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The Center for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Italian Studies Section, and the Italian Consulate General in Philadelphia present
The Monk, the Priest, the Nun
March 22-23, 2013
Jan Van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor, detail: St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Copyright The Frick Collection
The conference, held at the University of Pennsylvania, will explore how monks, priests, and nuns dwell in literary texts and the visual arts quite comfortably, from Saint Anthony's life to Boccaccio's Decameron, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to Diderot's La religieuse, from Giotto's frescoes to Salvator Dali's surrealistic visions. What is their destiny in our desacralized age? Are they the new wanderers, do they live as foreigners in a world of people who no longer recognize them? From Lewis to Manzoni, from Bernanos to Chesterton, from Fogazzaro to Parise, priests, monks and nuns still inhabit our literature, art, cinema, as a sort of uncanny presence.
The conference will honor Professor Emerita Victoria Kirkham, the conference keynote speaker. Plenary speakers will include Kevin Brownlee, Armando Maggi, Millicent Marcus, Giuseppe Mazzotta, Ronald Martinez, Christine Poggi, Janet Smarr, Elissa Weaver, and Rebecca West.
This event is free and open to the general public with photo ID. Follow the links below for the conference program and the full list of parallel sessions.
Parallel Sessions
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Conference Hotel
Local Travel Information
Around Philadelphia
A Legacy Inscribed
a Penn Library Exhibition
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