WJHU listeners can start their day on a polite note the first Friday morning of every month now that Speaking of Manners, a commentary on the state of civility by Pier-Massimo Forni, has resumed.

The commentary has been on hiatus since Forni, professor of Italian literature in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in the School of Arts and Sciences, began the spring semester in Florence, Italy, at the Charles S. Singleton Center at the Villa Spelman.

Pier-Massimo Forni

The monthly commentary can be heard on 88.1 FM at 7 and 9 a.m. and will cover a variety of issues addressing civility and rudeness in America. Forni is co-founder of the Civility Project, which was designed in 1997 to assess the relevance of notions such as civility, manners and politeness in today's society and to foster scholarly research on civility.

Forni is one of 20 scholars in the humanities, arts and sciences to have been selected by the Maryland Humanities Council for its Millennium Speakers Bureau. Beginning in January 2000, he will give lectures about civility to nonprofit groups. All programs are free and open to the public.
--Leslie Rice