Irena Stanic Rasin

Thank you again for treating us to the Decameron. The art you assembled brilliantly complemented your presentation! And your Wheel of Fortune approach to choosing and ordering the stories left us wanting more. You were clearly so familiar with the material, and I appreciated your ability to answer questions so knowledgeably in a broader literary context. You also struck a good balance between straight lecture and student engagement.

Elizabeth Weber

Dear Irena,

I want to let you know how much I enjoyed the course you led entitled, "The Good, the Wise and the Lusty: Women in Boccaccio's Decameron." Our group discussions of various tales from this masterful piece of literature were lively and interesting. Your own insightful and well-researched commentaries, accompanied by PowerPoint depictions of the beautiful art work and references to relevant literary excerpts from the period, greatly enhanced our levels of discussion. Thank you.

Melvena Green, Ed.D., Retired Educator

Dear Irena, grazie mille!

You are a gifted teacher and I enjoyed the course immensely. You are funny, well prepared, and knowledgeable. It was the right mixture of reading, discussion, and background materials. You brought to life a period in European Italian history that I had not had that much exposure to (late Middle Ages, early Renaissance), other than what Goethe wrote about his Italian travels. You put in so much effort in your presentations.

Oliver Freudenreich

I purchased Boccaccio’s Decameron many years ago and every time I started to read it, I put down the book. Now, after this introductory course, I can’t put down the book.

Evelyn F. Fowler