The American Academy in Rome doesn’t just nurture preeminent artists and established scholars – it also offers a select group of college students a unique pre-grad school experience. And one that ultimately helps them determine whether they want to continue working in their chosen field.
As with the Academy’s long-running Classical Summer School, where invited scholars share advanced research and knowledge about Rome with American high school teachers, the Academy’s collaboration with the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome (ICCS) facilitates scholarly exchange between the AAR and ICCS college students known as Centristi. This includes official AAR-sponsored events like an “Archaeology Day” made possible with the aid of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as well as invitations to special dinners and public events at the AAR, and internship opportunities.
“The goal of the ICCS program is to expose philology students to material culture,” says Gregory Bucher, FAAR’96, this year’s Mellon Professor in Charge at ICCS and a former Director of the Academy’s Classical Summer School program. “My mission is to help enrich the experience of the Centristi and the opportunities afforded by the Academy are central to my success.”
Approximately 36 undergraduate students attend ICCS each semester. Most are interested in Classical Studies, while others focus on the Middle Ages and Art History. The program is highly competitive and in addition to course work in Roman Topography, Latin, Greek, Italian, and Renaissance and Baroque Art, students take at least two “walks and talks” around Rome per week and are granted permission to use the AAR Library – the only undergraduates in Rome who enjoy such a privilege. Many are working with material from the Academy’s Archaeological Study Collection under the supervision of AAR Mellon Professor Corey Brennan, FAAR’88.
The AAR began welcoming Centristi soon after the ICCS was established by a consortium of American universities in 1965. More recently, the Academy chose to expand the collaboration and usher in a new era of cooperation by instituting the “Babcock Lecture Series” in honor of Charles L. Babcock, FAAR’55 and ICCS Professor in Charge ‘74, whereby several classicist pre-doctoral Fellows go to the “Centro” (located only a few blocks from the AAR in Monteverde Vecchio) to talk about their work. “Centristi are committed and enthusiastic and we are proud to open our doors to them,” says American Academy in Rome Director Christopher S. Celenza, FAAR’94. “The Babcock lectures allow these promising undergrads to meet someone slightly ahead of themselves in academic development and get a better idea of what life as a grad student is like,” he adds.
Hands-on experience and mentorship relationships are a key component of the ICCS program and a main attraction to students as they gain access to professionals in their chosen fields of study, engage in valuable independent study experiences and have the chance to participate in original research. “When it comes to internships students here think of the Academy first,” says Bucher while noting that the AAR has provided Centristi with the chance to pursue editorial, field and museum work. “From the Babcock Lecture Series and Rome Prize Fellows accompanying us on walks to invitations to AAR conferences, events and receptions with leading scholars, we get a lot out of this relationship.”
And as Mellon Professor Corey Brennan can attest, the benefits are mutual. Starting this year, Brennan has relied on a steady stream of Centristi to help survey the Academy’s extensive study holdings of excavated artifacts and also work toward making the whole of the AAR’s Archaeological Study Collection accessible online. Over the course of this academic year, close to 40 Centristi will have contributed to the enhancement of the Archaeological Study Collection Database and other vital records. “I hold the dubious distinction of being one of the few Romanists in America who never passed through the Centro as an undergraduate”, says Brennan. “So I am especially full of admiration for the students who have come to Rome to undertake this rigorous program, which for decades has been a model of its type. Whatever precise career paths these students will take, I know that the superior training and wide range of experiences they are getting now here in Rome will serve them exceedingly well.”
With many dozens of Centristi among today’s Rome Prize Fellows (including current Trustee Prof. C. Brian Rose, FAAR’92, and recent Fellows such as Lela Urquhart, FAAR’10), the AAR/ICCS exchange is making a direct contribution to Classical scholarship by keeping some of America’s most promising students engaged and inspiring them to the highest levels of achievement.