The course aims to introduce lower-division students to the work of the greatest poet of the European Middle Ages. It will present a close analytical reading of Inferno (the best-known part of his masterpiece, the Divine Comedy), in the literary and cultural context created by the most significant of his earlier works: the autobiographical prose and lyric poetry of the Vita nova, and the linguistic and poetic theory of De vulgari eloquentia. All readings, primary and secondary, will be in English.

Texts:
Dante, trans. Stanley Lombardo, Inferno

Dante, trans. Andrew Frisardi, Vita nova

Dante, trans. Steven Botterill, De vulgari eloquentia

Prerequisites: None. This course is taught in English with readings in English.