Annual Report 2013-2014.Pdf

The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America Columbia University Annual Report 2013–2014 The Mission of The Italian acadeMy Founded in 1991 on the basis of an agreement between Columbia University and the Republic of Italy, the Academy sponsors advanced research in all areas relating to Italian history, science, and society; presents distinguished examples of Italian culture and art; and promotes academic, cultural and scientific exchange at the highest level. abouT The acadeMy At the core of the Italian Academy’s work lies its Fellowship Program. Fellowships are open to scholars at the postdoctoral level who wish to devote a semester or a full academic year to innovative work in any field relating to culture, cultural memory, and the relations between culture, the sciences, and the social sciences. Fellows are chosen by a jury of experts in the relevant fields. The most advanced part of the Fellowship Program is the Academy’s ongoing Humanities and Neuroscience Project, in which scholars in both the humanities and the sciences work together in assessing the significance of the latest developments in genetics and the neurosciences for the humanities – and vice versa. The Academy also serves as the chief reference point in the United States for all links between the worlds of higher education in Italy and the United States. Thanks to its prestige and its location in New York, the Academy has become a critical site for meetings between distinguished members of the Italian and American business and political communities. Its theater, library, and other public spaces offer important locations for a variety of conferences, concerts, films, and exhibitions. Funding for the Academy came from an endowment established at Columbia in 1991 by the Republic of Italy; since then, numerous foundations and private donors have provided other endowments and gifts. Columbia University The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America Annual Report 2013 –2014 New York 2014 conTenTs GoverNaNce of the academY 6 Board of GuaraNtors 7 seNior fellows 8 staff 10 director’s report 11 fellows 21 activities of the academY: Fellows’ Seminars 25 Public Events 29 fellowship proGram: Fellows’ Reports 37 other proGrams: Premio New York Artists 70 Advanced Program of Ancient History and Art 71 Governance of The acadeMy The President of the Academy is the President of Columbia Uni- versity; the Honorary President of the Academy is the President of the Republic of Italy. The Director is the Head of the Academy. The Chairman of the Board is the Provost of Columbia Univer- sity. The Board of Guarantors is comprised of 12 distinguished representatives of Italian and American cultural, academic, and business life; six are selected by Columbia University and another six by the Government of Italy. The Board advises the Director on the management of the Academy. Honorary President of the Academy GiorGio NapolitaNo, President of the Republic of Italy President of the Academy lee c. Bollinger, President of Columbia University Director of the Academy david freedBerG, Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art at Columbia University Chairman of the Board of Guarantors JohN h. coatsworth, Provost of Columbia University | 6 board of GuaranTors Appointed by Columbia University mark AndersoN* Professor of German, Columbia University daNiele BodiNi* Ambassador to the United Nations for the Republic of San Marino JoNathaN cole Provost Emeritus; Dean of Faculties Emeritus; John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University, Columbia University ira katzNelsoN Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University kathariNa pistor Michael I. Sovern Professor of Law, Columbia University david rosaNd Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History Emeritus, Columbia University otto Naumann President, Otto Naumann, Ltd. Appointed by the Republic of Italy claudio Bisogniero Ambassador of Italy to the United States alessaNdro faleŽ Presidente, Hotel Invest Italiana; Presidente, Health Care Italia; Amministratore, S.I.C.A.R. Andrea mevorach Fondatore, FEM - Finance Estate Millennium, Re-Evolution Real Estate Giovanni puGlisi Rettore Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM); Presidente della Com- missione Italiana Nazionale UNESCO umBerto vattaNi President of Venice International University riccardo viale Director, Italian Cultural Institute, New York, NY *Prof. Anderson joined the Board after Amb. Bodini became an Honorary Fellow. 7 | senior fellows Qais al-awQati Jay Meltzer Professor of Nephrology and Hypertension, Robert F. Loeb Professor of Medicine and Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University Enrico arBarello Ordinario di Geometria, Sapienza – Università di Roma richard axel Nobel Laureate and University Professor, Columbia University teodoliNda BaroliNi Da Ponte Professor of Italian, Columbia University liNa BolzoNi Ordinario di Letteratura Italiana, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa maria luisa catoNi Professor in Ancient Art History and Archaeology, IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca victoria de Grazia Moore Collegiate Professor of History and Director of the Blinken European Institute, Columbia University paolo Galluzzi Direttore del Museo Galileo, Firenze carlo GiNzBurG Ordinario di storia delle culture europee, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa Anthony GraftoN Henry Putnam University Professor of History, Princeton University deNis hollier Professor of French at New York University eric kaNdel Nobel Laureate and University Professor, Kavli Professor of Brain Science, Columbia University fraNcesco pellizzi Editor of Res and Research Associate in Middle American Ethnology at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University | 8 edmuNd s. phelps Nobel Laureate and McVickar Professor of Political Economy, Columbia University reNzo piaNo Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Genoa and Paris; Senatore a vita Giacomo rizzolatti Direttore del Dipartimento di Neuroscienze ed ordinario di Fisiologia, Università di Parma salvatore settis Già Direttore della Scuola Normale Superiore ed ordinario di Storia dell’arte, Pisa horst l. störmer Nobel Laureate and I. I. Rabi Professor Emeritus of Physics, Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics, Columbia University Nadia urBiNati Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies, Columbia University mariNa warNer, cBe Professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex hoNorarY fellow daNiele BodiNi Ambassador to the United Nations for the Republic of San Marino 9 | director david freedBerG Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art, Columbia University staff BarBara faedda Associate Director allisoN JeffreY Assistant Director AbiGail asher Communications and Development Officer hidaYat JoN suparYo kareN deGraffeNreid Business Managers Nick BuoNiNcoNtri Operations Coordinator kira stockdale Administrative Coordinator rick whitaker Theater Manager STUDENt ASSISTANTS (PART-TIME) Jennifer Badolato Amarilys Bernacet Arianna Branchini Christopher Carrano Maria Dimitropoulos Sarah Hussaini (Graphic Designer) Niki Krieg Jerry Rivera | 10 direcTor’s reporT hen I became Director of the Italian Academy in 2000, there were fewer than 20 applications for Fellowships at the Acad- Wemy. Fellows came for varying periods. This past year we re- ceived around 220 applications for the 21 Fellowships we awarded, for either one or two Columbia semesters. The quality of the Fellowships has risen steadily. Moreover – presumably in the light of the weak job market even for the most talented young academics – the proportion of applicants under 40 years of age increased substantially. This year, precisely in light of the number and excellence of the applications, we took the unprecedented step of spreading our largesse as widely as possible by substantially increasing the number of one-semester (versus two-semester) Fellowships. Our multi-disciplinary framework continues to be a success. Its fame continues to grow. Every year Fellows appreciate its benefits more explicitly. The aim is not the traditional (and often failed) one of interdisciplinarity, but rather to encourage Fellows to try to grasp the basic paradigms of very different fields and to explore the intellectual possibilities of understanding different approaches, right across the science/ humanities/social sciences barriers. Resistance to alleged or exaggerated reductionism in the sciences has long been a hallmark of fashionable approaches in the humanities and the social sciences; at the Academy, such resistance has yielded to a deep understanding of very different meth- odologies and paradigms. To have this happening in a top university environment is a rarity these days. There can be no question that the Academy has become a leader in the field of genuine cross- disciplinarity. Indeed, this semester, a group of Fellows spontaneously decided to form a working group to produce a book on a fundamental problem across the disciplines, namely the question of the meaning of representation in different fields. We are looking forward to seeing the results! As always, the multi-disciplinary aspect of our Fellowship program was 11 | well reflected by our events and conferences. In October, for example, we hosted a conference on Nanotechnology and Sustainability in conjunction with Columbia’s Energy Frontier Research Center, headed by James Yardley; in December, the conference Liberty and Conflict: Machiavelli on Politics and Power (organized with Nadia Urbinati and David Johnston of our Political Science Department);

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