Cylia Queen joined the staff in 2020 and after many years as lead instructor for beginner’s Italian, she is currently focusing on tutoring with private students.
Cylia’s love affair with Il Bel Paese began at the young age of 16 when her grandmother took her on her first tour of Europe. The trip lasted only 10 days, but Cylia vowed that Italy had not seen the last of her.
After graduating from Belmont University with a minor in Italian, Cylia received a Cultural Exchange Scholarship from SITE, a full-immersion program that allowed her to experience Italy first hand. For two years, Cylia lived and worked in Northern Italy as an English Teaching Assistant, all the while absorbing as much Italian culture as possible.
A year later, Cylia received an MA in Italian Language and Culture at Middlebury Sede and the Università degli studi di Firenze in Florence, Italy. She wrote her Master’s thesis in Italian, which highlighted Italy’s key role in shaping and revolutionizing the ‘music video’.
Since 2015, Cylia has earned a second MA in Italian Studies from The Ohio State University, this time specializing in Italian Screen Studies and Foreign Language Teaching. In 2018, she was a Graduate Teaching Associate of Italian at OSU, published two articles, and received multiple travel grants to present her work at conferences. Cylia has also led summer abroad trips to Florence, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast. Although her true passion lies in foreign language teaching, Cylia also works as a linguist and translator.
cylia@italiandreamacademy.com