American Academy in Rome - Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor

American Academy in Rome - Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor

Term:Three-yearappointment,renewableforuptotwoadditionalyears.StartdateAugust 2027

Foundedin1894,theAmericanAcademyinRomeisaleadingAmericanoverseascenter for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Academy awards the Rome Prize to approximately 30 artists and scholars who join a dynamic, transdisciplinary residential community on the Academy’s eleven-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill—enriched further by invited Residents and Affiliated and Visiting Artists and Scholars, reaching a community of approximately 100 at any given time.

TheAcademyisledbythePresident&CEOwhosetsitsdirectionandservesasitschief fundraiser and public representative. A Chief Operating Officer manages the Academy’s business and administrative functions across Rome and New York. The Director is responsible for the daily intellectual and communal life of the residential community. The Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor and the Andrew Heiskell Arts Director report to the Director and, together with the Director, constitute the Academy’s intellectual leadership team in Rome—the primary intellectual resources for the Rome Prize Fellows and the animating force behind the Academy’s scholarly and creative life.

Role

TheHumanitiesProfessorisamemberoftheAcademy’sintellectualleadershipteam.This is a role for a humanist of genuine distinction—someone with a record of rigorous, imaginative scholarship, the range to engage with work across disciplines, and the commitment to place their intellectual life in service of a community.

The Humanities Professor works alongside the Director and the Arts Director to shape the Academy’s intellectual vision in Rome. Their primary institutional responsibility is to the Rome Prize Fellows: offering scholarly guidance, facilitating engagement with Rome’s academicandculturalcommunities,andhelpingFellowsmakethemostoftheirtimeatthe Academy. The Humanities Professor also carries a distinctive set of institutional responsibilities—overseeing the Academy’s Classical Summer School, its archaeology initiatives, and its learned journal that root the role in the Academy’s long scholarly traditions.For the Humanities Professor to fullyembody the role the Academy needs them to be an active scholar working at the highest level. Both the Arts Director and the Mellon Professor are expected to engage generously with Fellows across the full breadth of the residential community.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary intellectual resource for Rome Prize Fellows across the Academy’s humanities disciplines—Ancient Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, Modern Italian Studies, and Historic Preservation and Conservation—offering scholarly guidance, substantive engagementwithFellows’work,andmentorshipcalibratedtoeachFellow’sstage of career and project.
• Workinclosepartnershipwiththe DirectorandtheArtsDirectortofosterintellectual exchange across disciplines; encourage and facilitate dialogue among Fellows, Residents, Italian Fellows, and Affiliated and Visiting Artists and Scholars.
• FacilitateintroductionsandsustainedrelationshipsbetweenFellowsandtheir counterpartsinRomanandItalianacademic,cultural,andinstitutionallife—in universities, foreign academies, and the wider scholarly community.
• Design,organize,andleadsitevisitsandlongertripsinandaroundRome,Italy, and the Mediterranean that deepen Fellows’ engagement with the material, historical, and cultural dimensions of their work.
• MayparticipateintheselectionofRomePrizeandItalianFellows,andassistas neededintheselectionofResidents,AffiliatedandVisitingArtistsandScholars.
• ConducttheirownresearchandsetanexamplefortheFellowsofwhatalifeofthe mind could look like.
• As a member of the Academy’s intellectual leadership team, contribute to the designandexecutionofprogrammingthatservestheinstitutionalmissioninclose collaboration with the Director, the Arts Director, and Programs staff.
• ServeasstaffliaisontotheHumanitiesCommitteeandPublicationsCommitteeof the Board of Trustees, and as primary point of contact for the Managing Editor of the Academy’s learned journal, Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome.
• Oversee the Academy’s Classical Summer School, working closely with the Classical Summer School Director on program direction, pedagogy, itinerary development, participant selection, and alignment with theAcademy’smission.
• OverseetheAcademy’sarchaeologyinitiatives,includingtheNortonVanBuren Study Collection, affiliated archaeology projects, and the relationship with the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies.
• AttendmeetingsoforganizationswheretheAcademyholdsaboardseator institutional partnership, as necessary.

CommunityStewardshipandExternalEngagement (10%)

• Maintainavisibleandengagedpresenceinthelifeoftheresidentialcommunity—at meals, at internal and public events, in communal spaces—as an active participant in the community the Academy exists to sustain.
• RepresenttheAcademyinRome’sscholarlyandculturalcommunities;buildand expandrelationshipswithItalianuniversities,foreignacademies,and other institutions that constitute the Academy's networkofadvisorsand partners.

Qualifications

Required

• A PhD in a humanities discipline, with a record of published scholarship commensuratewithnationalorinternationalstandinginthefield,andaminimumof five years of experience in one or more of the Academy’s humanities fellowship disciplines.
• Demonstratedintellectualgenerosityanddisciplinaryrange:theabilityandgenuine desire to engage with scholarly and creative work across fields, and to design and lead programs that extend beyond one’s own area of expertise.
• FluencyinspokenandwrittenItalian;theabilitytooperateeffectivelyinItalian academic, cultural, and civic contexts is essential.
• Strongworkingknowledgeoftheartistic,archaeological,andculturalsitesand institutions of Rome and Italy.
• Provenabilitytomentorscholarsandartistsatvaryingstagesofcareer,with superiorinterpersonalskillsandtheabilitytobuildtrustacrossadiverseand talented community.
• Demonstrated ability to represent an institution professionally—interacting diplomaticallywithFellows,staff,boardmembers,donors,institutionalpartners,and government officials.
• Strategicthinkingandorganizationalcapability,withexperiencemanaging programs and working collaboratively across teams.
• FlexibilitytoworkoutsidestandardhoursgiventheAcademy’seveningand weekendprogramming,andwillingnesstotravelbetweenRomeandNew York.

Preferred

• Establishedrelationshipswithscholars,institutions,andculturalorganizationsin Rome and Italy.
• Experiencewithpublicationoversight,journalediting,orscholarlyprogram management.
• Familiaritywitharchaeologicalfieldwork,studycollections,orrelated programs.

Leadership Profile

TheidealcandidatewillberecognizedbyFellows,colleagues,andpeersinRomeforthe following qualities:

• Scholarly distinction. A humanist whose work commands genuine respect—whosepresenceattheAcademylendsintellectualauthoritytothecommunityand whose engagement with Fellows’ projects carries real weight.
• Disciplinary range. The curiosity and capacity to engage substantively with work far outside one’s own specialty—to follow the argument of an architect, to ask a good question of a composer, to understandwhataconservatorisworkingthrough.
• Institutional commitment. A genuine orientation toward community and collaboration—someone who finds meaning in supporting the work of others and understands that their role is much about creatingconditionsforexcellenceas producing it themselves.
• Roman fluency. A real connection to Rome—its scholarly landscape, its institutions,itsrhythms—andtheabilitytomovethroughthecity’sacademicand cultural communities as a trusted participant.
• Mission conviction. An authentic belief in what the Academy does and why it matters—inthevalueofsustainedindividualscholarlyandcreativework,inRome as an irreplaceable context for that work, and in the Academy’s unique role in American cultural life.

Compensation

Secondmentappointmentswillbecompensatedinaccordancewiththetermsofthe secondment. Salary range for direct employment is $100,000–$200,000, based on experience and qualifications.

The American Academy in Rome is an Equal Opportunity Employer. AAR believes that a diverse community makes for a stronger institution, and actively encourages applications from candidates of all backgrounds, identities,andlivedexperiences. We are committed to a hiring process that is equitable, inclusive, and free from bias, and to build a gal leadership community that reflects the breadth of the artistic and scholarly traditions we support.