NEWS
AIRC's upcoming Summer Archaeological Field School at Ostia Antica was recently featured in an article in Popular Archaeology online. Positions in the program are still available; information and application instructions can be found here.
AIRC's Executive Director Darius Arya and Associate Director of Archaeology Alberto Prieto have been invited by Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (the Vatican's official pilgrimage agency) to prepare and teach an 8-hour course in Italian on the latest excavations, innovations, and research in archaeology in Rome and the Province of Rome from the last 10 years, as part of a larger preparatory program for the Province's tour-guide licensing exam, organized by Quanta Risorse Umane.
AIRC congratulates its Associate Director of Archaeology Alberto Prieto on the recent publication by University of Texas Press of four volumes, co-edited by Alberto with Prof. Joseph C. Carter of the University of Texas at Austin, detailing the results of 20 years of intensive archaeological field survey at Metaponto in Basilicata (southern Italy), where Alberto worked from 1999 to 2007. The full 1648 pages of the publication were on display last week at the Archaeological Institute of America's 2012 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, where AIRC's Executive Director Darius Arya snapped this evocative image.
On December 22nd the New York Times published an article on Ostia Antica by Barbara Ireland in the Travel section. The article concludes with a range of helpful practical information for those intending to visit Ostia Antica, including links to the 9-part series of educational video documentaries produced by AIRC in partnership with Northeastern University and to Jan Theo Bakker's essential website for all things related to Ostia.
On January 9 at noon AIRC's Executive Director Darius Arya delivered a lecture in Stanford University's Department of Classics on the role of video and social media in cultural heritage preservation, based on AIRC's own innovative experience.
Eighteen videos from AIRC's first annual Unlisted conference, held in Rome on April 15-16, 2011, are now available online. The videos include the opening remarks by dignitaries from the Ministry of Culture (MiBAC) and AIRC Executive Director Darius Arya, papers by invited speakers, and the three papers comprising the panel on "New Models in Conservation."
The videos can be viewed through AIRC's video webpage or its YouTube channel.
AIRC's pilot project of documentation and conservation of recently recuperated structures at Ostia, on Via della Foce in Region III (Insula 1.14), was successfully completed today with the covering of the exposed floor surface with stone aggregate imported from Sellano in Umbria.
AIRC is pleased to announce that its second annual Unlisted conference on archaeological cultural heritage will be held in Rome on March 23-24, 2012, co-sponsored with the Italian Ministry of Culture. For a description of the theme and topics, and requirements for participation, click here.
AIRC is pleased to announce that its 2012 Summer Archaeological Field School will take place from June 18 to July 27 at Ostia Antica, the harbor city of ancient Rome. AIRC and the Ostia Office of the Archaeological Superintendency of Rome have made an agreement for a multi-year investigation of a large overgrown and unexplored structure that may have been part of the coastal port facilities, which are currently being explored nearby with exciting results. Learn more...
In April the AIRC and the International Association for Classical Archaeology (AIAC) signed an agreement envisioning the co-production of short documentary videos about ongoing archaeological excavations and research projects in Italy. The first four of those videos are now available on AIRC's YouTube channel and on the videos page of the AIRC website.
On Saturday, November 26, AIRC's Darius and Alberto delivered a lecture entitled "Podcasting Culture: The Role of Video in Heritage Preservation" at the conference "Our Future's Past: Sustainable Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century" held in Rome, sponsored by the American University in Rome and the British School at Rome.
Today the General Directorate of Management and Promotion of Cultural Heritage of MiBAC (the Italian Ministry of Culture) held a day-long conference on the promotion, enhancement, and development of Italy's enormous cultural patrimony. The conference coincided with the official launch of the English-language version of the General Directorate of Management and Promotion of Cultural Heritage's website, in which AIRC participated by providing its expert translation skills. (This participation is part of a larger collaborative agreement between AIRC and the General Directorate.) AIRC's Darius and Alberto attended the opening session of the conference, in which the General Directorate kindly acknowldedged AIRC's participation (below, Darius is pictured with Mario Resca, the Director-General, and Manuel Roberto Guido, Director of Department I).
Summer Archaeological Field School
After our patented week-long survey of Rome's archaeological heritage, this summer we introduced our 42 excavation students to three incredibly rich and diverse projects: the northern slopes of the Palatine Hill in the Roman Forum (University of Rome "La Sapienza"), the important Roman sanctuary at Sant'Omobono on the banks of the Tiber (University of Michigan and University of Calabria), and the Archaic Latin city of Gabii (University of MIchigan), the last being the largest American excavation project currently working in Italy. Alberto Prieto once again coordinated the Summer Archaeological Field School, and many thanks are due to Prof. John Pollini of USC who provided logistical help, brilliant lectures on ancient art, and a contingent of 11 Californians.
Ostia Antica Conservation Project in Region III Insula 1.14
Invited by dott. Angelo Pellegrino, Director of Ostia Antica, AIRC began a collaborative effort with the Superintendency of Rome and Ales, spa (led by dott. Enrico Rinaldi) to complement their conservation work in Region III, on the Via della Foce across the street from the Sanctuary of Hercules. In this effort, where vegetation overgrowth has been recently cleared and walls recapped by Ales, AIRC began to address the age-old problem of vegetation regrowth after conservation work in a limited test area. In our initial survey, in which we produced drawings of the walls of a single room, we then uncovered the floor (in May and June-July periods) to reveal the ancient levels in order to understand and document the many periods of occupation. In the final phase of this project, we will cover the floor this fall with a new sand that is both impervious to biological growth and totally reversible. Our colleagues at the Villa of the Quintilii have had great success with this inexpensive material, and we look forward to implementing this phase in the fall. We are also looking forward to expanding this project in coming months, and we give special thanks to dott. Pellegrino, long-standing AIRC excavator Jeff Edwards, and new archaeologist collaborator dott.ssa Claudia Micari!
Villa delle Vignacce Excavation Research
Long-time AIRC collaborator Chris Renaud (Professor of Classics, Carthage College) continued her research on the brickstamps from the Villa delle Vignacce site, excavated by AIRC in 2006-2009, utilizing the library of the American Academy. Project directors dott.ssa Dora Cirone and Darius turned in the final documentation reports and catalog of materials from the 2008-2009 seasons, with complete site plans in building phases.
College of the Holy Cross Maymester (Worcester, MA)
In our fifth year running, for the first time with two sessions and without Holy Cross faculty, AIRC put on a great program without training wheels or Holy Cross chaperones! Needless to say, it was our best Maymester ever, taught by Alberto and Darius and new colleague Crispin Corrado (PhD in Classical Archaeology, Brown University).
Azusa University (Sacramento, CA)
Led by Prof. Jacquelyn Winston, the program navigated the development of early Christianity, traveling from Rome to Ravenna and Milan.
Northeastern University (Boston, MA) film program
For the second year in a row the film program was led and directed by AIRC. Again, students filmed at Ostia Antica, and you can view the videos on our videos page.
Internships
Through the Global Engagement Internship Program at Wellesley College's Center for Work and Service, AIRC was pleased to have with us in Rome intern Marguerite (Margo) Sulmont. Margo summarizes her work here, which involved social media, project and online management, as well as creation of new fundraising projects which will launch this fall.
We were also pleased to have Rebekah Junkermeier conduct her research on early Christian catacombs in Rome with us through a fellowship from Dartmouth College, after the successful completion of her MA from the Harvard Divinity School.
We also thank and salute our 2011 teaching assistant and programs intern, AUR graduate Julia Elsey, who has excavated with us at Vignacce, Ostia (Porta Marina dig), and this summer in the Roman Forum.
SVA (NY, NY)
For the third year in a row AIRC assisted the School of Visual Arts' summer course Rome-Venice with a tour-de-force in the Forum, Palatine, and Imperial Fora, as well as a critique of the work that participants produced at Palazzo delle Esposizioni.
Unlisted Conference Proceedings Going Online
A summary video of our first annual Unlisted Conference is currently available. We are preparing videos of the individual presentations and are editing the papers for publication of the proceedings. The date for next year's conference will be posted soon.
IMT Seminar in Lucca
AIRC's Darius was invited to give a day-long seminar for the students of the Doctoral Program in Management and Development of Cultural Heritage at the IMT University in Lucca, discussing cultural heritage management and American non-profit work abroad in education and cultural heritage projects and programs, subjects very dear to AIRC.
ARCA Conference in Amelia
AIRC's Darius was invited to participate in the conference held this summer as part of the MA program offered by ARCA (Association for Research into Crimes against Art), in Umbria. He spoke with director and founder Noah Charney about collaboration in AIRC's second annual Unlisted Conference in 2012.
Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas
AIRC was present in force at the AIA's 112th Annual Meeting held in San Antonio, Texas, January 6-9. Darius chaired Session 1A (Roman Villas) and gave a presentation (with Dora Cirone) entitled "In Rome's Suburbium: Villa delle Vignacce Excavations 2006-2009," summarizing the results of AIRC's four field campaigns at that site. In Session 5H (Coasts and Harbors) Alberto gave a presentation (with M. David, A. Pellegrino, and M. Turci) entitled "The Ostia Marina Project: Rewriting the History of a Seafront Neighborhood," describing recent research and excavations in the Porta Marina area of Ostia Antica, where AIRC held its Summer Archaeological Field School in 2010.
AIRC is pleased to introduce its new Programs Director. Shelley Ruelle brings experience and knowledge to AIRC as a former director of the ACCENT center in Rome (which currently hosts AIRC for its programs). She recently returned to Rome with her family and has settled back into her bilingual-bicultural life, helping AIRC rapidly expand with new programs over the next 18 months. She'll also be visiting the US this fall with Darius on a whirlwind trip to several cities to visit friends, supporters, and universities.
Mini-documentaries on Archaeological Projects in Italy
Through a new partnership with AIAC (International Association of Classical Archaeology) AIRC has begun filming short documentaries of active archaeological projects throughout Italy for their online publication Fasti Online. Our new film division (Darius, Alberto, and Simone) has been busy in the field, with initial filming at Gabii (University of Michigan), Sant'Omobono (Universities of Michigan and Calabria) and Via Ardeatina (University of Rome 3) in Rome, and Pompeii (University of Cincinnati). The finished videos will be made available this fall, though you can already see working shots of the sites on our FLICKR page. Stay tuned!
Social Media Collaboration with MiBAC
AIRC continues its unique collaboration with MiBAC (Italian Ministry of Culture), especially through the Direzione Generale per la Valorizzazione del Patrimonio Culturale led by Mario Resca. This summer AIRC translated the key pages for MiBAC's new English-language website, and we'd like to especially thank the hard work of Shelley, Alberto, and Chris Renaud (professor of Classics at Carthage College). The site will go live this fall and provide a suitable landing platform for the social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook) that AIRC is exclusively managing for MiBAC.
Thanks to a relationship that started through Twitter, the AIRC met and subsequently began working with Simone Di Santi of A Road Retraveled, who brings her wealth of experience from the world of social media (over 12,000 followers on Twitter!) and videography to AIRC, starting with the production of videos of AIRC projects, collaborating with AIRC's longstanding colleague Alberto Prieto.
The American Institute for Roman Culture launches its new website May 20, 2011. Added features include easy access to the Institute's blogs, video channel, frequently updated news on our activities in Rome and beyond, new e-newsletter sign up, and a more refined, focused mission and vision of how we promote and defend Rome's cultural heritage.
The AIRC is already busy with summer programs! Currently, the AIRC is hosting and running the NEU summer program in film and communications, with filming at Ostia Antica. Each team of 4-5 students will produce a short, 5-minute video on a unique aspect of Ostia's cultural significance, with particular emphasis on its sustainability and preservation.
May 23 will see the arrival of our Holy Cross Maymester group, for a month-long exploration of ancient Rome and its cultural legacy. Travel will include sites such as Hadrian's Villa and Tiberius' villa at Sperlonga.
Shortly thereafter will arrive students for the Azusa University and for our summer excavation field school at Ostia Antica, run with the University of Bologna. We're in for a busy summer!
In light of contemporary conflicts of war and political upheaval, economic crises, growth in international tourism, and rapid urban expansion that threaten heritage sites, new and innovative ways must be found to conserve the past while increasing the accessibility and visibility of sites around the world. In recent years, the labeling of certain sites has brought greater attention to conservation and increased funding for a few, select sites but at the cost of the thousands of significant sites that do not benefit from special labels or increased funding. The vast majority of the world’s archaeological sites are, in short, unlisted and neglected by the current scheme.
AIRC director Darius Arya was interviewed on a series of radio shows and Fox News because of his role as host of the National Geographic show on gladiators, ever relevant, as a conduit to Rome's past. Check out this interview with Megyn Kelly on April 6, 2011 on Fox News.
Professor John Pollini from USC art history and history is bringing more of sunny California to Rome! For the second summer in a row, world-renowned art historian and archaeologist John Pollini will bring a contingent of Trojans to dig and learn in Rome and Ostia. We all look forward to his Ara Pacis and Vatican Museums lectures, which have been the subject of many of his important publications.
"Parco delle Acquedotti, Emerge Una Splendida Statua," July 30, 2009, La Repubblica
"Rooting Up Ancient Rome," Susan Spano, July 17, 2009, Los Angeles Times
"Rare Artifacts Uncovered in Roman Baths Dig," Deepa Babington, December 10, 2008, Reuters
"Dig Reveals Billionaire's Roman Villa with Baths," Robin Pomeroy, July 24, 2007, Reuters
"Lavish 2nd-century Roman Bath Unearthed," Marta Falconi, July 19, 2007, Associated Press
"Emperor Maxentius Insignia Found in Rome," Marta Falconi, December 4, 2006, Associated Press
"Nero, Hoards and Aberdeen Ships," Diana O'Carroll, Tom Birch, broadcast October 16, 2009, Naked Archaeology
"Europe Today," Duncan Kennedy, broadcast April 7, 2009, BBC World Service
"World Briefing," Duncan Kennedy, broadcast May 7, 2009, BBC World Service
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