This year’s edition of the premier event dedicated to Italian language and literature in the Anglophone and Irish spheres—co-organized and hosted from July 9 to 11 by University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin—brought together over 300 scholars to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, academic collaboration, and the promotion of Italy’s cultural heritage.
In particular, this year the conference commemorated the long academic tradition established in 1776, when Trinity College Dublin founded the world’s first university chairs dedicated to modern European languages—including Italian—thereby highlighting an academic and cultural legacy that has helped strengthen ties between Italy and Ireland for 250 years.
During the opening evening, the Italian Ambassador to Ireland, Nicola Faganello, highlighted the value of the Italian language and culture as tools for dialogue and mutual understanding. He also noted the event’s coincidence with the start of Ireland’s EU Presidency, a symbol of the shared commitment of Ireland, Italy, and the European Union to cooperation and cultural exchange. Finally, the Ambassador — who had the pleasure of hosting a group of participants for an opening reception at the Residence on the eve of the conference— recalled the numerous initiatives promoted by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Dublin, in collaboration with Irish academic institutions.
