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 Heidi Wendt, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies and Classics at Brown University, and the Emeline Hill Richardson Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellow in Ancient Studies.
Have you had any "ah-hah!" moments or unanticipated breakthroughs in the course of your work here?
While I anticipated that my research would benefit from collaboration with other scholars of antiquity during my time at the Academy, some of the most provocative questions that I have been posed originated from experts in unrelated areas. For instance, one day I was elaborating my project for Karl Kirchwey [Andrew Heiskell Arts Director] as we sipped espressos at the Academy bar when he asked how my theorization of entrepreneurial religion and, specifically, of Roman attempts to negotiate its influences, ought to be reconciled with Roman persecutions of Christians. Though I managed an off-the-cuff response at the time, his question lingered in my mind for several days, demanding a more substantive explanation. Shortly thereafter I proposed a conference paper that locates Christian “persecutions” within a larger pattern of Roman administrative measures undertaken to regulate the activities of independent religious specialists, which I will present in Amsterdam this July. I take secret delight in the possibility that Karl may become the most influential poet in the history of earliest Christianity. On a related note, I am convinced that no one wields any authority about ancient religion without having emerged successfully from the trial by fire of convincing Albert Albano [Rome Prize Fellow in Historic Preservation and Conservation]!
The other, more embarrassing, breakthrough moment involves a different sort of community influence, namely, enthusiasm for HBO’s The Wire, which I began watching on the recommendation of several Fellows who were already, or had recently become, hooked on the television series. Inspired by the program’s conceptual bulletin-board maps of ongoing criminal investigations, I began my own conceptual map of the Pauline epistles on the bulletin board in my office. The board is now covered in hundreds of index card textual references, organized under various themes that I tracked across the different letters.
I grew so obsessed with completing my picture of the different elements comprising Paul’s religious program that it began to feel as thrilling as investigating a high-stakes case of drug-related political corruption. However gimmicky the process might have seemed at the time, when I actually sat down to write a dissertation chapter on Paul as a firsthand witness to the phenomenon of religious entrepreneurship, I produced something like twenty pages on the first day alone. Whether I write the rest of my dissertation by the same method remains to be seen, but I will always share a bond with Fellow traveller Petre Petrov over our fanatical love for Omar -- one of the main characters on the show, whose greatness we admire regularly over Academy lunches.
Describe a particularly inspiring moment or location you've experienced in Rome thus far.
One of the more interesting things I have done this year was to give a presentation of my dissertation research for a Brown University Alumni event in conjunction with Brother Guy Consolmagno, astronomer to the Vatican Observatory and Curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, at the Papal palace in Castel Gandolfo. Anyone who has ever heard Brother Guy speak will be able to appreciate how intimidating it was to follow him, though he was incredibly gracious. Our respective subjects paired nicely, if unexpectedly, as he shared many thoughts on the relationship between religion and science, while I talked about astrologers at Rome and discernible Stoic influences in the Pauline epistles. My friends in the States got quite a kick out of seeing a lecture advertisement in which I was jointly featured with the Vatican astronomer.
What aspect of your project are you most looking forward to?
The most exciting thing about my present research is its prospective payoff for redescribing earliest Christianity. As I mount a case for self-styled experts in Judean religion at Rome, the relationship between varieties of independent religious specialists and innovative Judean specialists who enlisted the biblical figure of the Christos is becoming clearer and more concrete. Although situating our evidence for earliest Christianity against the backdrop of entrepreneurial religion was always the intended outcome of my project, bringing the pieces together has been an intellectually exhilarating challenge.
What's your favorite dish in the RSFP kitchen?
It would be disingenuous to claim one favorite RSFP dish since every meal ushers in new contenders. Agretti stands out in particular however. It’s a green vegetable which just came into season and isn’t well known outside of Lazio ‒ let alone outside of Italy. It has the most fantastic taste and texture and is complimented perfectly by a simple olive oil and lemon dressing. I’m also especially partial to the Jerusalem artichoke soup after having peeled two heaping cassette of “J-chokes” when I volunteered in the kitchen!
How do you anticipate your Rome Prize Fellowship will influence future work?
One of the most important influences I will take away from my year at the Academy is the ability to broaden the implications of my research in a manner that highlights its relevance to contemporary phenomena. I find myself forging more connections between ancient and modern examples of religious practices, and in so doing, learning from other members of the community about modern phenomena and figures of which I was not previously aware. Judging from my experience of the past year, when one spends two to four hours each day talking to intelligent and interested people, each with a different area of expertise, the fresh perspectives that emerge are at once unexpected and profoundly influential. Such conversations have had a tremendous impact on my own thinking and writing processes.