AAR invites applications for the annual Rome Prize competition!

The Academy invites pre- and postdoctoral applicants to submit proposals in archaeology, classics, history, the history of art and architecture, economic and political policy, literature, musicology, theory, and other relevant fields. Please note that these categories are not intended to be exclusive. Any approach or combination of approaches to these disciplines will be considered. Cross-cultural projects that share Rome and its influences are also welcome. We welcome interdisciplinary work on historic and contemporary issues across the humanities that include one or more of the chronological periods listed below:

Ancient Studies

Through the sixth century.

Medieval Studies

The sixth through fourteenth centuries.

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

The fourteenth through eighteenth centuries.

Modern Italian Studies

The eighteenth century to the present.

Predoctoral Fellowships

The Academy offers full-term predoctoral Rome Prize fellowships (of approximately ten months) in the categories listed above. These fellowships are meant to provide scholars with the necessary time to research and write their doctoral dissertations. Applicants for predoctoral fellowships must have fulfilled all predissertation requirements; they should also have preferably completed a draft of the first chapter of their dissertation, by the application deadline.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Academy offers full-term (approximately ten months) and half-term (approximately five months) postdoctoral fellowships in the fields listed above. All applicants for postdoctoral fellowships must hold a PhD at the time of application.

Two types of postdoctoral Rome Prize fellowships are available: Academy postdoctoral fellowships and National Endowment for the Humanities postdoctoral fellowships.

Applicants for the Academy postdoctoral fellowships must be US citizens, are often scholars at an early stage in their academic careers, and may be assistant professors, associate professors, or independent scholars.

Applicants for NEH postdoctoral fellowships must be US citizens or foreign nationals who have lived in the US for the three years immediately preceding the application deadline; they may hold any academic rank or be independent scholars.

The required application materials for pre- and postdoctoral candidates include a completed online application form and the following three documents, to be uploaded to your online application as three separate digital files:

1. Current résumé/curriculum vitae. Please include languages read and spoken and level of fluency.

2. Four-page proposal describing the project to be undertaken. Please be sure to address the following points/questions in your proposal:

• Explain how the proposed project and your own professional development will benefit from a residency within a multidisciplinary community in Rome
• Explain what guides or motivates your work
• Rome is a modern city powerfully stamped by the material remains of the past. Is this past important to your present? If so, why?
• What, if any, resources in Rome or Italy will be significant to the completion of your proposed project?
• What kind of workspace do you need in Rome?

Please include bibliographical notes for any sources cited (not counted toward the four-page limit). Your proposal should be double-spaced with 10- to 12-point typeface and one-inch margins.

3. Writing sample: this may be up to twenty pages and should be in the proposed field of study. Please include bibliography and footnotes (not counted toward the page limit).

Also needed are three reference letters from professionals acquainted with you and your work. Recommenders will be asked to submit their letters electronically through our online system.

Finally, you must submit an application fee* paid by credit card through our online payment option or by check or money order made payable to American Academy in Rome and mailed to the following address: 

American Academy in Rome
Attention: [Field of Application]
535 West 22nd Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10011

Applicants wishing to be considered in more than one field must complete an online application for each category.

* There is no application fee for those applying solely for NEH postdoctoral fellowships.

This fall, the American Academy in Rome is hosting three in-person information sessions about the Rome Prize. The first takes place at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 24. The second will be presented at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence on Tuesday, October 8. The third will happen at Howard University in Washington, DC, on Thursday, October 17.

AAR will also present two general online information sessions on Zoom on September 23 and October 15. A third virtual meeting, focused only on landscape architecture, will happen on October 16.

These information sessions give prospective applicants a general overview of the Rome Prize application process and a look into the experience of living in the American Academy’s unique residential community in Rome.