Vince Redder, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English and Languages
viredder@dwu.edu
(605) 995-2631

If anyone knows the value of knowing a foreign language to get out of a jam, Dr. Vince Redder is that person. Sent to Rome, Italy to study theology, he had been in Italy only one week when he ran afoul of a ticket-taker on a double-decker bus in Rome. He accidentally knocked out one of the light bulbs on the upper deck, which fell at the feet of the ticket-taker right below him.

The ticket-taker stomped up the stairs and spent five minutes yelling, waving, and gesticulating. Although he understood no word what was being directed at him, Dr. Redder responded with the only phrase he could remember: “Mi dispiace” (I’m sorry). The man was satisfied with this and stomped back down the stairs; the residents of the upper deck gave Dr. Redder a round of applause.

With four years of study in Rome, Dr. Redder learned quite a bit more Italian; at least enough to take class in Italian, write exams in Italian, and converse quite easily in the language. Living in Rome gave him an appreciation for the past and present contributions of the Italians to the world, and as an expert in Renaissance literature, being surrounded by the Italian Renaissance for four years was definitely a plus.

Dr. Redder is drawn to the Italian of Dante and Petrarch, partly because of their contributions to the Renaissance, but also because their language is so beautiful. Sometimes you may find him in his office, reciting Petrarch or Dante out loud to himself. He likes to read Italian newspapers like Corriere della Sera online, and teaching Italian keeps his Italian sharp and up-to-date.

Why study Italian?

• Italian is spoken by one in five of the population of Europe.
• Italian is the fourth foreign language most spoken in U.S. homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Italy is one of the top five economies in the world, ahead of Great Britain, Russia, and China. It is also a leading member of the G7 group of the wealthiest democracies in the world.
• An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
• Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, etc. Those planning careers in such fields greatly benefit from knowing Italian.
• Italy has long been a magnet for the tourism industry: In 1996, 55 million people visited Italy.
• Italy's economy is changing: state-owned companies are becoming privatized, opening up the Italian market to American companies and professions in aerospace, transportation, insurance, finance, shipping, telecommunications, and other commerce.
• With the Italian market opening, American companies like AT&T and IBM will be establishing ties with Italian companies in the areas of cable TV, international cellular telephone systems, the Internet and more, and will need employees who speak Italian and English.
• Italian is the language of Dante and Machiavelli, the language of poetry, the lingua franca of music, and the language of one of the finest cuisines in the world.
• Italy is the cradle of the Renaissance and the inventor of modern banking.
• Italy has had a profound influence on the shaping of European culture from the Middle Ages onwards, not merely in the visual arts and in design but in political thought and the cinema. Italy's cultural and economic significance within the European Union and beyond generates an increasing demand for competent and informed speakers of Italian.
• Graduates of languages enjoy one of the highest employment rates of any subject. The many transferable skills you will have acquired through living and studying abroad will give you a competitive edge in an increasingly global job market.

Job Possibilities:

• Teaching
• Business
• Art and art history
• Research
• Archaeology
• Tourism

LAN115 Conversational Italian I No prior knowledge of Italian Three hours Fall, 2006

LAN116 Conversational Italian II Spring, 2006, continuation of LAN 115 More conversation Pizza!

For more information, contact Dr. Vince Redder: viredder@dwu.edu or 605-995-3631.