Rome is a city of national academies, an institutionalized legacy of the Grand Tour. Beginning with the French Academy in 1666, these academies hosted artists and architects who were believed to need intimate contact with works and sites. Research institutes for scholars came much later, beginning with the precursor of the German Archaeological Institute in 1829. For both those countries, these functions remain separate even today; in the case of the American Academy, founded at the end of the nineteenth century, they are joined together. But what is the role for such academies today, when everything at stake in their founding—the meanings of Rome, Academy, Institute, and even discipline—has changed? The richness of the Roman institutional scene, far from an outmoded legacy, offers enormous resources for rethinking research in the twenty-first century.

Peter N. Miller is President of the American Academy in Rome.

The lecture, taking place in Rome on Tuesday, September 12 at 6:00pm CET, will be held in English.

This event, to be presented in person at the Academy, is closed to the public. It will, however, be streamed live.