AAR and the University of Michigan Press have just released volume 65 of the Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. It is the first born-digital issue of the publication, as well as the first to be open access, freely available to read on JSTOR. Volume 65, edited by Sinclair Bell, professor of art history at Northern Illinois University and a 2003 Fellow in ancient studies, features a fresh, modern look due to a redesigned layout and full-color cover and contents.
Published since 1915, the Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome is an annual publication that gathers articles on topics including Roman archaeology and topography, ancient and modern Italian history, Latin literature, and Italian art and architectural history.
The new issue is the largest issue to date, including contributions by Fellows and non-Fellows alike. It also publishes two essays in Italian. In addition to its eleven substantive, meticulously researched articles, volume 65 introduces two new sections: “Notes and Discussions,” which allows for shorter contributions on particular objects and issues, and “Necrology,” which provides a space for remembering those who made a special impact on the Academy and its disciplines. The Memoirs continues to publish its annual record of the AAR’s research activity, here featuring summaries of the work of 2020 Rome Prize Fellows.
“Even though this volume of the Memoirs is very different in its presentation and delivery from its predecessors,” Bell writes in his preface, “it nonetheless reflects the Academy’s enduring commitment to the highest standards of research excellence.”
The next issue of the Memoirs will be edited by Margaret L. Laird, an independent scholar and 2000 Rome Prize Fellow whose research focuses on Roman art and archaeology of the imperial period.