April D. Weintritt (she/her) is Assistant Professor of Teaching in Italian and Director of the Italian Language Program. She specializes in World Language Pedagogy and Intercultural Learning in the language classroom, and COIL virtual exchanges across disciplines and courses. Her research is focused on pedagogies that align intercultural, full-immersion language learning with principles of inclusive teaching and transformative learning theory. April also stays up-to-date on studies on Italian Renaissance Comedy, especially featuring Early Modern professions and marketplaces, urban foodways and gastronomic culture.

In the past fewyears, she has co-produced, with Janice Aski and colleagues from Purdue University, a webinar series dedicated to intercultural language learning: https://frit.osu.edu/initiatives/intercultural-competence and held workshops and invited lecturers on integrating intercultural competence development into the language curriculum. April has also led multiple COIL courses and collaborations that emphasizes intercultural learning, both in bridge courses for Italian learners and in global citizenship courses in English focused on developing intercultural competence.  She is author of the pre-departure online course 'Italian on the Ground' designed for Global Education/study abroad visitors to Italy who want to make the most of their first experience through linguistic, cultural, and intercultural preparation. 

Recent and Forthcoming Publications

With co-authors Janice Aski and Cindy Jiang, "The impact of explicit instruction in intercultural competence in the world language classroom: The data are in." 2023.

“Marketplace Encounters: Social Mixing on the Streets of Early Modern Florence.” Interpreting Urban Spaces in Italian Culture. Cities are like Dreams. Amsterdam University Press. 2023.

With co-author Janice Aski, “New Messaging and Intercultural Competence Training in Response to Falling Enrollments in World Languages” Italica. Spring 2020.

“The Deliverymen of Florentine Comedy: 1543-55.” Skene. Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies 4.2 2018 Fall.

Selected Recent Conference Presentations and Invited Lectures

“Integrating COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) into Italian 2102.” Invited Speaker at High Impact Practices in Online and Hybrid Courses, ASC Office of Distance Education’s Teaching Forum Series 2021-2022. April 29, 2022.

“The Impact of Intercultural Competence Training on Students’ Intercultural Development in the Elementary Italian Language Sequence.” Fostering a Community of Cultures. Notre Dame University. With Janice Aski and Cindy Jiang. April 22-24, 2022.

“Incorporating intercultural training into elementary language courses.” Invited by the Department of French, German, Italian & Slavic at Temple University. With Janice Aski. March 23, 2022.

“The Why and How of Incorporating Intercultural Learning into the Elementary Italian Language Classroom.” Invited by the University of Illinois at Chicago in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy, Education Office and the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. With Janice Aski. December 8, 2021.

“Incorporating Intercultural Learning Activities into Italian Language and Culture Classrooms.” Featured lecture at TEACHING ITALIAN, MEETING XIV: DO YOU SPEAK GLOBAL? sponsored by the Coccia Institute, Montclair State University, NJ. October 22, 2021.

“Incorporating Intercultural Learning into the Language Curriculum.” with Janice Aski. Ohio Foreign Language Association (OFLA) 2020 Regional Webinar Series. 6 February 2021.

“Un amor costante per Agnoletta: Il cuoco of Piccolomini’s L’amor costante.” Sixteenth Century Society Conference, St. Louis, MO, October 16-18, 2019.

“Sharing Experiences on Padlet: Posts and Commentary as Dialogue.” MLA, Chicago, IL, January 3-6, 2019.

“Deliverymen and Urban Mobility in Florentine Renaissance Comedy (1543-55).” Renaissance Society of America, New Orleans, LA, March 22-24, 2018.