Centre for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures as an area of specialization. It was also innovative in the way it combined the filological studies tradition with the newness of the structuralist proposals and sociology of reading. Its initial projects dealt with the study of the different Lusophone literatures, such as Portuguese literature, with special emphasis on studies regarding Camilo Castelo Branco, as well as African literature and Brazilian literature, and matters regarding sociology of reading, in a project directed by Jacinto do Prado Coelho. This established route was continued by the centre's following directors and coordinators (Fernando Cristóvão, Maria Lúcia Lepecki, Manuel Ferreira, Alberto Carvalho and Maria
Italian language in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. It also has official minority status in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages. Italian is a major European language, being one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and one of the working languages of the Council of Europe. It is the fourth most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 69 million native speakers (13% of the EU population) and it