Mount St. Mary’s University will welcome acclaimed author and professor Joseph Luzzi, Ph.D., as the keynote speaker for the Fall 2025 Ducharme Lecture Series on Wednesday, September 24, from 4 to 5 p.m. in Knott Auditorium.
Luzzi, the Asher B. Edelman Professor of Literature at Bard College, will present “A Journey with Dante: Long Study, Great Love, and the Power of Literature.” Drawing from his two recent publications—Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2024) and his translation of Vita Nuova (Norton/Liveright, 2024)—Luzzi will examine the timeless relevance of Dante Alighieri’s work.
His lecture will explore how the 14th-century poet’s writing speaks to questions of exile, home, and identity, and how the act of translation can illuminate the “power of literature to represent a kind of ‘home’ to the severely displaced and even persecuted.” Luzzi will also highlight Dante’s status as a global literary icon whose influence stretches from the Middle Ages to the present day, offering insights into why Dante’s “long study” and “great love” remain essential to understanding his art.
About the Ducharme Lecture Series: Held twice a year, the Ducharme Series fosters the integration of learning between different fields in the Mount’s core curriculum. The series is named in honor of Professor Emeritus Robert Ducharme, Ph.D., who advanced the Mount’s mission for 39 years as an English professor and department chair. The Ducharme Lectures are endowed with a generous gift by Raphael Della Ratta, C’92, who was an English major and philosophy minor at the Mount.