Italy-USA: ambassador Eisenberg in Naples, relationship on shared values
Naples - Italy and the United States are "friends and close partners" and their "Safety and prosperity" are tightly connected". Therefore, there must be synergy between our countries, because "by working together we are better equipped to face the threats to our safety and prosperity, and promote our democratic values". These are the words of the United States ambassador to Italy, Lewis Eisenberg, at the inauguration ceremony of the new History and Institutions of the United States degree program at the Orientale University of Naples. "Our countries are great partners and can do great things together he added we don't always agree with each other, but that's normal, as we are different people. Our close and solid relationship dates back years and is based on family and commercial connections and on a shared history, which includes the liberation of Italy from fascism. Today, our relation remains strong, thanks to shared values and interests. Therefore - he concludes - we must preserve and increase our reciprocal comprehension", also "by promoting cultural education and diplomacy".
At the Orientale University, Eisenberg and the rector, Elda Morlicchio, inaugurated a new degree program on the history and institutions of the United States. "A very appropriate choice - he said - because the United States opened the first diplomatic post in Italy, right here, in 1796, during the Kingdom of Naples".
In 2016, Eisenberg recalls, the American Studies initiative was born, and the United States funded 8 teaching contracts in 8 Italian universities, including the Orientale. "The funding includes also funds to buy books and other material required by the teaches and integrate the university libraries - said the ambassador - and this year we managed to increase the funds and add two new contracts, so the number of Italian Universities involved in the initiative has increased, from 8 to 10. The American Studies Association of Italy and the Center for American Studies in Rome are partners of this initiative".
"Our hope - continued the diplomat - was that these funds, even if contained, could create new long-term teaching contracts of American Studies. I am pleased that the Orientale University was the first to approve the new Level-B researcher position in History and Institutions of the United States. I hope other Italian universities will share this vision". Italy and the Unites States, he reminded, have had close and solid relations for years, "they are great partners" and to maintain these relations "they must study each other's cultures, to understand each other's backgrounds. This is why the American courses at Italian universities are so important and why the diplomatic mission of the United States is so committed to promoting them.