A workshop in Rome on the importance of educating young people about love and friendship

Love and friendship are not just two beautiful words, perfect for a summer hit song. They have a much deeper and stronger meaning. They refer to two universal realities of man, which are at the base of every culture and society, that have been around since the dawn of time. But are today’s youth still aware of their strength and value? Is there superficiality in their approach to love and friendship? Do they stay holed up in the virtual world behind the screen of a smartphone or instead face reality even at the cost of possible disappointments and pains?

The question that perhaps we should learn to ask ourselves is what is the most appropriate source for understanding and learning more about love and friendship. Instinct, emotion, chance, and calculation are not enough. We must return to knowing how to cultivate these two founding relationships of personal identity, with the same calm and wisdom with which a farmer cares his garden.

In the emotional and relational sphere, rules are often not enough, but rather good examples are needed. What better testimony than that offered by the great stories of literature and cinema to help us in our journey of growth and understanding of what love and friendship really are.

The workshop Educating young people about love and friendship through the classics aims to help us precisely with this, offering us a reflection of six literary classics – which have had a successful adaptation to the cinema – on these topics so as to cultivate the taste for the great stories and at the same time promote an educational culture through them.

The works will be presented by an international team of writers and teachers with a select educational sensitivity and experience in education.

The workshop Educating young people about love and friendship through the classics is organized by Familyandmedia led by Elina Gianoli Gainza Chair of the Faculty of Communications of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. It will be held next November 23 in Rome at the headquarters of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Piazza di Sant’Apollinare.

Participation in the workshop is free, but registration is required.

For online registration click here.

To view the program of the day, click here.

We are waiting for you!