor Rotella gives insight into how the Feast of the Seven Fishes is a way for Italian families to come together. He also gives insight into possible religious influences of this tradition.

To read the article, please .

The Director of the Coccia Institute is delighted to announce the 2025 Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12). Recognizing the importance of acknowledging and motivating excellence in the teaching of Italian, the Coccia family and Lawrence Inserra, Jr., have established this significant award.

The recipient of the Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12) will receive a $5000 prize for academic year 2025. These funds are to be allocated as follows:

a) $2500 is to be used exclusively to advance the Italian language and culture curriculum and programming within the recipient鈥檚 classroom;
b) $2500 is to be dedicated to the professional development of the winning teacher (for direct payment of academic fees to an institution of professional development in Italian language and culture at home or abroad).

We strongly encourage full-time language teachers certified in Italian who are teaching a minimum of two classes of Italian at the K-12 level to apply!

NEW THIS YEAR:

The application will be split into two rounds, where teachers will submit materials from Section A-Section I by Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 11:59pm via .

The 2025 Coccia-Inserra Award application process will follow a new format in lieu of the previous video submission requirement. Our panel of judges will review and evaluate all of the preliminary applications. As part of their review, the judges will select the three top applicants and invite them to arrange a Zoom call with the Coccia Institute Program Coordinator, Cristina Latino, for a live observation of their Italian class. The Zoom meeting, which will last between 10-15 minutes, will be recorded and shared with the judges for their review. Once notified of their successful preliminary submission, the finalists are encouraged to arrange a Zoom meeting as early as possible with the Coccia Program Coordinator, and no later than Thursday, May 15th, 2025. The winner and runner-ups will be notified by mid-June. Our eighteenth annual Teaching Italian Symposium will take place on Friday, October 17, 2025 at the University Hall Conference Center at 糖心vlog. The Coccia-Inserra Teaching Award will be presented on this occasion.

All applications and supporting material MUST be submitted electronically via this (one submission only per applicant). No paper submissions will be accepted. Applications will be considered incomplete if sent fully via email. For your convenience, here is a copy of the guidelines for the 2025 Coccia-Inserra Teaching Award Application. We recommend that applicants read the document first before submitting the Google form, as your work-in-progress will not be saved and the guidelines highlight all the required materials for a complete application.

If you would like additional information or have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Mark Rotella, Director of the Coccia Institute, at rotellam@montclair.edu and Cristina Latino, Coccia Institute Program Coordinator, at coccia-assistant@montclair.edu.

PLEASE NOTE: We will be offering an early-bird registration discount until September 16, 2024. The registration fee for teachers of Italian will be $75 and $30 for graduate students/prospective teachers. After September 16, the registration fee will be $90 for teachers of Italian and $35 for graduate students/prospective teachers. Registration fee includes Luncheon and Parking.

In order to receive the Professional Development Certificate, participants must stay the full duration of the Symposium. Certificates will not be issued if an individual leaves the Symposium early.

We are looking forward to welcoming back past attendees and greeting new members of the teaching community! Please go ahead and register even if you have not as yet received formal authorization from your school district/Board of Ed 鈥� we understand that it takes time!

If any questions arise, please do not hesitate to contact Mark Rotella, the Director of the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, at聽rotellam@montclair.edu聽or Cristina Latino, Program Associate of the Coccia Institute, at聽coccia-assistant@montclair.edu.

Calling all Teachers of Italian at the K-12 Levels:

The Director of the Coccia Institute is delighted to announce the 2024 Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12). Recognizing the importance of acknowledging and motivating excellence in the teaching of Italian, the Coccia family and Lawrence Inserra, Jr., have established this significant award.

Our donors will be awarding a very generous prize of $5000 as the monetary component of the Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12) for the academic year 2024. These funds are to be allocated as follows:

a) $2500 is to be used exclusively to advance the Italian language and culture curriculum and programming within the recipient鈥檚 classroom;
b) $2500 is to be dedicated to the professional development of the winning teacher (for direct payment of academic fees to an institution of professional development in Italian language and culture at home or abroad).

We strongly encourage full-time language teachers certified in Italian who are teaching a minimum of two classes of Italian at the K-12 level to apply! Please note: The deadline for applications is extended until Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 11:59pm.

Our seventeenth annual Teaching Italian Symposium will take place on Friday, October 18, 2024 at the University Hall Conference Center at 糖心vlog. The Coccia-Inserra Teaching Award will be presented on this occasion.

All applications and supporting material MUST be submitted electronically via (one submission only per applicant). No paper submissions will be accepted. Applications will be considered incomplete if sent fully via email. For your convenience, attached is a copy of the guidelines for this year’s application. We recommend that applicants read the attached document first before submitting the Google form, as your work-in-progress will not be saved and the guidelines highlight all the required materials for a complete application.

If you would like additional information or have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Mark Rotella, Director of the Coccia Institute, at rotellam@montclair.edu and Cristina Latino, Coccia Institute Program Associate, at coccia-assistant@montclair.edu.