My project explores the relationship between language, land, and environment in early modern Jewish thought, with a focus on Italy—especially Rome—between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It argues that Jewish physicians such as David de’ Pomi profoundly shaped intellectual culture by linking geography, medicine, and biblical exegesis. Their writings—across Hebrew, Latin, and Italian—reveal that Jewish life in the diaspora remained deeply rooted in the physical world, challenging portrayals of Judaism as rootless or purely migratory. The project situates Jewish intellectual history within broader scientific and environmental currents of the Renaissance and utilizes unstudied manuscripts in Roman libraries and archives. A Rome Prize would support completion of this research while fostering dialogue with artists and scholars across disciplines, enhancing the marriage of my historical and creative pursuits.

The photograph of Andrew Berns was taken by Sadie Whitehead.