AAR Summer Program in Roman Pottery, 2010

NB: Deadline January 14

The Howard Comfort, FAAR’29, Summer School in Roman Pottery

Potsherds constitute the most frequent group of finds on archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. Pottery usually offers the most important evidence for dating sites. Furthermore, ceramological databases provide a good source on issues ranging from trade relations to the consumption patterns of food and questions of identity.

The Summer School in Roman Pottery Studies is a five-week program designed to present the basics of Roman pottery studies, which can be gained only through direct contact with ceramic assemblages. Since the School’s establishment in 2006 to honor the memory of Howard Comfort (a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and an eminent scholar of Roman pottery), it has gained a reputation as the premier venue for introducing aspiring scholars to the field, and its alumni are increasingly in demand on projects in Italy and elsewhere.

The summer school will be held on the premises of the American Academy in Rome, but include several visits to important sites and collections of material. The program consists of two major elements, and an optional third component. At the start of the school, the director, assistant and invited speakers will introduce the various aspects of the study of Roman pottery and present the single ceramic classes with their characteristics and bibliography. In the second component, the participants will apply their knowledge to an assemblage of previously unstudied ceramic material from a suitable archaeological context. This element is designed to give the participants practical experience by working on their own or in small groups under the supervision of the director and the assistant. In previous sessions, analysis of this study assemblage has resulted in a joint publication with school participants as co-authors. Finally, the University of Cincinnati’s Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia, invites participants who wish to have further practical experience to join the project at the end of the Summer School session. For information on the project see: http://www.classics.uc.edu/pompeii/.

Staff:
Director: Archer Martin – Research Associate at the University of Cologne and former Andrew W. Mellon Professor-in-Charge of the AAR’s School of Classical Studies

Assistant:Raffaele Palma – graduate of the Università Suor Orsola Benincasa at Naples and graduate student at the Università degli Studi “La Sapienza” at Rome

Dates: 10 June to 12 July 2013

Application deadline: 14 January 2013

Eligibility
The program is intended for graduate students in archaeology, but qualified advanced undergraduate students and working archaeologists will also be considered. The program is open to candidates of all nationalities with a sufficient command of English. All else being equal, preference will be given to students at institutional members of the American Academy in Rome.

Participants are limited to a maximum of 10 people

Costs and Logistics
A fee of $3,000 covers tuition, excursions and materials supplied by the Summer School for use during the program.

Participants are responsible in addition for their transportation to and from Rome, for their room and board and for any personal expenses. The Summer School expects to accommodate the participants in an apartment it will find near the Academy, costing approximately 400 euro per person. This will allow them the possibility of self-catering. Tickets for lunch and dinner at the AAR are available for purchase. The neighborhood offers also a range of restaurants and snack bars. Total cost of the program, with transportation, is estimated at about $6000, depending on the costs of airfare and individual expenditures on food.

An advance toward tuition and housing costs is to be paid upon acceptance into the program. The balance must be paid to the Academy’s office in New York by 10 May 2013.

How to Apply
A complete application consists of a cover letter explaining why the program is of interest, a curriculum vitae and two letters of recommendation. Applications and all supporting materials, including recommendations, should be sent by email. The letters of recommendation must be sent directly by the individual referees.

Applications should be sent to
a.martin@aarome.org

For questions and information, please contact Professor Archer Martin (a.martin@aarome.org) or info@aarome.org.