La petizione è indirizzata a:
The Leiden University Executive Board; the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University plans to shut down the Italian Language and Culture program. The Faculty Board justifies its decision based on the following arguments: (1) a limited global perspective, a narrow geographical focus, and limited relevance of geopolitical developments within the field; (2) the uniqueness of the program; (3) societal significance, or the extent to which the program fulfills a social mission (e.g., as Italian is not a mandatory school languages in the Netherlands, the training of teachers in this language has no relevance). Additionally, (4) enrollment perspectives and future-oriented considerations are taken into account.
The program strongly questions the validity of this reasoning, particularly with regard to the first three points. As faculty members, we see that the relevance of the Italian Language and Culture program in our society and in the geopolitical context has by no means diminished—on the contrary. We are working to convince the Faculty Board and Leiden University of this relevance in an effort to save the program.
We kindly ask for your support in this endeavor.
Motivazioni:
The plan to close the Italian language and culture program stands in stark contrast to Leiden University’s international reputation in Language Studies. However, this decision aligns with a broader trend in Dutch national and academic politics to undervalue international languages and cultures. In our view, this policy has negative consequences for the critical and intellectual development of younger generations. For this reason, we are fighting to prevent the closure of the Italian Language and Culture program in Leiden. Details about the proposed decision can be found here.
Thanks to your contribution, we have successfully concluded the campaign to save the Italian Language and Culture programme at Leiden University. The Faculty Board has decided to reverse its decision to phase out the programme, ensuring that Leiden University will maintain its commitment to research and teaching in this field.
This is, of course, wonderful news for the discipline, our students, and our lecturers. We are happy to share and celebrate this positive outcome with you, and we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your support. It has been deeply encouraging to receive such broad support from colleagues, students, alumni, and sympathizers around the world. The Faculty Board took note of the breadth and strength of this response, and your engagement has made a real difference.
At the same time, we remain committed to supporting Italian programmes elsewhere that are facing similar challenges, and we want to stand in solidarity with our colleagues across the field.
Warm regards,
The Italian Language and Culture teaching staff
Leiden University
Italiaans is een cultuurtaal, het is de taal van Dante, van de lyrische poëzie. Het is de taal van grote kunstenaars, schilders, dichters, schrijvers, filosofen. Het is ook de taal van de paus, omdat het de taal is ambtenaar, samen met Latijn, van Vaticaanstad. De Italiaanse taal is een muzikale, open, gevarieerde en overvloedige taal, waardoor het makkelijker is om Italiaans te begrijpen gemakkelijker dan in andere talen en ook leuker. Maar Italiaans is ook de taal die Made-in-Italy.
