Conversations on Dante 7: Chris Kleinhenz and Kristina Olson on Approaches to Teaching Dante's Divine Comedy

Leeds Dante Podcast

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Kristina Olson and Prof. Chris Kleinhenz discuss their new volume, Approaches to Teaching Dante's 'Divine Comedy', published in 2020 by the Modern Language Association (https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Approaches-to-Teaching-World-Literature/Approaches-to-Teaching-Dante-s-i-Divine-Comedy-i-second-edition). Chris and Kristina talk about the diverse disciplinary and pedagogical approaches to teaching Dante which emerge in the volume. We also consider what it means to teach Dante in 2020, especially in light of the new educational and social contexts in which students are encountering Dante, as well as discussing the rich connections between teaching and research on Dante.

Chris Kleinhenz is the Carol Mason Kirk Professor Emeritus of Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Kristina Olson is Associate Professor of Italian at George Mason University.

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.