Dante Alighieri's treatment of purgatory will be the subject of a lecture by John Freccero, Ph.D., director of Graduate Studies and Chairman of the Department of Italian at New York University and a noted scholar of "The Divine Comedy."

Dr. Freccero, a professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, will present a lecture entitled "The Conversion of Statius: Light from Ancient Shadows," on Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m., in the multimedia room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library at Fairfield University. The lecture, sponsored by the Fairfield University Italian Studies Program and The Humanities Institute of the College of Arts and Sciences, is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

Dr. Freccero is the author of "Dante: The Poetics of Conversion," (Harvard University Press, 1986) and editor of "Dante: 20th-Century Views," (Prentice-Hall, 1965). He received his doctorate in 1958 in Romance Languages from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Freccero also holds a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in French from Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Freccero is the recipient of several honors, including Fulbright, Guggenheim and Villa I Tattia fellowships. He was awarded the Golden Florin for Dante Studies and the Prize for Italian Studies, presented by the President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Italy. Dr. Freccero's major interests include medieval poetry and poetics, and Machiavelli.

"Professor Freccero is one of the major contributors to the advancement of the humanities in the United States today," said Mary Ann Carolan, Ph.D., director of Italian Studies at Fairfield University. "His work has inspired generations of scholars as well as students of Italian literature."

Posted On: 03-20-2003 09:03 AM

Volume: 35 Number: 240