Students read and discuss in Italian selections from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy with special consideration of the biographical, historical, political, literary, and/or theological ramifications of the poetic masterpiece, and without forgetting its enduring influence today. Critical thinking skills in literary interpretation are rigorously emphasized. Given the sustained examination of Dante's hierarchical ethical scheme and his notion of "contrapasso," credits from this course may be applied to the Paterno Fellows Ethics requirement.