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Since 1986 the Padus-Araxes cultural Association has been organizing at Ca’ Foacari University Venice, every year in the month of August, a summer intensive course of Armenian language and culture for College and University students and for elder people. The course has met up to date a remarkable success in teaching Armenian on different levels, even to people ignoring at all the language and getting their first contact with it here in Venice. The Armenian and armenological press has already and often spoken with much positive appreciations of this summer program, and most of people coming to the course leave it with great satisfaction. In 22 years of activity we have had more than 751 students from 28 countries, of whom nearly some 110 non Armenians. Of these students more than one third came from the United States, then the second country represented in percentage was France, hence Canada, Italy, and other countries. We have had participants also from Argentine, Syria, Egypt, Rumania, Hong Kong etc. We have students even from Armenia for the upper level, desiring to study classical Armenian, the grabar, which is not taught in normal schools in Armenia, and to deepen their knowledge of Armenian art and history, and especially of West Armenian and contemprorary diaspora literature, and also to have a closer knowledge of the Spiurk, the diaspora, as well as of the European reality. The total presence of students having attended the course reached the number of 992, since many of them attended more than once. In parallel to the summer intensive course we could realize also an audiovisual course of the Armenian language on three videotapes of about two hours and fifteen minutes all together. This audiovisual course required a great deal of work, and some production expense, from 1988 through 1993, of about 70,000 $, of which almost 80% was covered by the University and the Italian Ministry for University research. All these activites have a large support by the University of Venice. They are under the patronage of our cultural Association Padus-Araxes, founded in 1987 and having as main purpose to promote and sustain activities for the knowledge and diffusion of the Armenian language and culture. The Association has practically no other income than the shares of its members and some occasional donations. The University supplies us with a building (at a low cost) where we hold lessons. It also helps us giving lodgement at the University student home at accessible prices. Another very important help of the University is its contribution in kind for meals giving our students the possibility of a complete Italian meal of good quality at remarkebly reduced prices. So our students can have a complete meal at the very low price of 8 € instead of the normal market price, for the same meal, in city restaurants, of about 30 €. Our expenses are however a many, and the summer course, even with all the almost occasional helps and some fixed grants for the students, can hardly cover them since we cannot establish high registration fees for our students coming to learn Armenian. At present we have each year nearly 6 teachers of whom we care the travel expenses, food and lodgement in Venice and a very modest recognition of their hard work with the heath of August; practically they work as volunteers. Contributing to this course would certainly make it possible to give it major possibilities of expansion and improvement and a more efficient organization. Fr. Prof. Boghos Levon Zekiyan President of the Padus-Araxes Association, Director of the Summer Intensive Course of Armenian Language and Culture of the University Ca' Foscari Associazione PADUS-ARAXES c/o Università degli Studi di Venezia S.Polo 2035 30125 Venezia Tel-Fax: 041/5207737 EM: info@padus-araxes.com |