FSEM 167   Dante's Divine Comedy

Faculty Profile for Professor Stull

Descending first to the depths of Hell, then climbing upward to reach the summit of heavenly bliss, Dante’s Divine Comedy brings its readers on one of the most amazing journeys that any author has ever imagined. Beauty and ugliness, horror and sublimity, joy and regret—all are portrayed in this poem that simmers with rage (Dante wrote it in exile, betrayed by his friends and his country) even as it strives for redemption. Students follow Dante on his pilgrimage through the afterlife, unraveling intricacies, pondering age-old mysteries, and encountering the cast of sinners and saints, famous and obscure, that the poet’s art has made unforgettable. At every stage we shall discover extraordinary human feeling and a brilliant account of religion, politics, morality, and poetry. Students who successfully complete this seminar receive credit for a 200-level CLAS course and satisfy one half of the human thought and expression areas of inquiry requirement.

William Stull is Associate Professor in the Department of the Classics. In his sophomore year of college, he took a course on the Divine Comedy on a whim (and because he had heard good things about the professor teaching it). The experience turned out to be life-changing, and made him want to learn as much as possible about Dante, his poem, and the ancient and medieval worlds that shaped it. Although a specialist in Latin literature, Professor Stull is grateful for the opportunity to return to Dante regularly in FSEMs.