Diamond tips beyond the borders

International Conference

PRESENTATION
In 2025, the University for Foreigners of Perugia celebrated its first one hundred years of existence. The institution's natural international orientation, which has always been devoted to the promotion of the Italian language and culture in the context of dialogue between different civilizations and traditions, makes it a particularly suitable venue for hosting initiatives that contribute to monitoring and enhancing ongoing Italian studies, with special attention to those developed abroad or by international researchers.

This is undoubtedly an ambitious goal and, as is quite evident, cannot be fully achieved or completed in a single conference. A more realistic approach is to plan periodic study days, each time identifying and focusing on a specific theme: for example, an author or genre from our literary tradition, a movement in the visual or musical arts, or a crucial turning point in our linguistic history that resonated abroad and has been the subject of significant research outside the Italian Peninsula in recent years.

In addition to presentations by invited speakers, the format for these study days will also include the presentation of one or more recently published volumes.
The first edition of this project will take the form of a two half-day meeting, from May 6 to 7, 2026, focused on two “crown jewels” of the canon, Dante and Ariosto, whose works—the highest expressions of the multifaceted cultural, political, religious and linguistic reality of their times—have spoken and continue to speak to succeeding generations of educated Europe and beyond. These are the two Italian authors most widely present in the so-called World Literature, heavily studied in the Americas and also translated into languages of the Far East (Chinese, Japanese, Korean).

The event will open with the presentation, on the afternoon of May 6, of four collective volumes on Dante and Ariosto, three of which stem from conferences held respectively at the Stranieri di Perugia, Villa I Tatti (The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies), and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. 
The following morning will be dedicated to plenary lectures, divided into the sessions Dante and Ariosto in the World: Case Studies and Dante and Ariosto in the World: Work in Progress.

Organization and Scientific Coordination:
Sandra Covino and Sabrina Stroppa (University for Foreigners of Perugia), Stefano Jossa (University of Palermo/formerly Royal Holloway, University of London), Christian Rivoletti (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg).

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 2:30–6:30 pm –Palazzo Gallenga, Aula Magna
OPENING SESSION
2:30–3:00 pm Institutional greetings - Introduction

FIRST SESSION
COMPLETED PROJECTS: PRESENTATION OF VOLUMES
3:00–4:00 pm - DANTE

Discussant: Luca Marcozzi (Roma Tre University)

The “varied fortunes of Dante” in Italy and Europe, edited by Sandra Covino, Florina Calitti, Enrico Terrinoni,
Alessandria, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2024

Now Feed Yourself. Anglo-American and Italian Scholarship on Dante, ed. by Zygmunt G. Barański,
Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., and Anna Pegoretti, Cambridge, Legenda - Modern Humanities Research Association, 2024

COFFEE BREAK

4:30–6:30 pm - ARIOSTO

Discussant: Stefano Jossa (University of Palermo)

Ariosto and the Arabs. Contexts for the “Orlando Furioso”, ed. by Mario Casari, Monica Preti and Michael
Wyatt, Florence, I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies; Rome, Officina Libraria, 2022

“Orlando furioso” beyond five hundred years. New perspectives of reading, edited by Christian Rivoletti,
Bologna, Il Mulino, 2023

ROUND TABLE AND DISCUSSION (on the entire session)
With the participation of the scholars present and Stefano Rapisarda, author of the recent volume Philology of the
Medieval Mediterranean. Encounters and Clashes among Texts, Languages and Culture, Rome, Carocci, 2026.

Thursday, May 7, 2026, 9:30 am–1:00 pm – Palazzo Gallenga, Aula Magna

SECOND SESSION
9:30–11:00 am - DANTE AND ARIOSTO IN THE WORLD: CASE STUDIES

Erminia Ardissino (University of Turin), From Japan to Australia, reflecting on inclusivity,
environment, emotions with Dante

Christian Rivoletti (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Ariosto and Shakespeare in the
European tradition: emerging intersections and poetic affinities

Discussion

COFFEE BREAK

THIRD SESSION
11:30 am–1:00 pm - DANTE AND ARIOSTO IN THE WORLD: WORK IN PROGRESS

Franziska Meier (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), From the Rime to the Vita Nova: function of colours and
metapoetic reflection

Nicole Volta (I Tatti – The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies), Worksites on Ariosto

Discussion
Final conclusions