Baylor University Hosts Seminar on the Epic Poetry of Dante

Baylor University Hosts Seminar on the Epic Poetry of Dante
@BaylorUMedia
Contact: Lori Fogleman, Director of Media Communications, (254) 710-6275
WACO, Texas (Nov. 9, 2012) - "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" is a famed line from what is considered to be the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language, Dante's The Divine Comedy. The epic poem will be the topic of an upcoming seminar when the Honors College at Baylor University hosts Christian Moevs, Ph.D., a professor of Italian at the University of Notre Dame and an authority on Dante's works. The seminar will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in the Reading Room at Alexander Residence Hall, 1413 S. Seventh St.

In addition to his work as a professor, Moevs has written and edited several books including The Metaphysics of Dante's Comedy, which won the Modern Language Association's Marraro Prize for Italian Studies and the American Association for Italian Studies' 2005 Book Prize. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies in Florence. Moevs earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard College, before receiving a master's and doctorate from Columbia University.

"Dante's Divine Comedy is an extraordinary union of imagination and wisdom," said Phillip Donnelly, Ph.D., associate professor of literature in the Honors College. "As a writer, Dante remains very much a poet for our time. The Divine Comedy is ultimately about love, in all of its grandeur and possible corruptions. But the poem also reveals how the author, through a reordering of his own desires, transformed personal exile into pilgrimage. In this sense, the Divine Comedy addresses one of the most urgent questions facing our rootless culture today."

"Dante's Divine Comedy is read each year by hundreds of Baylor students in the Honors College, and Dr. Moevs' presentation offers a major contribution to the campus-wide conversation that our students have regarding the issues raised by his poetry," Donnelly said.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

by Brent Salter, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

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Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.