Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Ca’ Foscari became involved in initiatives to support the Ukrainian population.
In March 2022, the university allocated 50,000 euro to welcoming students, researchers and professors from Ukraine.
The resources will be used primarily for students coming from war-torn areas, who have already enrolled in the university or who are on a mobility programme at a partner university. In addition to covering accommodation costs, the university will offer the conditions that are normally reserved for the most high-achieving international students, such as an exemption from the payment of university fees and the awarding of an annual scholarship of 5,000 euro.
Moreover, the university is allowing a series of dispensations regarding enrolment (such as the need to present documents, previous educational certificates, and language certificates).
Finally, the resources allocated to this cause can also be used to create visiting professor positions.
Free online summer Italian language courses for Ukrainians
In summer 2022, Ca’ Foscari’s School for International Education is opening its online summer intensive Italian language courses to young Ukrainians who are enrolled at university or who intend to enrol. For people in these situations, the courses will be free of charge. The deadline for enrolling is 28 May 2022.
The intensive nature of the course allows participants to complete, in just a few weeks, a full round of language training which also includes cultural information that provides a virtual immersion in the city of Venice.
In September, course-takers will be able to continue their language training in person. This will enable them to reach a higher level of language proficiency, which is one of the requirements for enrolling in an Italian university.
P.A.C.E – Progetto Artistico Culturale Esteso
Ca’rte Lab, a laboratory of museum education held by the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, has proposed a reception project to offer opportunities for people to meet, play and learn together.
This is a space that is intended to be a safe haven from the worries of war and the every-day challenges related to adjusting to a new environment and new habits. The initiative is possible thanks to volunteers from Ca’ Foscari (teaching staff, researchers, students, and technical-administrative staff) and collaborations with local associations, schools and other city institutions.
The first activities started on 23 May and they will end on 18 June, with two proposals:
- Language laboratories for adults: thanks to the help of volunteers who are native speakers of Italian, participants will have the opportunity to encounter the language and practise conversation
- Ciao! Cosa fai oggi? (Hi! What are you doing today?): every Wednesday at 16:30, the laboratory will welcome children and teens for a few hours to engage in various games and activities to socialise
The activities that are still being scheduled include animated readings, sound laboratories, drawing laboratories, language games and special guided tours.
Contact cartelab@unive.it for further information
Events and conferences
The Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies is organising a series of conferences on the history, culture, and language of Ukraine, held by Evgeny Dobrenko, Iliyana Krapova and Stefano Petrungaro. The “Focus Ucraina” series is open to students and to the general public.
On Wednesday 25 May, Boris Chersonskij received the Incroci di Civiltà prize during the inauguration of the international literature festival. The poet, translator and clinical psychologist from Odessa was awarded the prize for his contribution which “can show, thanks to words, what people and things are made of, even in their most painful and unpleasant aspects.”
The Ukrainian author is set to return to the stage of Incroci di Civiltà on Friday 27 May at 16:30 at Auditorium Santa Margherita. He will converse with Claudia Scandura. The event will be opened by Maria Sozzani Brodskij, with the collaboration of Joseph Brodsky Fellowship Fund, the Waterlines and Marsilio project. His collection of poetry “The world in fragments” will be presented.
