"Let's Go to Hell": a Six-part live course on Dante's Inferno

Geared toward "returning readers" we will do the paradigmatic deep dive.

Greetings everyone. I have been away from the keys for nearly all of August, with a few light check-ins. I’m basically a hobbit, so my busy summer has come and gone and now I’m gearing up for classes to begin here at the Abbey on Monday, with an assortment of pre-orientations, faculty meetings, and welcome events.

The weather here in Rhode Island has definitely taken a turn, with morning temps running in the high 50’s, perfect weather to run the fields and to the estuary with my dogs Rosie and Ginny. They did NOT like my summer schedule either.

But now I am ready to get back into the swing of things with this Substack and a few other endeavors.

I wanted to let you all know that I am running a 6-part live course on Dante’s Inferno starting next Tuesday, September 9th at 8pm and will run for each Tuesday. Registrants will have access to the live recordings if they are unable to attend one of the sessions. Interest has been been overwhelmingly positive and I wanted to let you know that this is happening.

The course is called “Let’s Go to Hell” which I hope to follow up with “Let’s Climb the Mountain” on the Purgatorio, and then “Let’s Fly to the Stars” on the Paradiso.

You can REGISTER HERE if you are interested. I know that it will generate much thought and discussion which will inspire a few premium posts here at the Underneath.

We will be using the Hollander translation because that is what I’ll be using in my IRL classes. As I noted on X: if my 15yo students can read it then I have the utmost faith that you can too. I will provide pdf readings guides and tips for what to look for and what to notice. There is no other way to rebuild atrophied muscles (who attention has not been enervated by our phones?!) than to just take a book and a pencil and dig in.

The Inferno is the perfect book to inspire you to get back into the practice of purposeful, intentional reading, as it opens up the very paradigm of being lost in mid-life and finding your way out of confusion with the help of a guide.

Let me be your Virgil! If you have questions, let me know in the comments. Even if you can’t make it I’d love it if you would circulate this to your friends.