History professor wins NEH grant to research in Prato, Italy
University of Richmond history professor Joanna Drell has been awarded a grant to participate in a National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Seminar for four weeks in Prato, Italy.
The seminar, “Dante’s Divine Comedy and the Medieval World: Literature, History, Art,” is designed to foster new ways of reading and examining Dante’s Divine Comedy using interdisciplinary perspectives. The 15 faculty members accepted into the seminar will work with leading scholars to read the Divine Comedy, in both English and Italian, trying to understand it in all its contexts.
Seminar participants will also make excursions to surrounding sites considered relevant Dante’s work; they will visit cities around Tuscany including Florence, Pisa and Ravenna. Participants will have access to a major library collection, with time reserved to pursue individual research and study projects.
“When I learned about this seminar, the description grabbed my attention and just blew me away,” said Drell. “I knew that the subject matter would shape and enrich my current teaching.”
Designed for faculty who plan to incorporate Dante into their courses or research, the seminar will be attended by scholars from all over the United States. To apply, each applicant had to submit a research proposal connected to the Divine Comedy.
Drell, who teaches classes on medieval Italy, proposed to examine Dante’s works through the lens of medieval southern Italy. Before submitting the proposal, she consulted with University of Richmond colleagues Anthony Russell, in the English department, and Lidia Radi, in the modern literatures and cultures department, about the project’s viability.
“I’m extremely excited about this opportunity,” she said. “I’ve never formally studied the poem and this new knowledge will help me not only to incorporate Dante into the courses I already teach, but also to develop new courses from what I’ve learned.
“I also look forward to being in Tuscany again, this time as an experienced teacher who speaks the language, knows what questions to ask and realizes that Tuscany is vastly more than cuisine and beautiful souvenirs,” Drell said.
Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide college and university faculty members and independent scholars with an opportunity to enrich and revitalize their understanding of significant humanities ideas, texts and topics.
Posted March 24, 2009