Faciamus ampliora quae accepimus: maior ista hereditas a me ad posteros transeat.
Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, 64, 7
The Foundation Italian Institute of Classical Studies (IISC) is an educational institution which aims to promote the moral and intellectual human flourishing through advanced studies in Humanities.
It was founded in 2015 by Prof. Federico Pirrone, university professor of Latin. The IISC offers courses of excellence in Classical languages and literature. IISC team of professors includes young researcher and university lecturers, who share a common love for literature and teaching.
IISC courses are attended mostly by university students and PhD candidates, who want to deepen their academic studies, high school teachers, who wish to attend courses recognized by the MIUR for teachers’ updating, and enthusiasts, who wish to approach ancient languages. The Institute offers courses also for high school students and ecclesiastics.
The IISC teaching offering is divided among academic courses (from October until May) and intensive summer courses (between June and September). According to their needs and interests, students may choose among more than 30 different courses each year.
The IISC is now well-known and appreciated both in Italy and abroad, mostly because of its methodology in teaching Latin and Ancient Greek. Lessons are held entirely in the target language through the direct and active use of Latin and Ancient Greek. The IISC method was developed according to the most recent tenets of contemporary glottology, combined with the multi-secular teaching tradition of direct methods of the Renaissance schools of Humanities. Discover more about IISC methodology.
The IISC stems from the belief that studies in Humanities and Literature cannot be limited to mere erudition but they are a powerful instrument for knowing ourselves and the others. The aim of the IISC is thus twofold, both cultural and human, because cultural education is a pivotal moment in human flourishing. Classical culture is an essential element in the construction of an historical identity and in human and individual citizens’ upbringing because it promotes critical thinking, taste for beauty and search of the truth and justice. As a result, the aim of the IISC is to safeguard and promote classical studies among the new generation, in order to protect culture and to ground on classical studies the development of a freer and more aware citizen.