Italian Cultural
House
What are Salon Events?
The salon gatherings are a space to connect, learn, and be inspired. Each month in Austin, TX, we welcome people from different backgrounds to explore a fresh topic — sometimes looking outward at the world, sometimes inward at ourselves. We meet in warm, welcoming spaces around town — whether that’s someone’s home or a rented public venue — always with the essentials like air conditioning and a bathroom to keep everyone comfortable.
With thoughtful conversation and open hearts, the gatherings spark insight, laughter, and connection. And best of all, they’re free and open to everyone. Antonella wishes to thank all the amazing guest speakers, the attendees, the participants who contributed with snacks; drinks, and, last but not least, the people who assisted in the
organization of the events, such as Romina Olson, Spring Karlo, Janet Beinke, Madeline Maxwell and Erin Frank.
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Meet founder/creator Antonella
My name is Antonella Del Fattore Olson.
I was born and grew up in Rome, Italy. Love brought me to Austin, Texas many years ago --after meeting Bob on a beach resort south of Rome… And it’s not at all as I left Italy behind, I still share a house with my sister by the beach and visit often.
After Bob and I had Romina, our wonderful baby girl, I started working at the University of Texas at Austin, where I taught Italian Studies from 1984 to 2023. I loved every minute of my 38 + years at UT and I am grateful for the opportunities to expand my horizons and bring innovations to the College of Liberal Arts.
I created lower- and upper-division courses, including the popular Italian Drama Workshop.
A favorite experience of mine was the Rome Study Program, a yearly six-week summer program in Rome that I founded in 1996 and directed since then.
I was honored to receive six teaching awards at UT, among which the prestigious Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. My teaching and curricula innovations have been my main focus during my decades of teaching; however, I did eagerly collaborate in several textbooks and workbooks, co-author an intermediate textbook, In Viaggio, Moving Toward Fluency in Italian, and the online project Radio Arlecchino https://coerll.utexas.edu/ra/
I was also the faculty advisor of ITAL, a unique transmedia project https://www.educationisboring.org/home
Finally, I published articles on Dacia Maraini’s theater and the teaching of Italian through theater and participated in many conferences where I presented papers on Italian cinema, Italian theater and teaching methodology.
For more info & CV please visit:
https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/frenchitalian/faculty/olsonad
