The Council of the British School at Rome is pleased to announce that Professor Chris Wickham has been appointed as the BSR’s next Director. He will hold this position until July 2021.
Professor Wickham is the Chichele Professor of Medieval History (Emeritus) and a Fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the British Academy. He is a former Head of the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Birmingham. His research interests include Italian history to 1250, comparative European, Mediterranean and global medieval history, social history and archaeology. To read more about the appointment, please click here.
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BSR Digital Collections
The BSR is delighted to announce the publication of a new Digital Collections platform which brings together some of the most remarkable and unique materials housed in the Library and Archive repositories.
Thanks to the addition of more than 9,000 digital objects and relevant metadata, we aim to increase our digital presence by continuing to generate and facilitate research across a broad range of subjects and resources.
Work on digital data will continue as we plan to add more collections and enhance digital content in the forthcoming months.
Click here to begin exploring! Please do visit and revisit the website; we welcome your feedback.
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Adjusting to COVID-19 restrictions at the BSR
The BSR Residence Team has had to adapt quickly to keep up with the frequent changes in COVID-19 protocol set forth by the Italian government.
Life at the BSR remains very similar to how many may remember it pre-Coronavirus, although some key differences are apparent. The front desk has been fitted with plexiglass panels and hand sanitising stations can be found in all common areas. Masks must be worn at all times. Meals are still eaten in the company of friends and colleagues, with just a bit more distance (2 metres, to be exact!) between diners.
We are grateful to be open for our award-holders so they can continue their research and practice in Rome, despite these restrictions.
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Welcome to our 2020–21 Award-holders
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As we start another academic year, we are happy to welcome our 2020–21 award-holders, who recently arrived at the BSR.
In the coming months, keep an eye out for digital content and updates on our latest award-holders, as they share their work with the wider BSR community.
Our upcoming Event Highlights include a lecture by current Balsdon Fellow, Dr Hester Schadee, as well as the exhibition of works by current Fine Arts award-holders in the December Mostra.
Click here to find out more about their awards and projects.
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Taught Courses at the BSR |
This September, the
undergraduate Summer School Course took place, adapting to the challenges set forth by Covid-19 restrictions. Since the students had not benefitted from face-to-face teaching for the last six months, a return to something approaching normality was much appreciated.
We are now accepting applications for the City of Rome 2021 Postgraduate Course, an intensive eight-week residential course for postgraduates studying classical archaeology, art history and ancient history. The deadline to apply has been extended to 4 December 2020.
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Exhibition Reviews on the Blog |
With many unable to travel to Rome this year, we are happy to be able to share reviews of two major exhibitions:
Dr Piers Baker-Bates (Rome Scholar 2002–3) reviewed Raffaello at the Scuderie del Quirinale (5 March–30 August) after seeing the exhibition with Dr Peter Fane-Saunders (Rome Fellow 2010–11) and Dr Philippa Jackson (Balsdon Fellow 2017–18). Click here to read it.
Charlie Fegan (Sainsbury Scholar in Painting and Sculpture 2020–21) visited The Torlonia Marbles-Collecting Masterpieces exhibition currently on display at the Musei Capitolini's new venue at Palazzo Caffarelli. Click here to read his review of the display of the last great private collection of classical sculpture.
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Building on a successful recent collaboration at Morgantina, the BSR is delighted to continue working with the Freie Universität Berlin on a new research project directed by Professor Monika Trümper investigating the Hellenistic gymnasium of Agrigento.
In October, BSR Archaeology Officer Stephen Kay and Geophysics Researcher Elena Pomar conducted archaeological prospection, using both magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar, to map the unexcavated parts of the complex.
The survey has been conducted ahead of new excavations due to commence in 2021.
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New #BSROnlineLectures now available |
As our autumn events programme progresses, we understand that many community members who would normally have attended our lectures may be disappointed to have to miss them.
That is why we are happy to be able to offer, in addition to the opportunity to participate in real time via Zoom, recorded versions of the events that are scheduled for the October–December term.
If you are interested in the events that have taken place so far, or cannot participate in a future event, head over to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest from our brilliant line-up of speakers.
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The BSR is pleased to present a Virtual Mostra, featuring works by artists in residence at the BSR from January to March 2020: Wendelien Bakker, Paul Becker, Bea Bonafini, Max Fletcher in collaboration with Andrea Celeste La Forgia, Sharon Kelley, Yun Fu in collaboration with Wenting Guo, Sarah Pupo and Barbara Walker.
This exhibition has been made possible with support from the Incorporated Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Scholarships, the Linbury Trust, the Bridget Riley Art Foundation, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres Québec, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Wallace Arts Trust and the supporters of the Scholars’ Prize in Architecture.
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The Papers of the British School at Rome
October saw the publication of the latest Papers of the British School at Rome journal. Volume 88 presents exciting new research from BSR alumni, staff and the wider academic community, as well as up-to-date reports on the BSR's ongoing archaeological projects.
The online journal can be accessed here.
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British School at Rome Studies
Our study series with Cambridge University Press has gained three new monographs in recent months.
The series arises from research undertaken at and in collaboration with the BSR. For more information on our study series, including details of the most recent additions, please click here.
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Image credits: Autumn in the BSR courtyard: Alyssa Civitello. Professor Chris Wickham: image from Chris Wickham: interview from the BA website, BSR Digital Collections 2020, Life at the BSR during COVID-19: Alyssa Civitello. Award-holders 2020-21: Antonio Palmieri, Temple of Hercules Victor: Ed Bispham, Torlonia Marbles, installation view: Charlie Fegan, Temple of Concordia: Stephen Kay, Virtual Mostra, installation view, The Papers of the British School at Rome: Cambridge University Press, The Basilica of Saint John Lateran to 1600: Cambridge University Press.
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