Language, culture and sport as tools for integration. At the Federico II, in the monumental complex of San Marcellino and Festo, a day dedicated to the ambassadors of Inclusion and international students. Among the guests the actress Pina Di Gennaro, the director Guido Lombardi and Maradona Jr coach of Napoli United.
A morning dedicated to multiculturalism and inclusion as tools for reflecting on racial discrimination will be held in the church of San Marcellino e Festo on 21 March. The initiative, promoted by the Language Centre of the Federico II in collaboration with the Master in Dramaturgy and Cinematography and under the patronage of the City of Naples, will take place on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, established by the UN in 1966 and fixed every year on the day of the spring solstice.
The event will be opened by Matteo Lorito, Rector of the University of Naples Federico II, Rita Mastrullo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Naples Federico II, Valeria Costantino, Delegate for Erasmus Projects Federico II, Maria Filippone, Deputy Mayor of Naples.
\”Knowing the language of a country – says Pasquale Sabbatino, director of the Language Centre – is the first step towards intercultural dialogue. This is why as CLA we feel a strong responsibility to take part in the debate against racial discrimination. Our Centre wants to promote multiculturalism as an antidote to xenophobia, which often hides a lack of knowledge of others and their culture. We have planned many activities that will encourage encounters and exchanges between students of different ethnic groups so that learning a foreign language can also be a means of mutual enrichment\”.
The 21 March initiative will be attended by foreign students from the University Federico II who will take us on a fantastic journey through their cultures, traditions, customs and passions. Their work has been collected in an exhibition entitled \”In my country…\”, set up for the occasion. \”During our Italian as a Second Language courses, we used a questionnaire to ask the students about the most characteristic aspects of their culture, from music to food, from art to sport, from culture to history, and the result was a kaleidoscope of colours that enriched us. During the event we have planned various moments with the participation of our foreign students so that they can transfer this richness to everyone\”.
On the same day, representatives of civil society are expected to attend who, through their activities or intellectual work, daily demonstrate their personal commitment to promoting inclusion and eliminating all forms of racial discrimination. They will also be awarded the title of Ambassadors of Inclusion. Among the people being honoured on that day will be Pina di Gennaro, who we recently saw again in the role of Melina in L\’Amica geniale, and who is less well-known to the general public for her long-standing commitment to immigrants, to whom her theatre workshops are directed. Joining Pina Di Gennaro on that day was director Guido Lombardi, former Federico II student like the actress, who won the Lion of the Future at the XXVI Venice Film Festival with the short film \”Là-bas – Educazione criminale\” and the 2017 Migrarti Prize with the film \”La recita\”, denouncing through his art the need to offer paths of inclusion and training to immigrants who are often driven to crime by a real lack of alternatives and work training. The kind of training offered, for example, by the International Academy of Professional Arts in Naples. A virtuous example of entrepreneurship in the Campania region at the service of inclusion.
Finally, during the event promoted by the Language Centre in collaboration with the Master in Dramaturgy and Cinematography, sport and football in particular will be discussed.
\”Football has often been reported as the setting for racist episodes, whereas sport, especially team sport, must unite. For this reason,\” continues Sabbatino, \”the Language Centre is particularly proud to host Napoli United on 21 March, a multicultural football team but above all a social integration project. Language, theatre, cinema, sport are the weapons we have to fight racism and we want to turn the spotlight on the commitment of these personalities with a symbolic title but with a great humanitarian value so that it can be an example for our generations of students\”.For Napoli United, as well as some of the sportsmen and women, there will be the team president Antonio Gargiulo, who will be awarded the title of Ambassador for having founded the project twelve years ago, and Diego Armando Maradona Jr, also awarded the title of Ambassador for his role as coach of the multicultural team. Participants in the Diversity Ambassador contest will be invited to the event. This is the call promoted by Cla to receive creative proposals that tell the story of inclusion through videos, photos, illustrations and literary essays. The young authors of the works will be awarded the role of Inclusion Ambassador that day.
The morning will end with a talk by the University\’s international students, who will each deliver a unique and powerful message of peace in their own language.
To attend the event it is necessary to register at www.cla.unina.it/registration
Info: monica.spedaliere@unina.it