From March 21 to 30, the university had a busy schedule of meetings in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Singapore, with the aim of spreading its educational model, strengthening partnerships with institutions and universities and attracting new talent of Italian origin to Luiss.
The Australian stop was an opportunity for Professor Raffaele Marchetti, Luiss’ pro-rector for internationalisation and professor of international relations, to present the Diaspore - Italians in the World program, which provides scholarships for young oriundi.
In an interview granted to Rete Italia and Il Globo TV, Professor Marchetti said that Luiss already had agreements in Australia but “there was room to develop much more ambitious projects”.
“Our engagement project with the Italian diaspora, in particular with the Italian-Australian community, is an initiative designed for young people of Italian origin, and so I am here to promote it,” Marchetti continued.
“It seems to me that there is great interest, and we hope to activate flows of young people who can come for a period in Italy to study.”
Marchetti was keen to point out that the project that has been developed for a year now in Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada and Australia, and “seeks to incorporate the community in the broadest sense”.
“There is no need for passports; we try to reengage second, third, fourth generations,” he said.
“Some have passports, some don’t, due to various vicissitudes. But what we are interested in is creating the conditions to strengthen the bond between Italians in Italy and Italians abroad.”
Professor Marchetti spoke of the importance of keeping international relations courses current and relevant.
“International relations is a subject that is highly exposed to current affairs,” he said.
“There is a need to adjust what is taught in the classroom, [from] theories of international relations [to] facts [about what is actually occurring].
“Very often in the classroom we discuss disruptive crises and current affairs. Wars such as those in Ukraine and Gaza obviously arouse great interest on the part of the students.
The professor also shared his thoughts on the recent meeting in Canberra between Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
“Now the trend, I would say at least from 2008 onward, is a trend of repolarisation of international politics,” he explained.
“Before there was a trend of convergence, of creating one world, integrated economically, politically and socially. Since 2008, on the other hand, we see a trend to repolarisation, using the theoretical terms of international relations.”
“It’s interesting what’s happening in Australia. After the very sharp cooling of relations with China, there’s a need to mend the rift … because the Chinese presence in Australia is important, and the Chinese market is important for Australian companies that export, so you have to find a balance.
“It’s clear that this rapprochement is not going to generate many sympathizers in Washington.”
Returning to Luiss University, which was established to be one of the most important institutions in Italy, Marchetti points out the importance for a country like Italy to have universities that educate future world leaders.
“[It’s extremely important] to foster student mobility, because a student who goes to another country to study will then remain a friend of the country and stimulate positive relationships in economic, political, cultural, intellectual terms,” he explained.
“You fulfill this role, this function, by aiming for excellence. Only a university that is able to offer quality education succeeds in being a global university.
“This is kind of our model. We aim to be a global university, but rooted in Italy, in Rome. This is an important role that we aim to play, not only as a university, but as a system.”
Last year Luiss was again confirmed for the fourth year in a row as number one Italian non-state university.
“We have been innovative in terms of teaching; we have changed the methodology, improving teaching,” said Marchetti.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into internationalisation, developing agreements [with foreign universities] and expanding our course selection in English, which is important for international students.
Speaking about the Diasporas - Italians in the World program, the professor said that altogether around a hundred scholarships are awarded by Luiss each year for international students, many of them dedicated to the Italian diaspora.
Marchetti hopes his mission to Australia will generate interest among Australian students of Italian origin, to further enrich the Luiss community.
“We are developing other thoughts, other initiatives, to create more bridges between Italy and Australia,” he revealed.
“That’s kind of the hope of this mission of mine to Australia, to create bridges in such a way that society, young people, companies and politics - let’s remember of course that the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has strong connections with Italy - to create opportunities for bonding, for collaborations.
“It’s an important goal that Luiss has.”
