EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “What the HELL?: Dante’s Divine Comedy for 21st-Century Readers” with Dr. Kristin Stasiowski

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EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “What the HELL?: Dante’s Divine Comedy for 21st-Century Readers”
Presented by Dr. Kristin Stasiowski
Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

For over 700 years, Dante’s poetic and moral imagination has inspired generations of readers, artists, writers, and more. This webinar will introduce participants to Dante’s life and will help you to discover what about the Divine Comedy, in particular, makes it a perennially relevant masterpiece of world literature. Intimidating to many; impenetrable to some, the Divine Comedy has quite a reputation, but with Kristin as your guide, you will gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Dante’s remarkable genius by contextualizing his ideas on love, politics, tyranny, and redemption. We will also answer some enduring questions like: why has Hell frozen over?; is having sex a sin?; what does the Devil look like?; are the worst part of the Inferno really for the morally neutral? We will also be sure to do a close reading of the first part of Canto I, Inferno so that you can come away from this discussion quoting from the most famous lines in Italian literary history WITH a real understanding of their true meaning!

Kristin Stasiowski, Ph.D is the Assistant Dean of International Programs and Education Abroad for the College of Arts and Sciences and is also an Assistant Professor of Italian Language and Literature in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at Kent State University. She received her Ph.D from Yale University in Italian Language and Literature and has taught Italian language, literature, cinema, history and culture in both Florence, Italy and at Kent State. She recently published a chapter entitled A Divine Comedy for All Time: Dante’s Enduring Relevance for the Contemporary Reader in Italian Pop Culture: Media, Product, Imageries. Rome, Italy: Viella Editrice s.r.. Her current research is focused on Dante, Boccaccio, and the modern poet Clemente Rebora.

The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.

Please note:

• Your participation is confirmed once you have purchased your ticket. You will receive the Zoom link to join the presentation circa 30 minutes before the start time.
• Space is limited for this lecture; only the first 1,000 people to click the “BOOK NOW” link will be able to tune in.
• VIDEO RECORDING of the webinar will be available for unlimited streaming at your convenience for 7 days after the event.