After a year-long strategic planning process, the American Academy has launched important changes to the format and content of its public programming in the humanities. The AAR has long hosted major public conferences and lectures in the humanities. A series of self-studies and consultations with former Fellows and Trustees have yielded a clearer set of goals and priorities for the public programming, foremost among them both the support of the Rome Prize Fellows and a commitment to reaching audiences among Roman academics and the general public.
Beginning this year you’ll see a series of changes in the humanities public events hosted by the Academy - not least more of them. A renewed emphasis on sharing the cutting-edge work being done by our Fellows, Residents and colleagues in Rome will mean more things going on at the Academy. In most weeks two or three events will open to the public, ranging from prehistory to contemporary Italian issues.
In a desire to produce consistent and durable conversations over the academic year, we will join together a series of intellectual encounters around a shared set of themes and questions. As a result, about half the events in the humanities will now be organized around a yearly theme addressing a particular aspect of new humanities research. This “New Work in the Humanities” series will include conferences, lectures, workshops and other events, all addressing this theme and lending each year its own particular set of questions and approaches.
The humanities theme for 2013-14 is “New Work on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages” and will examine the transition from ancient to medieval worlds. Previously neglected and now one of the most fecund areas of historical and archaeological research, the so-called “Dark Ages,” have never seemed so bright. This years’ theme capitalizes on fortuitous AAR population of both Rome Prize Fellows and Residents with interests in late antique/medieval subjects, and will sponsor some 10 events - lectures, conferences and seminars - on late antique subjects. Lectures by Peter Brown (RAAR’12), Chris Wickham and incoming Resident Alan Cameron, a day-long conference organized by incoming Residents Maureen Miller and Kate Jansen, and the first of a series of Getty/AAR Seminars on medieval art/archaeology and national discourses are among the highlights of the year’s New Work in the Humanities series.
A desire to involve Fellows more closely in humanities programing has prompted the addition of “Fellow-organized” conferences. Paralleling the Fellow-organized shows in the arts, dedicated funds and support have been set aside for interested fellows to organize a one-day conference or workshop. Last year, Fellows Jennifer Knust and Claudia Moser organized a one-day conference on the archaeology of religion. Entitled “Ritual Matters: Material Residues of Ancient Religion,” the conference joined Jenny and Claudia’s shared interest in materiality of religious practice and brought together an international group of scholars for a day and a half of presentation and discussion. Two such conferences are planned for 2013-2014: Fellow Yoko Hara will host a conference entitled “Theater and the Visual Arts in Rome, 1300-1700,” in collaboration with the Rome Art History Network; and Fellow Irene San Pietro and Tom Hendrickson (FAAR’13), together with Director Christopher Celenza, will organize a two-day conference on knowledge in the pre-modern world, “Libraries, Lives and the Organization of Knowledge in the Pre-Modern World.”
Collaboration with Roman institutions is another major desideratum for events held at the Academy. Next year some 7 humanities events will be the result of collaborations with other institutions, including the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, the Warburg Institute, the American University in Rome, and the Swiss Institute.
Finally, the Academy’s commitment to translating academic subjects to non-specialists will continue with a series of major lectures geared towards general audiences. The Conversations that Matter series will continue to point up the contemporary relevance of scholarly work, while other lively public lectures by Peter Brown and Chris Wickham will, with the help of simultaneous translation, reach both English-speaking and Italian audiences of all kinds.
Since its founding, the American Academy in Rome has been a place where some of the best humanities research in the world has taken place. We hope to share that work even more in years to come, reaching out to the Roman community and our sister institutions and showcasing the extraordinary projects of our Fellows.