The American Academy in Rome is the oldest overseas center for research and study in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Academy awards the Rome Prize to a select group of artists and scholars who are invited to live and work in a dynamic international community in the heart of Rome. To support the work of these Fellows, the Academy also hosts programming in Rome, New York, and around the United States.

AAR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Position Summary

The American Academy in Rome (AAR), a leading center for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities, seeks an accomplished Director of Communications to lead its global communications strategy and elevate the Academy's profile across Italy, Europe, and the United States.

Based in Rome and reporting directly to the President & CEO, the Director of Communications serves as AAR's principal communications executive, responsible for stewarding the institution's voice, shaping its public presence, strengthening engagement with diverse audiences, and fostering effective communication across the Academy. The Director will collaborate closely with colleagues in Rome and New York—and with U.S.- based communications partners—to ensure cohesive messaging and strong amplification of AAR's stories across Italy, Europe, and the United States, particularly among donor and alumni communities.

This role requires a strategic thinker and exceptional communicator who combines editorial excellence with a sophisticated understanding of Italy's cultural landscape, fluency in English, and the ability to operate in a bicultural environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Communications & Institutional Positioning

• Develop and execute an integrated, multi-year communications strategy that advances AAR's mission, enhances institutional visibility, and supports long-term goals across scholarship, the arts, and public engagement.
• Shape core messaging that effectively represents AAR to external audiences, including cultural partners, funders, alumni, policy stakeholders, and the general public.
• Provide strategic counsel to the President & CEO and serve as a key thought partner across major institutional initiatives.

2. Content Development & Brand Stewardship

• Oversee the creation of high-quality written and visual content that articulates AAR's impact, elevates the work of fellows and residents, and communicates the vibrancy of life on the Rome campus.
• Ensure consistency of brand voice, design standards, and institutional messaging across all platforms and materials.
• Lead editorial planning and maintain a clear, compelling institutional narrative throughout the year.

3. Media Relations & Public Visibility

• Build and sustain strong relationships with Italian and international journalists, editors, cultural media, and thought leaders.
• Oversee and direct the work of AAR's U.S.-based public relations agency, ensuring that core messages shaped in Rome are effectively amplified throughout the United States across cultural, philanthropic, and academic media.
• Proactively generate earned media opportunities—including features, interviews, op-eds, and coverage of programs and events—that increase AAR's visibility in Italy and abroad.
• Ensure that U.S. amplification efforts support outreach to current and prospective donors, trustees, and alumni, aligning media strategy with institutional advancement goals.
• Prepare press releases, media kits, statements, executive remarks, and crisis-response communications as needed.
• Support executive visibility by developing communications opportunities and briefing leadership for public appearances, interviews, and institutional engagements.

4. Public Programming & Event Communications

• Develop and implement communications plans for concerts, lectures, exhibitions, open studios, and all other public-facing programs in Rome.
• Strengthen audience development strategies within Rome's cultural ecosystem, ensuring that programming reaches diverse and appropriate publics.
• Coordinate communications around institutional events and visits involving trustees, donors, partners, and diplomatic or cultural institutions.

5. Digital Communications & Engagement

• Direct strategy for AAR's website, social media channels, and institutional newsletters, ensuring a coherent online presence and consistent flow of engaging content.
• Coordinate with U.S. communications partners to ensure messaging consistency across digital channels particularly when content is repurposed or amplified for U.S. audiences.
• Collaborate with digital staff and external partners to optimize digital storytelling, audience growth, and platform performance.
• Use analytics to measure effectiveness, refine content strategy, and inform decision-making.

6. Internal Communications

• Establish strong internal communication frameworks—regular updates, messaging guidance, editorial calendars, and information-sharing systems—that support clarity and alignment across Rome and New York.
• Prepare internal briefings, institutional updates, and key messages for major initiatives, ensuring staff have timely and accurate information.
• Promote a culture of transparent, proactive communication throughout the institution.

7. Issues Management & Crisis Communications

• Serve as the primary lead for communications during sensitive or time-critical situations, coordinating messaging with leadership in Rome and New York, as well as with U.S.-based PR partners when American media or donor audiences are implicated.
• Anticipate reputational risks and develop protocols that align with best practices in both Italian and U.S. media environments.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively senior experience in communications, media relations, or public affairs, ideally within cultural, academic, or nonprofit institutions.
• Demonstrated success in developing and executing integrated communications strategies across multiple geographies.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills in both English and Italian; ability to craft clear, compelling messages for varied audiences.
• Proven ability to cultivate relationships with journalists and generate high-quality media coverage.
• Experience overseeing digital communications, including web and social platforms, content planning, and analytics.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and leadership presence, with a collaborative and diplomatic approach suited to complex institutional environments.
• Deep interest in the arts, humanities, and cross-disciplinary inquiry; familiarity with AAR's mission and history is a significant plus.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.

The American Academy in Rome invites applications for the position of the Director of the American Academy in Rome Classical Summer School, beginning in the summer 2027, for a term of three years (2027–2029). The annual salary is $12,000 with a $1,500 stipend for meals outside of the Academy, transportation in Rome, and other incidental expenses. The Academy will also reimburse the CSS Director up to $2,000 annually for travel to Rome.

Organization

Since 1894 the American Academy in Rome has functioned as a residential center for research and creativity. Its purpose has always been to enable highly motivated scholars and artists to immerse themselves in the experience of Rome, ancient and modern, and to be inspired by daily exchange with the other members of this creative community. The Academy has made an outsized impact on the intellectual and cultural life of the United States, and its Fellows and Residents have been recognized with 647 Guggenheim Fellowships, 79 Pulitzer Prizes, 63 MacArthur Fellowships, 28 Grammy Awards, 25 National Medal of Arts, 21 National Book Awards, 9 Poet Laureate appointments, 7 National Humanities Medals, 5 Nobel Prizes, 5 Pritzker Prizes, and 2 Oscars. In addition to these honors, Fellows and Residents have been awarded memberships to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (223), the American Academy of Arts and Letters (188), and the Accademia de Lincei (10). Approximately 35 Fellows are selected as winners of the Rome Prize each year by rotating juries in the different fields.

The Classical Summer School was established in 1923 to benefit high school teachers of Greek and Latin, and graduate students in archeology and philology. Over the years, its participants have become more varied and now include college teachers and those working in related fields. It is of particular use to teachers and scholars with limited opportunities to visit Rome, as well as underrepresented groups in ancient studies. The Classical Summer School is designed to provide participants with a well-grounded understanding of the growth and development of the ancient city of Rome and central Italy, from the earliest times to late antiquity, through a careful study of material remains, art, and textual sources. Considerable time is also spent on issues of pedagogy and on integrating knowledge gained on site into the teaching of ancient languages, literature, and history. The Classical Summer School usually runs for 5 weeks beginning in mid-June.

Position Description

Major Responsibilities

The Classical Summer School Director provides the intellectual leadership for the intensive 5-week program, adjusting the program to reflect the changing state of the field of Roman studies and relevant emerging research. The CSS Director is responsible for delivering an intellectually coherent curriculum, feasible within the constraints of Rome in the summer, which pairs seminar-style teaching with on-site teaching and student presentations. The CSS Director will select participants (in consultation with the Mellon Professor in the Humanities); manage and stay within the budget; prepare the syllabus, lectures, talks, workshops, conversations, and site visits; and work closely with the Teaching Assistant (usually a PhD student from among the current Rome Prize Fellows) and the CSS Program Manager. Duties include:

• recruiting applicants and assessing applications;
• developing the curriculum and preparing pedagogical materials, including organizing lectures, conversations, discussions, workshops, and site visits (please note that the bulk of this work will take place before the start of the Summer School during the academic year);
• coordinating participant lodging with the assistance of the CSS Program Manager;
• providing guidance to the AAR on recruitment strategies;
• preparing a student survey at the close of each year's Classical Summer School and reporting to the Academy on the Classical Summer School and participant experiences;
• engaging in constructive dialogue on eventual changes and improvements to the Classical Summer School;
• (optional but encouraged) attendance of the Classical Summer School in summer 2026 for one week (funded), shadowing the current CSS director.

The Academy will provide assistance on publicity, preparation of guidelines and informational and application materials for the Summer School; general administrative and accounting tasks; management of site permissions and visit reservations, accommodation, and local travel arrangements for the program.

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field (Roman archaeology, classics, art history, Roman history, etc.);
• active academic research in subjects related to Rome, its history and archaeology, with an outstanding publication record, appropriate to career stage;
• expert knowledge of Roman history and material culture from the earliest times to late antiquity, museums, and sites in and around Rome;
• considerable experience teaching at the college or university level;
• considerable practical knowledge of the city of Rome;
• expert knowledge of Latin;
• practical knowledge of Italian and experience of researching in Italy.

To Apply

Please submit a CV together with a letter of interest explaining your understanding of the role of the Classical Summer School Director at the American Academy in Rome, your interest in the position, and your unique qualifications for the role. Please include contact information for three persons familiar with your scholarly work and teaching experience (please note: referees will be contacted only for short-listed candidates).

Please send your application materials to mellonprofessor [at] aarome.org (mellonprofessor[at]aarome[dot]org) no later than 2 February 2026.

Important

Please submit two (2) separate documents attached to your email message. Both documents should be in PDF file format. Indicate "CSS Director search" in the subject of your message. The file names of your documents should follow the naming criteria below: YOURLASTNAME_Firstname_CV.pdf ; YOURLASTNAME_Firstname_letter.pdf

Do not place your letter in the body of your email message.

Receipt of applications will be acknowledged by e-mail within one week.

Interviews

Candidates to be invited for an interview will be notified by 9 February 2026. Interviews will take place online.

American Academy in Rome is a EEO/AA/M/F/VET/DISABILITY Employer