Italy Siena

University for Foreigners of Siena

The University for Foreigners of Siena (Università per Stranieri di Siena) is one of only three Italian state universities dedicated to teaching Italian language and culture to non-native speakers. It grew from a school of Italian for foreigners founded in 1917 and… The University for Foreigners of Siena (Università per Stranieri di Siena) is one of only three Italian state universities dedicated to teaching Italian language and culture to non-native speakers. It grew from a school of Italian for foreigners founded in 1917 and was given university status in 1992, occupying the Palazzo San Niccolò in Siena. The university teaches Italian language and culture, linguistic mediation, teaching Italian as a second language, and the promotion of Italy's cultural and tourist heritage, at bachelor's, master's and doctoral level. It is one of the bodies authorised to award the CILS certification of Italian as a foreign language, recognised internationally, and its research centres work on second-language acquisition, applied linguistics, the language of migration, and the teaching of Italian abroad.