A passion for Italian

Truly loving what you teach is the key to successfully engaging students, according to the winner of a Victoria University Teaching Excellence award.

 

Sally Hill
Dr Sally Hill in Rome, overlooking the river Tiber, the Ponte Sisto and the dome of St Peter's.

Dr Sally Hill, Head of the School of Languages and Cultures and a senior lecturer in the Italian Programme, has been working at Victoria since 2004 and says it’s been an amazing opportunity.

“I’ve always been interested in the visual arts and the ways they interact with literature,” says Sally. “I slid sideways into Italian from the field of art history, and my interest these days is in cinema. One of the really fun things about working in a small programme like Italian [which has three permanent staff] is you end up teaching a fascinating range of topics. I’ve taught everything from Dante to contemporary Italian cinema and loved every minute of it.

“It’s maybe a bit goofy, but I love it when the trimester starts and you walk through the corridors. You realise there’s something different going on behind each closed door—maths, literature, languages—anything. People are discovering what they’re interested in and what they care about.”

Sally says while Italy may be on the other side of the world, it has more connections to New Zealand than many people realise. “Wellington in particular has a wonderful Italian community which is strong and vibrant. It goes as far back as the nineteenth century but also includes recent immigrants. Italians have brought their talents to a huge range of industries here, including hospitality and the creative arts.”

She says there is a mutual fascination between the two countries. “I think Italians find New Zealand’s landscapes and cultures intriguing, while Italy clearly has a lot to offer New Zealanders in terms of its rich history and extraordinary cultural and artistic heritage.”

The job in Victoria’s Italian Programme came up in 2004 while Sally and her husband—both New Zealanders—were finishing their academic training overseas.

“It was a real stroke of luck as this job at Victoria was advertised alongside a position in International Relations, which is the area my husband specialises in. We both applied, crossed our fingers and were thrilled to both get jobs we love teaching at Victoria.”

Sally believes a passion for what you’re teaching is fundamental to connecting with students. “That’s what I’ve valued in the teachers I’ve had in my life and something I’ve tried to follow. If you’re not excited about a subject then why should people be taking your class? Lots of things are important to being a good teacher, but if you don’t convey that enthusiasm then the rest won’t fall into place.”

Sally, who’s currently in Rome on research leave, is looking forward to returning to Wellington in January and resuming her new role as Head of the School of Languages and Cultures. “It’s really important now more than ever for New Zealanders to be learning more languages and discovering more about the countries we interact with. It’s exciting to think about how the School as a whole can be promoting that.”