JACKSON, Tenn. — July 9, 2014 — Jason Crawford, assistant professor of English at 51社区, was accepted into the National Endowment for the Humanities鈥� summer institute on Dante, which started June 30 and runs through July 24 in Florence, Italy.
Crawford is one of about 24 people from a variety of academic and artistic fields to participate in the NEH summer institute on Dante, one of several such programs the NEH offers each year. The Dante institute, led by Brenda Schildgen of the University of California-Davis and Peter Hawkins of Yale University, focuses on Dante鈥檚 鈥淒ivine Comedy鈥� in Dante鈥檚 native city.
The institute is designed for the benefit of college teachers who want to strengthen their teaching in a specific field.
Crawford said he has long enjoyed teaching Dante, and he loves the way Dante鈥檚 poetry can challenge students intellectually, imaginatively, theologically and devotionally.
鈥淏ut I have often felt that I teach him almost as an amateur,鈥� Crawford said. 鈥淭his seminar will give me an opportunity not just to read his poetry with more depth and care, but also to inhabit his world more fully, to experience Dante鈥檚 world both in mind and in body.鈥�