Back in April we reported that Caitlin Clerkin has been named the David and Mary Hunting Graduate Fellow for 2020–21 at U-M's Institute for the Humanities. Now we have more good news to share from three additional IPCAA students.
Alexandra Creola received a Fulbright Award for Italy during the 2020–2021 academic year for her project “Roman Nymphs and the Underworld: Landscape, Religion, and Identity in Southern Italy.” Alexandra will spend nine months in southern Italy, working in coordination with scholars at the Università della Calabria, visiting archaeological sites and museums, and talking to local community members about nymphs in regional folklore. Traditionally, scholars have viewed the concept of Roman nymphs as a result of the transposition of Greek ideas into ancient Italy. Alexandra’s study refocuses the narrative and investigates the southern Italic landscape through a local understanding of indigenous, sacred places.
Zoe Ortiz won a Fulbright for her project “Restoring the Restored: Revealing the Role of the Gabii Sculptures from Antiquity to Today,” which focuses on an assemblage of marbles from the ancient Roman city of Gabii. This collection, which was discovered in the eighteenth century, consists of over forty full-scale sculptures and inscriptions, most of which were purchased by Napoleon and transported to the Louvre, where they remain today. As a Fulbright scholar, Zoe will conduct research at the Borghese Archive within the Vatican Secret Archives, which houses many documents concerning the restorations carried out on the Gabii marbles at the Borghese studios before their removal from Italy. Zoe hopes to determine how the sculptures were modified, thus elucidating antiquarian restoration methods as well as revealing a more accurate depiction of the original state of the marbles.
Christina DiFabio received a PhD fellowship at Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED) in Istanbul for the 2020–2021 academic year. She is not sure yet if she will be able to go, but it seems like for now they are planning for a normal program.
Warmest congratulations to you all!
