Dante Course

Lesson 1 • The Dolce Stil Novo Movement

Introduces the lyric tradition Dante inherited and transformed. Connects this poetic school to the idealized love central to his early and mature works.

Lesson 2 • Medieval Cosmology and Theology

Examines the Ptolemaic universe, Christian afterlife doctrine, and scholastic theology. These frameworks directly structure the geography of the Commedia.

Lesson 3 • Dante's Intellectual Formation

Traces Dante's education in rhetoric, philosophy, and classical literature. Shows how his learning shaped his poetic ambitions and allegorical method.

Lesson 1 • Il Convivio: Philosophy in the Vernacular

Analyzes Dante's unfinished philosophical treatise and its allegorical method. Bridges his lyric phase and the encyclopedic ambition of the Commedia.

Lesson 2 • De Vulgari Eloquentia: Theory of Language

Covers Dante's Latin treatise on vernacular poetry and the ideal literary language. Grounds students in his linguistic theory before approaching the Commedia's style.

Lesson 3 • The Rime: Dante's Lyric Poems

Surveys the range of Dante's lyric output, from love sonnets to the harsh rime petrose. Demonstrates his technical versatility and thematic evolution.

Lesson 1 • Dante's Political Legacy and Reception

Traces how Dante's political ideas were received, contested, and revived. Situates his thought within the longer history of political theology.

Lesson 2 • Church, Empire, and Corruption

Examines Dante's critique of papal temporal power and clerical corruption. Connects his polemical positions to figures condemned or praised in the Commedia.

Lesson 3 • Justice, Order, and Human Happiness

Explores Dante's concept of human happiness as the goal of political life. Links his Aristotelian ethics to the moral architecture of the Commedia.

Lesson 1 • Guides, Symbols, and Recurring Motifs

Identifies Virgil, Beatrice, and Bernard as symbolic guides and traces recurring images like light and darkness. Prepares students for close reading of individual cantos.

Lesson 2 • Numerical and Symbolic Architecture

Analyzes the significance of the number three, the terza rima scheme, and cantos per canticle. Shows how form embodies theological meaning.

Lesson 3 • Allegory and the Four Senses

Explains the literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical levels of meaning. Equips students to perform multi-layered textual analysis throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Key Cantos of the Upper Hell

Analyzes cantos featuring Paolo and Francesca, Farinata, and Brunetto Latini. Explores how Dante balances sympathy with moral judgment.

Lesson 2 • Cocytus: Treachery and Satan

Analyzes the frozen lake, the four zones of treachery, and the figure of Satan. Culminates the Inferno's moral argument about the ultimate corruption of reason.

Lesson 3 • The City of Dis and Lower Hell

Examines the transition to lower Hell, the violence cantos, and the Geryon episode. Shows how moral gravity intensifies as the pilgrim descends.

Lesson 1 • The Earthly Paradise and Beatrice's Return

Analyzes the pageant, Dante's confession, and Beatrice's rebuke. Marks the transition from classical reason to theological grace.

Lesson 2 • Free Will and Moral Psychology

Examines Marco Lombardo's speech and Virgil's discourse on love as the root of all action. Establishes the Purgatorio's philosophical core.

Lesson 3 • The Mountain: Structure and Logic

Maps the Ante-Purgatory, seven terraces, and Earthly Paradise. Contrasts the Purgatorio's hopeful logic with the Inferno's fixed damnation.

Lesson 1 • Theology and Doctrine in the Paradiso

Examines Dante's examinations on faith, hope, and charity by Peter, James, and John. Shows how the canticle functions as a poetic summa theologica.

Lesson 2 • The Mystical Climax: Final Cantos

Analyzes Bernard's prayer, the vision of the celestial rose, and the final vision of God. Examines how Dante represents the limits of language and intellect.

Lesson 3 • The Structure of Heaven

Maps the nine celestial spheres and the Empyrean, linking each to a virtue or theological category. Establishes the spatial logic of divine order.

Lesson 1 • Contemporary Scholarship and Relevance

Surveys feminist, postcolonial, and ecocritical readings of Dante. Equips students to engage with current debates and apply Dante to contemporary questions.

Lesson 2 • Synthesizing the Dante Course

Integrates all course themes through comparative analysis and reflective discussion. Prepares students to articulate Dante's significance in professional and academic contexts.

Lesson 3 • Medieval and Renaissance Reception

Examines early commentaries, Boccaccio's lectures, and humanist responses to Dante. Shows how the Commedia was canonized and contested from the start.

Lesson 4 • Dante in Visual Art and Music

Analyzes Botticelli's illustrations, Doré's engravings, and musical settings of the Commedia. Expands students' understanding of Dante's multimedia legacy.