Julia Conaway Bondanella
Professor Emerita of Italian
Email: bondane @indiana.edu
Research areas:
Medieval and Renaissance literature, comparative literature, history of ideas, Petrarchism and lyric poetry, translation.
Education:
- PhD, Comparative Literature, University of Oregon, 1973
- MA, French, University of Kansas, 1967
- BA with highest honors, French and English, University of Montana, 1965
Background:
My undergraduate work included emphases on French, English, history and music. After studying in Québec and Montpellier and earning a masters in French, I finished my graduate work in Comparative Literature, which allowed me to combine many of my interests with a focus on Medieval and Renaissance culture (especially Italian, French, English, and Latin). Although Petrarch’s work and influence have remained central to my scholarship, I also developed interests in translation, Renaissance political thought, and writings on art and artists. For over twenty years, I worked as Associate Director of the Honors Division and helped establish the Honors College, in which I was Associate Dean. For two terms, I held the position of Executive Secretary of the American Association of Italian Studies. I served as President of the National Collegiate Honors Council and Assistant Chairman for Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Selected awards:
- Trustees Teaching Award (French & Italian), 2004
- Teaching Excellence Recognition Award (TERA), French & Italian, 1998
- Student Choice Award for Outstanding Faculty, 1988
Publication highlights:
Books
Dante Alighieri. The Paradiso. The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Translation. Illustrations by Gustave Doré. Introductory Essay of 20,000 words and critical commentary of approximately 75,000 words. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics Series, 2006. 364 pages. [Co-editor with Peter Bondanella].
Dante Alighieri. The Purgatorio. The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Translation. Illustrations by Gustave Doré. Introductory Essay of 19,000 words and commentary of 65,000 words. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics Series, 2005. 325 pages. [Co-editor with Peter Bondanella].
Benvenuto Cellini. My
Life.
A new English translation
based on the most recent
Italian critical editions
with an introductory essay,
extensive notes and critical
commentary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press World’s
Classics Series, 2002. 472
pages. [Co-Editor and Co-Translator
with Peter Bondanella].
Niccolò Machiavelli.
Discourses
on Livy. A
new English translation
based on the most recent
Italian critical editions
with an introductory essay,
extensive notes and critical
commentary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press World’s
Classics Series, 1997.
413 pages. (Co-Editor
and Co-Translator with
Peter Bondanella].
Carlo Ridolfi. The
Life of Titian. University
Park, PA: Penn State University
Press, 1996. 146 pages.
[Co-Translator with Peter
Bondanella and Co-editor
with Bruce Cole, Jody
Shiffman and Peter Bondanella].
The Cassell Dictionary of Italian Literature: Second Revised Edition. London: Cassell, 1996. 716 pages. [Co-Editor with Peter Bondanella and Jody Shiffman].
Giorgio Vasari. The Lives of the Artists. A new English translation with an introductory essay, extensive notes and critical commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press World’s Classics Series, 1991. 586 pages. [Co-Editor and Co-Translator with Peter Bondanella
Rousseau’s Political Writings: A Norton Critical Edition. Translator. New York: W. W. Norton, 1988. 321 pages. [Co-Editor with Alan Ritter].
Articles
“Petrarch’s
Rereading of Otium in De
vita solitaria.” Comparative
Literature 60.1 (2008):
14-28.
“The
Discourses on Livy: Preserving A Free
Way of Life.” In Patricia
Vilches and Gerald Seaman,
eds. Seeking
Real Truths: Multidisciplinary
Perspectives on Machiavelli. Brill, 2007.
69-102.
