Our story
Learning and discovering.
CIS (Centre of Italian Studies) is the largest Italian school outside Italy. Based in Melbourne for over 40 years, CIS specialises in teaching Italian and celebrating Italian culture.
We are passionate about teaching Italian so our students can truly begin to appreciate the beauty of Italy and its unique culture.
Since 2020 we have offered online courses, special classes and events to students from all over Australia, America and Europe and provided the best teachers with a timetable of 70 classes a week.
Community and culture.
Our new brandmark is designed around the campanile, the bell tower that sits at the heart of village squares and town centres across Italy.
It is a meeting point that also represents the connection of language, culture, people and place. It reflects the art and culture of towns and regions and stands as a symbol of social and cultural heritage over the ages.
The campanile is a symbol of community, under which people meet and socialise and ideally reflects our spirit of community between teachers and students.
Join us and have fun with our courses. They are effective, addictive and highly entertaining.
Our community events.Outside the classroom, students enjoy being part of a book club, film club, cooking classes and regular cultural events.
Marking a sense of community
CIS has grown into a community of students and teachers with a common interest in Italian language, culture and life.
We’ve created a new brandmark and at its heart is a campanile or bell tower – traditionally the tallest landmark and meeting point in villages and towns across Italy.
The campanile represents the connection of language, culture, people and place.
Remote learning
From 2020, thanks to Lingopont, our teachers have been able to offer all our classes online plus a range of new imaginative events.