The virtual symposium “African American Interpretations of Dante’s Divine Comedy,” sponsored by the Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture and hosted by Trinity College, was held via Zoom on October 4, 2020. Video of the event, featuring Sherman Irby, Dennis Looney, Carl Phillips, and Cornel West, and moderated by Dario Del Puppo and Matthew Collins, can be viewed by clicking here.

“You are warmly invited to an event organized by Dario Del Puppo and Matthew Collins, hosted by Trinity College in Hartford, on African American receptions of the Commedia. Though originally planned as an in-person gathering, which would have included a debut of Sherman Irby’s Purgatorio jazz composition, we are still delighted that we can proceed through digital means.

“It will now be a shorter e-event via Zoom, featuring Dennis Looney (author of Freedom Readers), poet Carl Phillips, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Sherman Irby, and philosopher and public intellectual Cornel West.

“We will start at 4:00pm this Sunday, October 4, and will wrap up around 5:30pm (NB: Eastern Time).”   –Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture

Watch the recording of the symposium, held virtually via Zoom on October 4, 2020, here.