Tatiana Bruni is instructor of Italian Language & Culture and Intercultural Communication at University College Utrecht, where she is also an academic advisor.

She studied Italian Language at the University of Bologna. In her fourth year she spent a semester on exchange in the Netherlands, studying Dutch art history and literature of the Golden Age. After that semester she decided to stay in the Netherlands, so in 1989 she transferred her credits to the University of Utrecht, where she completed het study in Italian Language and Culture. She graduated cum laude in 1992, completing also the specialization Translation Studies. In 2019 she was awarded the Master in Educational Research from Durham University (England).

Since her appointment at Utrecht University she has been developing and teaching several bachelor and masters courses on Italian language, Italian linguistics, translation studies and intercultural communication.

In her capacity of coordinator of the foreign Language and Culture courses she has developed a keen interest in integrating the teaching of cultural literacy and intercultural competence into foreign language teaching, especially at beginner level.

She published articles on a Italian-Dutch sixteen-century manuscript and on student-teacher partnership.

She worked many years as translator. Among others she translated in Italian essay by Johan Huizinga.

Currently she is pursuing a PhD in Eduation at Durham University, UK. In her doctoral research she investigated the co-design with students of a new course in Intercultural Communication to find out how this teacher-student partnership contributed to developing capabilities and attitudes for engaged citizenship. She has conducted her research from a practitioner enquiry perspective.

Her research interests and working experience range from Italian language and culture to second and foreign language acquisition; second and foreign language teaching; Sociolinguistics; Intercultural Communication and Competence; Translation Studies; Threshold Concepts, Student Engagement, Student Voice, Teacher-Student Partnership, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Intercultural Communication, Community Engaged Learning.