A NEW APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION: FOREIGN LANGUAGE(S) AND BUSINESS/FINANCE/MARKETING COURSES

Based on a project currently being developed at John Carroll University, this paper describes and analyzes the process of creation of a Major in Business and Italian Studies, developed in cooperation by the JCU Boler School of Business and the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Cultures.
The program will offer courses of Italian Language for Business distributed on three levels (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced), and courses in Business, Finance, and Marketing with a special focus on Italy and the EU markets.
Starting from the feasibility study that showed potential interest among students and faculty, through preliminary contacts between departments and the local Italian community, and following with the various steps taken inside the academic structure, the paper illustrates the procedures followed to bring the project into practice.
The purpose of the paper is to offer an insight on a model that could be profitably ‘exported’ to other institutions and to other languages, and possibly to create a network of educators interested in initiatives of this kind.