Rosa Di Grottole joined the Italia in Ohio team in 2017 as Italian and Art History instructor. In 2021 she became a business partner with Sergio Simon and established the Italian Dream Academy.
Over the years Rosa has been coordinating our courses and currently directs the Academic Program. She teaches all levels of Italian language, designs new projects and immersive experiences, and leads our Book Club and other special Cultural classes.
Her strong desire to combine Art, Language and Traveling has led to our language-immersion Study Abroad program in Tuscany in 2019, and in Southern Italy in 2022.
Rosa was born in Basilicata, a small region in the South of Italy. After a Liceo Scientifico (High School) Diploma, she graduated in 2008 in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies (BA) from University of Florence. In 2009 Rosa received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Sorbonne University and moved to Paris where she worked on her thesis’s research and enjoyed the magic of La vie en Rose. After her graduation in Art History (MA, summa cum Laude) she studied as Guida Turistica of Tuscany and lived and worked for an event organization in Lucca, a beautiful gem close to Florence.
In February 2016, Rosa moved to Columbus and she has started a new adventure in the US! Since that time Rosa has added many new facets to her education, work experience, and life. She is currently teaching all levels of Italian at The Ohio State University and at Columbus State Community College.
In 2020 she earned the CEDILS certification of competence in Teaching Italian as a foreign language or second language, and she has completed (summa cum Laude) an Executive Master in Teaching Italian Language and Culture to foreigners at the University La Cà Foscari in Venice with a thesis on Intercultural Competence.
More recently she attended a Professional Course at the Harvard University, focused on the Online strategies for Higher Education, and she has completed a Neurolanguage Coaching course accredited by ICF (International Coaching Federation) in order to help her students with a more efficient and customized approach.
She loves reading, traveling and discovering new places and cultures. And she says… “I truly love my job because it’s constantly and incredibly inspiring. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn, collaborate, meet, connect and get to know other people and share our stories and cultures.”
rosa@italiandreamacademy.com