The “Glimpse Series” offers a closer view of the AAR community’s current Rome Prize winners by delving further into their studios or studies, their daily routines or work in progress. The scholarly and artistic work being pursued continues to be as varied as the fellowship recipients themselves. The following “Glimpse” focuses on Elizabeth C. Robinson, a predoctoral candidate in the Classics Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Irene Rosenzweig/Samuel H. Kress Foundation Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellow in Ancient Studies (and in year two of a two-year fellowship).
Describe a particularly inspiring moment or location you've experienced in Rome thus far.
The major snowfall we had in Rome on February 4, 2012 was absolutely beautiful. Having grown up in upstate New York, snow is nothing new to me, but to see the whole Academy and the entire city of Rome covered in white was something completely unexpected and rare. I set off in the morning to photograph the city center and was in no way disappointed—there were people making snowmen everywhere, sledding down the stairs leading from Trastevere to the Gianicolo, and on cross-country skis. All the monuments looked so different. Everyone seemed to have found their second childhood via impromptu snowball fights on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, making snow angels and sledding down parts of the seven hills. It was a completely different side of the city from anything else I’ve ever experienced here.
Have you had any "ah-hah!" moments or unanticipated breakthroughs in the course of your work here?
The focus of my research has been on the Romanization of southern Italy using Larinum (or Larino in modern-day Molise) as a case study. This site, a non-Roman capital in the fourth and third centuries BCE, was incorporated into the Roman state in the first century BCE. Now that I’m in the writing phase of my dissertation, it’s amazing to see how the various aspects of my research (field survey, artifact analysis, epigraphic studies, historical analysis) are coming together. Finding links between the different types of evidence has been challenging and thrilling at the same time.
Even if I discover an older article that has already made the same kinds of connections that I’m seeing now, I still feel like I’m making significant progress, and that I’m looking at things from a new perspective. The discoveries and connections are my own, and the fact that someone else may have noticed them forty years ago while doing a different kind of project gives me a ready reference and the knowledge that I’m on the right track.
How have you managed the balance between your work and engagement with Rome and Italy? This balance is never the same for any two Fellows.
I’m one of the fortunate two-year Kress Fellows, so I’ve had more time to find a balance. Plus, I’ve already been able to travel extensively throughout the country, so I enjoy being able to explore Rome and its environment in detail.
That said, any time I’ve been invited to go anywhere, I’ve accepted. I’ve presented papers in Molise and have one to give in Florence in March, and these opportunities have allowed me to combine my work with some travel, too. Since my project is focused on Larino, I return there at least once every month or so to check up on artifacts that I haven’t seen, or to check in with members of the Comune who have been helping me with my project, or just to visit with the friends I have made there. And I go back every May for their festival of San Pardo—a three-day celebration in honor of the patron saint that’s not to be missed!
As great as the Academy community is, I think it’s important to experience Rome too, and make a point to get out into the city on a regular basis. I’ve taken Italian lessons in the historic center, have been taking ballet lessons since October 2010 (I even got to perform in The Nutcracker last year at a theater downtown), and have made a list of monuments I want to make sure to see before I go home—and I try to cross at least one off of that list every weekend.
How do you anticipate your Rome Prize Fellowship will influence future work?
This question is both easy and difficult to answer. I have had so many positive experiences here as a Rome Prize Fellow that I know will stay with me for the rest of my life.One of the most positive effects of my time in Rome is that I have come to know the city much better than I ever imagined (in both its modern and ancient versions). Despite the fact that I had taken a graduate-level ancient Roman topography course before coming, I always had trouble fitting the geography of the city together and picturing how to reach one monument from another. Now, having walked everywhere, ridden the bus and metro, and even driven the nine-passenger Academy van through Piazza Venezia, I have a much better idea and know it will be a huge advantage in my future teaching and research.
I have also had the opportunity here at the Academy to make connections with several renowned classical scholars who have come through the doors in the last two years. Having the opportunity not only to meet these individuals, but also to sit down over dinner and talk with them about my project and their work and to hear their advice on academia, the job market, and my research, has been invaluable. And the best part is that those connections will last outside of the Academy when we see each other at future conferences.
Although I could go on and on about the ways that my time at the Academy will influence my future work, I’ll stop with one last thought. I have always felt that while it is important for me to do the best research possible, my work becomes much more worthwhile if I can introduce it to the broader world and my time here has helped me learn how to explain my research to a much broader audience. When you sit down to dinner with an art critic, a medieval manuscript specialist, a museum curator, and a musicologist, and one of them asks you about your archaeology dissertation, it really teaches you how to talk about your work without using jargon, in a way that an educated audience can understand, and without getting bogged down in the details. Similarly, the opportunity to give two different shoptalks to the community (one in 2011 and one in 2012) allowed me to further hone my presentation skills.
I’m so grateful for the opportunity to practice in such a friendly and supportive environment and for all of the advice and feedback that I have received while I’ve been here—I know that my project is much stronger for having received it.