Instructor of Italian
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(205) 934-4652

Research and Teaching Interests: Language and Identity Issues, Pragmatics, Semantics, Etymology, Language and Culture, Second Language Teaching Methods, Educational Technology

Office Hours: By appointment

• BA, Università degli Studi G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Modern Languages and Literatures
• MAEd, University of Alabama at Birmingham, TESOL/Applied Linguistics
• MA, Università Ca' Foscari of Venezia, Italy, Italian Language and Culture with a focus on online teaching and distance learning

Giuliana Russo Skinner is a native of Taranto, in the region of Puglia, Italy. While in high school she majored in Classics (Italian, Ancient Greek, and Latin Studies), which led to her passion for languages and cultures, in particular Romance languages. In addition to teaching Italian 101 at UAB, she works as a local and international real estate agent and also co-founded the only Italian cooking & culture school in the US, Cooking with Culture.

Giuliana is very passionate and enthusiastic about sharing her native language and culture with her students and is very fond of art, music, traveling, cinema, philosophy, and literature. When teaching, she uses a communicative approach that emphasizes the importance of learning Italian through real-life interactions, authentic materials, and engaging activities such as games, pair-works, role-plays, and interviews. She is also a strong believer that learning is fostered by creating a relaxed environment for students, stimulating conversation about concepts being presented and organizing material in a way that makes it easier to understand. Finally, one of the most important concepts Giuliana hopes to impart upon her students is that learning is a process that never ends; therefore she encourages learning and teaches her students to embrace diversity.