LIT111 CM - Dante

This course introduces students to one of the most influential authors of medieval Europe. We’ll explore themes related to sin and punishment, love and lust, commerce and trade, and the complicated relationship between author and text. We’ll also meet corrupt friars, lusty nuns, shady merchants, and even a person described as “the worst man in the world.” In addition to reading Dante’s Vita Nuova, Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), and excerpts from the Convivio and Monarchia, students will also read Giovanni Boccaccio’s riotous Life of Dante, written just decades after Dante’s death. At the end of the course, we’ll emerge from the depths of hell onto the bustling streets of Florence with selected stories from Boccaccio’s Decameron. All readings will be in English translation.

Offered: Occasionally

Credit: 1

Course Number: LIT 111 CM