I have been teaching Italian language and culture in the Unites States since 2002, experiencing a variety of different academic settings, from small liberal art colleges to large state universities.  What I find in all language students, beyond their cultural background and their ultimate academic goal, is the desire to engage and to play with new languages.  I have found that bringing to class elements of culture, literature, film, theater and authentic readings, makes the learning experience meaningful and deep.  I have researched and published on the use of film in the language class, and I am working on a project considering the approach to the literary and cinematic texts from a multimodal perspective.  I am committed to bringing social media and new technologies into the learning environment, and extending the class community beyond the classroom walls.  At Dartmouth I direct the French and Italian Language Program, and I organize and conduct pedagogical and professional development workshops at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning. I am currently organizing and promoting the second edition of the Language Share Fair at Dartmouth College, a place for sharing ideas and practices on the teaching of language and literature.