Villa I Tatti welcomes applications from junior scholars and doctoral students and for a Summer Seminar in Florence on “Understanding Space in Renaissance Italy.” The seminar (27 June to 18 July 2015) focuses on the meaning and function of space in art, architecture, and urban infrastructures in Renaissance Italy, and especially in Florence (c. 1300-1600). Space has emerged in recent scholarship on the arts in the Early Modern period as crucial for understanding the relationship between objects and their contemporary viewers. Florence is ideal for such a seminar, for both its remarkable surviving fabric and the rich body of related scholarship. Site visits are selected and arranged as “walks” so as to allow themes to emerge from the experience of moving from one place to another. The format also provides opportunities for detailed examination of a small number of specific architectural monuments, as well as the works of art within each monument.
Each week, the twelve participants will meet in Florence for three days to study in museums, churches, piazzas, and monuments, and at I Tatti for two days to attend lectures, participate in discussions, and carry out individual research in the Berenson Library. In mid October 14, scholars will meet in China to give presentations related to their work and experience in Florence. Following this meeting, seminar participants will attend a conference dedicated to the Italian Renaissance, co-organized by I Tatti. In both Italy and China, participants will receive funding for transportation, lodging, and meals thanks to generous support from the Getty Foundation through their Connecting Art Histories initiative.
The seminar is organized and staffed by scholars associated with I Tatti and Harvard University; most were trained in Europe and/or the US. The co-directors are Jonathan Nelson (Assistant Director for Academic Programs, Villa I Tatti) and Fabrizio Nevola (Chair of Art History, University of Exeter, UK). Lectures will be given by Eugene Wang (Professor of Asian Art, Harvard University) and several other scholars associated with I Tatti.
The seminar aims to facilitate dialogue between participants, lecturers, and I Tatti appointees, and to enrich and strengthen the study of the Italian Renaissance in China.
Candidates are required to:
1. live and work in Greater China (Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau), and have a passport from one of these areas.
2. teach or study the Italian Renaissance; this could be part of a course or research on Western culture, art or architecture.
3. be able to follow a lecture and participate in class discussions in English, the language used in all lectures and discussions. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed via Skype or telephone.
4. have completed a PhD over the last five years, or be enrolled in a PhD program
a) Students must have already completed their Master's degree, and have an approved PhD dissertation topic.
b) Recent graduates must have a PhD certificate that bears a date after 1 January 2010.
The Application Deadline was March 15
- Preference will be given to scholars who have not studied for an extended period in the West, but students or scholars temporarily in the West for their studies or a Fellowship are welcome to apply.
- Preference will be given to art historians and architectural historians, but scholars and students in other fields are welcome to apply.
- I Tatti actively seeks participants from many different parts of Greater China.
- For information about the 2014 seminar, click here; to view the schedule, click here.
- Scholars selected to participate in the seminar will be required to send a letter from their advisor or supervisor stating that they are free to attend both the entire seminar and the October meeting.
- Letters of Recommendation must arrive by March 20; see the online form.
