California State University, Fresno's Division of Continuing and Global Education is the official school of record and transcripting body for AIRC programs (semester, summer, history, Latin, excavation).
STILL ACCEPTING SUMMER APPLICATIONS until April 31.
Unlisted conference, Cultural heritage in Digital Media.
April 18, 2013, 4-7pm.
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NEWS
The American Institute for Roman Culture's third annual Unlisted conference on sustainable archaeological heritage was held on April 18, 2013 at Marconi University in Rome.
Instagram, which has taken social media by storm worldwide, has selected AIRC's own Darius Arya (@saverome) as the subject of its user spotlight blog entry for April 10. This is timely recognition of Darius' use of photos to promote #culturalheritage and #preservation and foster dialog about the issues that affect monuments in Rome, Italy, and beyond, considering that AIRC's third annual "Unlisted" conference on sustainable archaeological heritage will take place next week and will feature popular Instagram photographers Sam Horine and Nicolee Drake.
Instagram, which has taken social media by storm worldwide, has selected AIRC's own Darius Arya (@saverome) as a suggested user on March 16.
On April 18, between 4 and 7 PM, the American Institute for Roman Culture will host the Third Annual Unlisted Conference on archaeological cultural heritage in Rome.
The conference is free and open to the public and can be followed via live streaming provide courtesy of Marconi University.
A group of 21 Latin students and 3 faculty members from the Walter Payton College Prep school in Chicago, led by Valerie Gemskie, recently came to Rome on a school-sponsored trip designed to help the students understand the achievements of Roman civilization. AIRC's Alberto Prieto accompanied the group to Ostia Antica, where they got a first-hand glimpse into life in the ancient metropolis.
California State University, Fresno Will Transcript University Academic Credit for AIRC Programs Starting Summer 2013 and Fall Semester 2013
On December 4 came the dire news: the Archaeological Superintendency of Rome announced that it was going to cover the site of the "Tomb of the Gladiator" - in reality, the mausoleum of the 2nd cent. AD Roman general Marcus Nonius Macrinus - to protect it from damage caused by exposure to the cold and wet after centuries of protection under 45 feet of mud. Given the lack of funding and the risk that the site might never be completely excavated, the prudent course seemed to be conservation by reburial. Click here to read more.
AIRC always has lots of exciting projects and activities going on. Have a look at our end-of-year newsletter to get an idea and dig into history!
In 2008, on the Via Flaminia in the northern part of contemporary Rome, archaeologists uncovered a monumental marble mausoleum, among other noteworthy tombs, alongside a well-preserved section of the ancient Roman road. The press was quick to dub the mausoleum the “Tomb of the Gladiator,” since the tomb itself was comissioned by and for Marcus Nonius Macrinus, a prominent general under Marcus Aurelius. Macrinus’ life was paralleled in the Oscar-winning film Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott), with the general-then-gladiator character Maximus magnificently played by Russell Crowe.
The enormous site - 13,000 square meters in area, almost three American football fields - lies 45 feet below the modern surface. The Archaeological Superintendency’s recent decision to rebury the site to preserve it is laudable, but its historical importance merits further attention and excavation, as well as a concerted plan to make it accessible to the public. Please sign and share AIRC's iPetition now.
The American Institute has launched its first Kickstarter project, with a target of $10,000 to fund production of a one-hour documentary, Digging History. This will be the first of hopefully many documentaries that will be available as free, online educational resources for students and educators at the secondary and tertiary levels, as well as anyone with an interest in learning about Rome and Roman culture. The series will be hosted and created by the AIRC team which includes historians, archaeologists, videographers, and other experts and will bring viewers behind the scenes to learn about art, archaeology, history, architecture, sustainability, conservation, religion, and politics, giving fun, accessible insights into the city and the people and events that have shaped it, and continue to shape it.
In the summer of 2013 the School of Visual Arts in New York City will once again hold its annual Masters workshop on design and typography in Venice and Rome, and for the fifth year running the American Institute for Roman Culture will be a part of the experience! Click here to see a video about the program produced by SVA.
The American Institute for Roman Culture is proud to announce the launch of an innovative summer program in Rome designed for high-school students ages 16-18, June 3-28, 2013. Read more...
On November 14 and 15 AIRC's Executive Director, Darius Arya, delivered two lectures at the California State University, Sacramento and the California State University, Fresno. Read more...
This summer, AIRC began a new collaboration with Smarthistory/ KhanAcademy. Smarthistory.org directors Steven Zucker and Beth Harris came to Rome to continue expanding their educational video enterprise on all things art history.
On October 9, History Channel premiered Caligula: 1400 Days of Terror with Darius Arya discussing the oft-considered insane emperor as he participated in the filming the History Channel documentary in the Roman Forum and Herculaneum. Arya's experience was, in a nutshell, fun: "It was great fun to re-exam Caligula's reign and the motivations behind his sometimes erratic behavior. Was this guy really off base or was he simply a cunning, over the top politician?" If you are in Italy, you will be able to see Dr. Arya speak about the purported crazy emperor: History Channel Italia Caligula: 1400 Giorni di Terrore on Sky, October 28.
AIRC has just created two short videos about its "Living Latin, Living History in Rome" summer program led by Prof. Nancy Llewellyn of Wyoming Catholic College, an expert in spoken Latin practice and pedagogy.
AIRC's Summer Archaeological Field School at Ostia Antica successfully ended in mid-August, with the trenches backfilled, the intricate documentation completed, and a great deal of new information gained about a very interesting structure.
AIRC's 2012 Summer Archaeological Field School began on June 18 with 32 participants from 25 schools in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. The first week's intensive exploration of the historical development of the city of Rome was followed by the first of five weeks of excavation at Ostia Antica, the harbor city of ancient Rome, at an exciting new waterfront structure that has never been formally studied because of a dense covering of vegetation that has now been removed.
The American Institute for Roman Culture has posted the fourth in its ongoing series of mini-documentary videos about current archaeological investigations in Italy, co-produced with the International Association for Classical Archaeology (AIAC). The new video explores the amazing discoveries made by Prof. Clementina Panella of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in the Colosseum valley and along the northeastern slopes of the Palatine hill, where 3000 years of history are being uncovered.
The American Institute for Roman Culture has posted the fourth in its ongoing series of mini-documentary videos about current archaeological investigations in Italy, co-produced with the International Association for Classical Archaeology (AIAC). The new video explores the amazing discoveries made by Prof. Clementina Panella of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in the Colosseum valley and along the northeastern slopes of the Palatine hill, where 3000 years of history are being uncovered.
New T
News outlets around the world have reported on the project to create a landfill near Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli outside Rome, an historic Roman site of unparalleled importance and scale. A UNESCO world heritage site, it is a magnificent example of Roman architecture that has resounded through the ages. The current plan for a landfill seriously challenges the well-being of the site and other historic monuments in the vicinity. Bernard Frischer, professor of Classics at the University of Virginia and long-time supporter of the American Institute for Roman Culture, started an online petition to stop this development just a few days ago. The AIRC is the sponsoring institution for the petition, which nearly 2000 people have signed, including countless professionals and experts in Roman culture from three continents. For more information or to sign the petition, please go to this site and read the blog.
The American Institute for Roman Culture was invited to provide on-site instruction for a group of 16 students of Classical languages from Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire who are spending their spring break on a study-tour of Italy led by Exeter Classics chair Sally Morris. AIRC Executive Director Darius Arya, an Exeter alumnus, led a visit to the Palatine hill on March 4, and Associate Director of Archaeology Alberto Prieto led a visit to Ostia Antica on March 8.
On March 23-24 the American Institute for Roman Culture and the General Directorate of Management and Promotion of Cultural Heritage within the Italian Ministry of Culture will host the Second Annual Unlisted Conference on archaeological cultural heritage in Rome.
The presentations will be delivered on the morning and afternoon of Friday the 23rd at the Centro Studi Americani in Via Michelangelo Caetani, 32. The conference is free and open to the public. Simultaneous translation will be available, generously provided by the United States Department of State via the United States Diplomatic Mission to Italy.
On Saturday the 24th the conference participants will travel by coach bus to visit several important archaeological sites located just outside of Rome along the Via Appia Antica that illustrate the problems of visibility in cultural heritage, including the Villa of the Quintilii and the bath complex at Capo di Bove. Limited additional space will be available on the coach bus for members of the public. If interested in attending the site visits, please contact Shelley Ruelle to reserve a seat.
The American Institute for Roman Culture continues its collaboration with the General Directorate of Management and Promotion of Cultural Heritage within the Italian Ministry of Culture. AIRC provides translation expertise for the General Directorate's English-language website and its official English-language social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter, as well as working with the General Directorate in important initiatives such as the Annual Unlisted Conference on archaeological cultural heritage.
On Wednesday, February 29 at 6:00 PM EST the American Institute for Roman Culture will sponsor its second international Latin tweetup (pipiatio latina) on Twitter, co-hosted by Dr. Nancy Llewellyn (Wyoming Catholic College), who will also serve as instructor of AIRC's "Living Latin, Living History" spoken Latin program in Rome this summer, along with special co-host Rachel Ash (North Gwinnett High/Middle School). The first international Latin tweetup, held on February 8, involved at least 20 Twitter accounts.
The hashtags for the event are #LTNL (primary) and #LatinTweetUp.
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
An article by The Guardian summarizes the results of the first season of the AIRC excavation behind the Temple of the Castors in the Roman Forum.
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