Last Thursday night was the Rome Prize award ceremony in NYC, and it was a blast. Linda and I took the train in together in the afternoon, since I had to have my photo taken at AAR's office. I wasn't expecting to be plunged into scholarly "on" mode as soon as we walked in the door, but there were a whole bunch of Rome Prize winners crowded into the main office waiting to have their pictures taken, and many of them were definitely "on". I was expecting basic, polite chit-chat, but instead people were launching into detailed explanations of their research projects or their art forms and whatnot. One very nice, but very talkative man, John, had my ear for a good 20 minutes or so.
After the photo we were free for a bit, so we grabbed lunch at a diner recommended by the doormen, and spent an all-too-brief half hour walking in Central Park. It amazes me how little of Central Park I've ever really seen. Mostly I think I've been around the Metropolitan in the mid-80s, but AAR's office is on 60th and 5th ave, right at the bottom right corner where the park begins, with a skating rink for winter, a dairy, and the zoo. Although it was windy, the sun was out and the air smelled fresh, so we were reluctant to go back inside for the next event, which turned out to be a sort of informal introduction to Academy life by the CEO, Mark Robbins, and the outgoing director, Chris Celenza, who were as funny as a comedy duo, riffing off each other.
Then it was time to cross the street to the elaborate Harmonie Club, where Dr. Cooper and Tim were waiting. Coop and Linda were delighted with each other, which was great, since I had to sit separately with the other prize winners. By this time I'd met several very friendly fellow-Fellows, including Lakshmi and Heather, both classicists; Denise, a modern Italian studies historian; and Liz, a novelist. I had also begun to realize how few of the Rome Prize fellows are pre-doctoral students--most of the winners seemed to be established scholars working on book projects. The ceremony itself was full of speeches about how we all represented the peak of excellent in our fields, etc.etc., and while it felt awesome to be included in this group, it's also like: "How is it that I, who haven't written a word of my dissertation project, am being discussed in the same breath as people who have multiple books and tenure track jobs? I haven't even DONE anything yet!"
During the reception, which was a mob scene, I spoke with David Stone from UDel, who has spoken at Temple before (and didn't remember me, though we had dinner with him); he's one of the trustees. Dr. Cooper introduced me to Jack Wasserman, one of the founding members of Temple's art history department. He and his wife must be filthy rich, because they divide their time between Society Hill in Philly and Rome, just a short distance from the Academy! They insisted I need to come to their place when I get settled, and his wife informed me "I'll make you scrambled eggs!" Very specific, but also very generous. I also saw members of my Prize committee, Diane Cole Ahl and Ellen Rosand (DR, alas, wasn't able to come), as well as Mary Frank, who is on the board and one of PFB's alumnae from Princeton.
It was great to have Linda there with me. Initially when she offered to go, knowing Sean, with a QP to present in the morning, wouldn't be able to, I told her not to bother, because I figured it would be weird for her, but she had a great time. She and Coop both liked each other (Coop told me she knows where Sean gets his charm now), and like everyone else in the room she was absolutely blown away by the lecture, by John Ochsendorf from MIT on historic conservation of structures and Guastavino-style vaulting. Originally appearing in Moorish architecture, this vaulting system uses thin bricks that are more like tiles, placed end-to-end instead of vertically like in a Roman vault, and secured only with mortar into broad, low vaults that are incredibly strong despite their lack of load-bearing supports. An Italian emigrant named Guastavino brought the technique to the US, and his vaults appear in buildings all over the country, including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC and Yale's own Bicentennial Hall. While in Rome, he discovered that the Academy's dining patio had this kind of vaulting above it, and in order to study and stress-test it, Ochsendorf constructed a huge replica in his AAR studio and then load-tested by having other fellows come hop up and down on it!
All in all, a fun, though exhausting day. Now it's all out in the open, woohoo!
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