STANFORD CONTINUING STUDIES - STANFORDCONTINUING STUDIES COURSE CODE
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COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
Stanford Continuing Studies
Course Title: Dante’s “Paradiso”: A 700th-Anniversary Exploration of The Divine Comedy
Course Code: LIT 60
Instructor: Nicholas Jenkins
Location: online
Ary Scheffer, Dante and Beatrice (1851), MFA, Boston
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
650-725-2650COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
Logistics:
The class will meet nine times: from 7:00-9:05 pm PT on every Monday between
March 29 and May 24.
Course Summary:
Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, written in the 14th century, is a spiritual and
poetic epic like no other. It was composed after Dante’s political career had
ended in failure and after forced exile had left him in a kind of living but
dangerous limbo. Epic poems are usually the stories of journeys; The Divine
Comedy is the story of the soul’s progress away from sin and toward God.
“Paradiso” is the culmination of this extraordinary inner voyage. In this, the
poem's third and final part, Dante experiences a journey through the nine
concentric spheres of Heaven and gains access to Elysium, where he comes
face to face with God.
“Paradiso” is the most visionary and mathematical part of this tripartite
masterpiece. The science of numbers and the art of poetry converge as Dante
reaches outside conventional categories of understanding to present glimpses
beyond our world of a dazzling universe that is the home of "the Love which
moves the sun and the other stars."
Like the first two parts, “Inferno” and “Purgatorio,” “Paradiso” is both radiant
and dark, literal and abstract. Here, as in each stage of his journey, Dante
needs a companion. Likewise, for the journey through studying “Paradiso” one
needs fellow travelers: people with whom one can discuss the strange
philosophical meanings, reflect on the place of the mystical in our own largely
secularized world, and ponder how this religious paean is at the same time one
of the world’s most poignant love poems. Creating that group of engaged and
bedazzled enthusiasts will be the purpose of our course.
The reading for this course will be in English and presupposes no knowledge of
the Middle Ages or medieval Italian.
Please see course page for full description and additional details.
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
650-725-2650COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
Grade Options and Requirements:
• No Grade Requested (NGR)
This is the default option. No work will be required; no credit
shall be received; no proof of attendance can be provided.
• Credit/No Credit (CR/NC)
Score will be determined by student attendance and
participation.
• Letter Grade (A, B, C, D, No Pass)
Grade determined by an 8-10 page paper, on a topic agreed in
advance with me.
Please Note: If you need proof that you completed a Continuing Studies course for any reason (for
example, employer reimbursement), you must choose either the Letter Grade or Credit/No Credit option.
Courses taken for NGR will not appear on official transcripts or grade reports.
Required Text:
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, vol. 3: Paradiso, trans. Mark Musa (New York:
Penguin, 1986) 978-0140444438
Recommended Text:
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, vol. 3: Paradiso, trans. and eds., Robert M.
Durling and Ronald L. Martinez (New York: Oxford UP, 2013) 978-0195087468
Process:
Our goal this quarter is to read the third part of Dante’s great poem as closely
as we can. To that end, I am asking you to buy two (relatively inexpensive)
translations of the “Paradiso”. One text, the translation by Mark Musa, is
required. That will be the text we mainly use in our class discussions. But, if
you can manage it, I recommend that you also purchase the translation (with
extensive notes and Italian original) by Robert Durling. If you only have the
Musa, please read the week’s selection of cantos twice in this version. If you
have the Durling version as well, please read the week’s selection of cantos
once in each book. That will get us as close as reasonably possible in English to
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
650-725-2650COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
the original poem.
The “Paradiso” is a challenging and deeply meaningful text – together we can
engage more fully with its poetic, political and metaphysical depths than
perhaps we could alone. I’ll gloss details and context wherever that is needed,
and we will spend a bit of time examining the historical situation in Dante’s
lifetime. But, above all, our focus will be on what it is like to experience and
understand the poem, which can seem at once so strange and so familiar. Each
time we meet I’ll give an overview about a relevant topic or issue that I’d like
us to think about together. We will also leave plenty of time for class questions
and discussion.
In order that the course be a meaningful one for you, it is vital that you do the
not very long selections of reading before each session. And please have your
copy (or copies) of the poem close to hand during each class meeting. You won’t
regret it!
Meetings and Recordings:
The class takes place remotely – Zoom login details will be provided electronically
near the start of the quarter. All class meetings will be recorded. Each recording
should be available on the Canvas course webpage within 24 hours of the session’s
conclusion. The recordings will remain available until shortly after the end of the
quarter.
Contact:
I don’t hold regular office hours but you are always welcome to email me – I will
respond as soon as I can. If you would like to talk to me, please email to set up a
meeting.
Weekly Outline:
Week 1: March 29
Reading: canto 1
Class: Introduction, overview, retrospect and prospect
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
650-725-2650COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
Week 2: April 5
Reading: cantos 2-5
Class: Space and time in Paradise
Week 3: April 12
Reading: cantos 6-9
Class: History of Paradise
Week 4: April 19
Reading: cantos 10-13
Class: Poetics in Paradise
Week 5: April 26
Reading: cantos 14-17
Class: Politics in Paradise
Week 6: May 3
Reading: cantos 18-21
Class: Art of Paradise
Week 7: May 10
Reading: cantos 22-25
Class: Virgil and Beatrice
Week 8: May 17
Reading: cantos 26-29
Class: Earthly Paradise and Heavenly Paradise
Week 9: May 24
Reading: cantos 30-33
Class: Conclusions, follow-ups and debates
Bibliography – Some Useful Dante Studies and Guides:
[the literature on Dante, his world, and his poems is gigantic – here are a few
standard works, printed and online, I have found helpful and readable: none is
required for this class]
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
650-725-2650COURSE SYLLABUS
Quarter: Spring 2021
Erich Auerbach, Dante: Poet of the Secular World, trans. Ralph Manheim (1929;
New York: New York Review of Books Classics, 2007)
Teodolinda Barolini, ed., Digital Dante (Columbia University Libraries) –
https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/
Richard Lansing, ed., The Dante Encyclopedia (London: Routledge, 2010)
Giuseppe Mazzotta, Reading Dante (New Haven: Yale UP, 2014)
Guy P. Raffa, The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Divine Comedy
(Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2009)
nj 2/10/2021
Stanford Continuing Studies
365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
continuingstudies@stanford.edu
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