Il Circolo Italiano (Italian Club) grew by leaps and bounds within its first year at UM. At its inception on September 13th, 2006, twenty-one students signed on as official members and since then, weekly meetings have been regularly attended by eight to ten students, as well as faculty, community members and native speakers. Word of the club has even spread as far as California, with a mention in The Italo-Americano, a weekly publication for the Italian community. Mackenzie River Pizza Co. hosted a pizza meeting in November and December saw the publication of the first edition of the club’s newsletter, La Bocca della Verità (The Mouth of Truth). One side of the newsletter is written in Italian and the other in English in the spirit of the club’s goal of being accessible to all who are interested in participating, regardless of language skill. The club finished its first semester with a potluck at the International House. In the spring, in addition to conversation meetings, the group gathered once a month to watch Italian films and, naturally, eat more pizza. Members participated in Foreign Languages and Literatures Day and hosted a table at the International Food Festival. Thanks to the generosity of MacKenzie River Pizza Co., Higgin's Alley, Caffe Dolce, Caffe Firenze, Worden's and Break Espresso, the club was able to raise funds by means of a raffle. With the additional help of a UM Diversity Advisory Council Grant, the club was able to purchase the rights to show a film (La Notte di San Lorenzo/Night of the Shooting Stars) in the UC Theater. Admission to the film was free of charge and open to the entire Missoula community. The support and encouragement of faculty, staff, the UM Diversity Advisorty Council, local businesses and the community provided wonderful opportunities this year, for which the club is very grateful. With such a promising start and generous supporters, Il Circolo Italiano is certain to grow in both numbers and success in coming years.

You can view the group's governing document here.

La Bocca Della Verità, Vol. 1, Dicembre 2006

La Bocca Della Verità, Vol. 2, Marzo 2007

La Bocca Della Verità, Vol. 3, Maggio 2007

Il Circolo Italiano meets every Wednesday during the academic year at Break Espresso, 432 N. Higgins at 5:30

For further information, please write to umcircoloitaliano@hotmail.com or contact Professor Badery, (406) 243-4102.