Lecture series the latest in promoting study of Dante

 

In the Hesburgh Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections exists one of the university’s greatest assets.  The Zahm Dante Collection is among the largest and most expansive collections of work by and about Dante Alighieri in the world.  The Devers Dante Corner, situated in the reading room, likewise houses a major comprehensive collection of scholarly work on Dante.

At the turn of the twentieth century, University Vice President Father John Zahm, CSC, purchased as many Dante manuscripts, publications, and rare editions as he could, even though the university lacked extensive funds.  When the university became a major institution, Fr. Zahm believed, the study of Dante would need to be central.  According to the Rare Books and Special Collections website, the Zahm Collection contains over 3,000 volumes related to Dante, including “almost every edition published in the 16th century.”

The creation of the William and Katherine Devers Program in Dante Studies in 1995 has since put Notre Dame at the epicenter of Dante studies.  The Program of Italian Studies boasts a vibrant community of Dantists, including Zygmunt Barański, Theodore Cachey, Anne Leone, Christian Moevs, Vittorio Montemaggi, and Loren Valterza.  Dante scholarship at Notre Dame is not limited to Italian Studies; other departments and disciplines likewise feature scholars of the poet.

Efforts abound at Notre Dame to promote the poet, and the generosity of the William and Katherine Devers family—the main benefactors and namesakes of Notre Dame’s Dante program—has made possible a wide range of events, conferences, academic resources, digital projects, a publication series, and research funding, as well as the acquisition of rare material for the Zahm Collection.

The latest effort is a yearlong lecture series to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth.  Hosted by Italian Studies, the series, called “Dante’s Other Works,” brings in leading scholars from around the world to discuss his “minor works” between January and November 2015.

“The Devers Program started 20 years ago, which coincides nicely with the birthday celebration,” Anne Leone, Research Assistant Professor of Italian Studies, told the Rover.  “Notre Dame is able to be a center to gather scholars for the kind of conversations that we hope the lecture series will inspire.”

Zygmunt Barański, Professor of Dante and Italian Studies, opened the series on January 29 with a lecture on Dante’s Vita nova.

“The common designation for Dante’s other writings was to call them minor works,” Barański emphasized in his talk.  “The one point I think is very important to stress is that they are anything but minor.  Each of them makes a major contribution to Western artistic and intellectual culture.”

Barański continued: “I think there’s been a tendency to banalize the text … People tend to consider the work in light of the Commedia, that somehow all the books that Dante wrote before … were written to prepare for the Commedia.”

Christian Moevs, Associate Professor of Italian, echoed this sentiment to the Rover: “[The minor works] allow us to see Dante in his workshop, meditating on linguistics, secular and divine, love, and justice.  Each is focused in a sustained way, and it’s better to see them in themselves as profound reflections that are then helpful in understanding both the Comedy and the issues they treat.”

In addition to the academic goals of the lecture series, Leone noted that the first lecture in the series was accessible to people without a high degree of familiarity with Dante, especially undergraduates and the general public.

At the conclusion of the lecture series, University of Notre Dame Press will publish a volume devoted entirely to “Dante’s Other Works,” the first treatment of its kind.

“International colleagues are definitely interested in the publication,” Leone continued to the Rover, “because there is a gap in the approach to the material.”

The Devers Program’s other major opportunities geared in particular towards undergraduates include Cambridge Vertical Readings in Dante’s Comedy and Dante Now!: A Divine Comedy Flashmob.  Cambridge Vertical Readings is a four-year long lecture and discussion series hosted by the University of Cambridge.  Every few weeks, students and faculty from the University of Cambridge, the University of Leeds, Notre Dame’s Rome Global Gateway and Notre Dame engage in discussion of a particular canto the Commedia via teleconference.

Dante Now!, an annual event taking place during a home football weekend, is an opportunity for students of Italian, Italophiles, and anyone interested in Dante’s poetry to perform readings of selections from the Commedia at different locations around campus.

For more information about the Devers Dante Program, visit dante.nd.edu.  For a complete schedule of events hosted by Italian Studies at Notre Dame, visit http://italianstudies.nd.edu/events.

 

Lilia Draime is a senior history major with minors in constitutional studies and philosophy, religion, and literature.  She thinks Dantists are wonderful people.  Contact her at ldraime@nd.edu.