There’s more to Pirelli SpA than just Formula One and calendars crammed with high-profile models. As part of its efforts to promote, sponsor, and support cultural projects in Italy and around the world, the tiremaker has established the ‘Pirelli Visiting Professorship in Italian Studies’ for a five-year term at Princeton University’s Department of French and Italian at Princeton University.
The professorship’s stated aim is to support the dissemination of the study of Italian history and culture through new media and technology within Italian studies.
During each academic year, the Ivy League university will invite a prominent Italian scholar or professional to the Princeton campus to teach one course and engage in additional activities that enrich Princeton’s educational experience and expand the breadth and scope of its interdisciplinary programs. Journalist and writer Gianni Riotta will the first to hold this position, beginning in spring 2014.
The partnership between Pirelli and Princeton University will be officially launched in January 2014. A newly designed course, team-taught by Riotta and Prof. Gaetana Marrone-Puglia, will focus on Italian history from the postwar period to the present day through the analysis of the Italian cinema.
Students will be called upon to analyze the period of history in question through the production of multimedia projects, to which Pirelli will contribute by providing content and material from the Pirelli Foundation’s archives.
“The Pirelli Visiting Professorship in Italian Studies will enhance our deep commitment to using a multidisciplinary approach to explore global culture,” said Marrone-Puglia, who serves as the faculty liaison between Princeton University and Pirelli. “Pirelli’s gift will provide a tremendous opportunity for both students and the Department of French and Italian, and we look forward to sponsoring interdisciplinary events on campus.”
Globally, Pirelli collaborates with 14 universities in an effort to promote scientific and humanistic research. The tiremaker says its partnership with Princeton University in the field of the humanities and mass media not only enables it to support Italian culture abroad, but also gain greater visibility on contemporary trends and the evolution of the world of new media, which are increasingly important also in terms of business. (Tyres & Accessories)
