ENGL 311 - Dante’s Worlds

Units: 4
Study of Dante’s Divine Comedy , especially in relation to its main literary, mystical, and historical themes.

Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Define the historical periods and literary traditions of the classical period and understand the influence of the past on Dante’s epic;
Define the principal themes and problems that emerge from studies of representative texts, documents, and artifacts from the medieval period and discuss–in both oral and written formats–the manifestations of those themes and problems within Dante’s epic;
Demonstrate (1) an ability to analyze selected passages of literary texts and (2) an ability to use such analyses both to illuminate and complicate a reading of the texts in which these passages occur;
Demonstrate an ability to identify, find, and use library resources (books, journals, companions, etc.) in Medieval studies, resources that may further the student’s work both in and beyond ENGL 311.