The document discusses the virtual reading community platform MyDante and its role in engaging students in different levels of understanding Dante's Divine Comedy. It describes three levels of engaging with the text: the literal narrative level, the metaphoric level communicated through Dante's artistic choices, and the reflective level contained in personal responses and dialogue between the poet and reader. It provides positive feedback from students who used MyDante, noting how it added value and time to their class by allowing private reflective journaling and multimedia projects that helped them relate the text to their own lives in a holistic learning experience.

1. Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale Firenze, 16 December 2009 “ MyDante and Ellipsis: Defining the user’s role in a virtual reading community” Frank Ambrosio Associate Professor, Philosophy Eddie Maloney Assistant Professor, English; Director of R & D, CNDLS Theresa Schlafly Writer & Editor, CNDLS Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship, Georgetown University

2. MyDante

3. dante.georgetown.edu

12. “ Using MyDante was a holistic learning experience. It added a different dimension to the class that there was so much you could experience outside of it. It was like having twice as much class time.” - Lauren Funk, student

14. “… I worry sometimes that I might be making a mistake similar to Dante in line 77 by trying to fit all reality into a particular worldview; either out of ignorance or timidity.” “ Reading Canto XXX and Canto XXXI I imagined myself like Dante, hiding his shame with beard pointed dejectedly towards the ground…”

20. THANK YOU! GRAZIE! GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY dante.georgetown.edu