Madison U. Sowell
Encyclopedia
Madison U. Sowell is a professor emeritus of Italian
and comparative literature at Brigham Young University
(BYU), where he taught for three decades (1979-2009). He also served as the chair of BYU's department of French
and Italian (1989-1998), an Alcuin Fellow, a Karl G. Maeser General Education Professor, Scheuber and Veinz Professor of Humanities and Languages, and as the director of the BYU Honors Program and an associate dean of undergraduate education (2006-2009). He is a specialist in the epic tradition of Italian literature from Dante
to Tasso
and the author and editor of several books, including Dante and Ovid: Essays in Intertextuality and a translation of The Cabala of Pegasus by Giordano Bruno
(Yale University Press).
Sowell was born and reared in Piggott, Arkansas
, where he still owns and maintains family cotton and rice farms. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) when he was 17, shortly before beginning his undergraduate studies in the BYU Honors Program. He then served a mission
in the Italy
North Mission
(1971-1973).
Sowell has a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from BYU (1975) and a master's degree (1976) and Ph.D. (1979) in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University
, where he won the Jacoby Prize for scholarship and his department's travel-study prize for outstanding teaching. At Harvard he studied Italian literature with Dante Della Terza (a pupil of Luigi Russo), Italian Renaissance history with the renowned historian Felix Gilbert, and epic poetry with the famous translator Robert Fitzgerald
.
Sowell has written over 100 articles, book reviews, and essays primarily related to Dante and Italian literature. His illustrated book Il Balletto Romantico (Palermo: L'Epos, 2007) was co-authored with Debra H. Sowell
, a dance historian and BYU associate professor of humanities who is also his wife. He has also served as an editor of the Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association.
In early 2009, Sowell was appointed a member of the board of trustees of Southern Virginia University
, where he has lectured on Dante and medieval and Renaissance art and participated in the Executive Lecture series. On July 29, 2010, he was appointed Interim Provost at SVU.. On April 12, 2011, he became the Provost at Southern Virginia. The provost reports to and works closely with the president, is the chief academic officer and leads the university’s academic areas and faculty.
Sowell served from 1998 to 2001 as president
of the Italy Milan Mission. He has also served as an LDS high councilor, bishop, a Missionary Training Center branch president, and a ward Young Men's president.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and comparative literature at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU), where he taught for three decades (1979-2009). He also served as the chair of BYU's department of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Italian (1989-1998), an Alcuin Fellow, a Karl G. Maeser General Education Professor, Scheuber and Veinz Professor of Humanities and Languages, and as the director of the BYU Honors Program and an associate dean of undergraduate education (2006-2009). He is a specialist in the epic tradition of Italian literature from Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
to Tasso
Tasso
-People:*Torquato Tasso, the famous Italian 16th-century poet, author of Gerusalemme liberata**Tasso, Lament and Triumph, a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt based on the poet*Bernardo Tasso, his father, also a poet...
and the author and editor of several books, including Dante and Ovid: Essays in Intertextuality and a translation of The Cabala of Pegasus by Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
(Yale University Press).
Sowell was born and reared in Piggott, Arkansas
Piggott, Arkansas
Piggott, Arkansas is a city in Clay County, Arkansas, one of that county's two seats . It is also the northern terminus of the Arkansas segment of Crowley's Ridge Parkway. As of the 2000 census, Piggott's population was 3,894. The town was founded by William N...
, where he still owns and maintains family cotton and rice farms. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) when he was 17, shortly before beginning his undergraduate studies in the BYU Honors Program. He then served a mission
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in the Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
North Mission
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...
(1971-1973).
Sowell has a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from BYU (1975) and a master's degree (1976) and Ph.D. (1979) in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he won the Jacoby Prize for scholarship and his department's travel-study prize for outstanding teaching. At Harvard he studied Italian literature with Dante Della Terza (a pupil of Luigi Russo), Italian Renaissance history with the renowned historian Felix Gilbert, and epic poetry with the famous translator Robert Fitzgerald
Robert Fitzgerald
Robert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
.
Sowell has written over 100 articles, book reviews, and essays primarily related to Dante and Italian literature. His illustrated book Il Balletto Romantico (Palermo: L'Epos, 2007) was co-authored with Debra H. Sowell
Debra H. Sowell
Debra Hickenlooper Sowell is a dance historian and an associate professor of humanities in the Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature at Brigham Young University . She received her B.A. cum laude and with High Honors from the Honors Program at BYU, where she majored in...
, a dance historian and BYU associate professor of humanities who is also his wife. He has also served as an editor of the Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association.
In early 2009, Sowell was appointed a member of the board of trustees of Southern Virginia University
Southern Virginia University
Southern Virginia University is a liberal arts college located in Buena Vista, Virginia that promotes standards and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while not being owned nor operated by the Church...
, where he has lectured on Dante and medieval and Renaissance art and participated in the Executive Lecture series. On July 29, 2010, he was appointed Interim Provost at SVU.. On April 12, 2011, he became the Provost at Southern Virginia. The provost reports to and works closely with the president, is the chief academic officer and leads the university’s academic areas and faculty.
Sowell served from 1998 to 2001 as president
Mission president
Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...
of the Italy Milan Mission. He has also served as an LDS high councilor, bishop, a Missionary Training Center branch president, and a ward Young Men's president.
Sources
- Mormon TimesMormon TimesMormon Times was a website and newspaper insert containing news and information for and about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . According to mormontimes.com, it has moved back to Deseret News....
, April 4, 2009. - Amazon.com listing of works by Sowell
- BYU faculty bio
- article by Sowell in BYU Magazine
- Southern Virginia University announcement of new members of the board of trustees
- Southern Virginia University announcement of Sowell as Interim Provost