Federico Fabbri, an Italian-language instructor and Ph.D. candidate in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program, is the College of Humanities 2022 Outstanding GAT Award recipient.
Dr. Maria Letizia Bellocchio, Assistant Professor of Italian and director of the basic language program, nominated Fabbri for the award.
“In his four years here, he has earned a well-deserved reputation as an innovative teacher who takes extra steps to extend his lessons beyond the classroom. What Federico does for our program and our students goes far beyond the duties of a Graduate Assistant and highlights his vocation for and commitment to the profession of teaching,” she wrote.
Originally from Forlì, Italy, Fabbri earned a B.A. in Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation at the University of Bologna in 2012. In 2013, he started teaching Italian at the University of Washington, while pursuing his M.A. in Italian Studies as well as a Graduate Certificate in Second and Foreign Language Teaching, both earned in 2015. He joined the University of Arizona as an adjunct instructor in 2018, to teach language classes in Italian and Spanish. In 2019, doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT). In 2021, he earned a Graduate Certificate in Language Program Administration.
Also writing in support of the nomination, Dr. Beppe Cavatorta lauded Fabbri for his “preparedness, his creativity, his mature attitude, and contagious enthusiasm.”
“He is truly in a league by himself: he teaches with the competence and the elegance that many could not achieve in a life-long career wholly and exclusively dedicated to language instruction and he involves the class in a linguistic ambience that transcended the room. His effectiveness, his attentiveness to students, his display of creativity in pedagogic applications and his unflagging preparedness set an example difficult to match,” he wrote.
A former student, Claire Gardner, also wrote in support of the nomination:
“Federico’s positive attitude and easy smile put everyone in our class at ease - which is no easy feat when most students are intimidated by trying to speak in a foreign language. As the semester progressed I saw shy students – myself included – become more and more comfortable with speaking up in class, asking questions, and participating in exercises. Federico understands the importance of students enjoying the process of learning.”