A few years ago, Penn Italian-language lecturer Julia Heim began to notice a “huge disconnect” between the representation of Italian life in primary textbooks and the “actual, real lived experience in Italy.”

The textbooks were very homogenous, leaving out the experiences and lives of underrepresented Italians. In response, Heim found themself creating activities for their students with video clips to show that reality—including Italians of color, from the LGBTQ community, with disabilities, and others.