Dante’s PURGATORIO

Fabian Alfie
Fall 2018
THURSDAYS |  
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
November 8 - December 6, 2018. No class on November 22.
Course Format: Hybrid
Location: Main Campus
Tuition: $150

Dante’s Purgatorio, as is well known, is not a standalone text; it is simply the second part of The Divine Comedy. In this course we will deal with Dante’s views on redemption and salvation as represented in his Purgatorio. Our focus will be the nature of sin: How it is that appetites which keep the body and species alive are evil (i.e., lust and gluttony). And how human beings can transcend their fallen nature (with divine assistance). We will cover the numerous historical personages and references in the work, as well as the theology implicit in it. Dante’s Purgatorio changes the tone of the Comedy, illustrating how people can become “pure and ready to rise to the heavens.”

Required Reading

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, vol. 2, Purgatorio. Trans. Robert Durling. Oxford Press, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0195087451.

Meet Your Instructor

Professor

FABIAN ALFIE is a Professor of Italian at the University of Arizona. His specialization is in Italian literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has published extensively on medieval Italian literature and has taught courses on Dante, Boccaccio, and the “dolce stil nuovo” for HSP. He has received two Superior Teaching Awards from the Humanities Seminars Program.

Location

POETRY CENTER
Dorothy Rubel Room
1508 E Helen
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

Located on the SE corner of Helen Street and Vine Avenue, one block north of Speedway and three blocks west of Campbell Ave.

Street map image of Poetry Center

Open Courses You May Also Be Interested In