IT 490Dante in Translation

3 credits · Italian · Penn State

Students read and discuss Dante's poetic journey through the afterlife realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise in The Divine Comedy. Also featured is his Vita Nuova, the account of Dante's love for Beatrice, which he wrote in his 20s. By the end of this course, successful students will have a critically sophisticated understanding of Dante's two most important literary works and the ability to compare Dante's hierarchical ethical scheme with other ethical paradigms (such as Aristotle's or the American code of justice). Students are invited to practice interpreting texts literally, allegorically, and symbolically; to come to a greater understanding of the demands and rewards of reading a canonical masterpiece of world literature; and to consider the values/morals/responsibilities that shape their lives and ambitions from differing perspectives (religious/spiritual, ethical, legal, cultural). Credits from this course can be used to satisfy a Paterno Fellows Ethics requirement.