After receiving a prestigious Rome Prize in 2013, Sherman D. Bundrick, USF St. Petersburg associate professor of art history, spent seven months living in Italy at a home on the Academic Academy in Rome’s 11-acre estate.
Dr. Bundrick spent her time in Italy studying “ancient Athenian vases and their images among the Etruscans and how these artifacts were integrated into Etruscan material culture during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.,” according to usfsp.edu.
She shared her experience living and researching in Italy at the Poynter Corner, inside the Nelson Poynter Library on March 19. About 20 people gathered to hear her lecture, “Rome with a View: Academic Adventures in Italy.”
Dr. Bundrick described the Academic Academy in Rome as a place that supports innovative artists, writers and scholars by giving them a place to live and work together in a dynamic international community.
“The idea for academy was to create a space where we could all work collaboratively,” said Dr. Bundrick.
The academy gives scholars space and the materials they need to work and research. Dr. Bundrick said having 24/7 access to an amazing library helped her work take off. By the end of her stay, she had roughly 120 books in her room.
Not only did Dr. Bundrick have an endless amount of reading materials at her fingertips, but she had exclusive access to the vases she was researching up close and in person. She was able to go into the storeroom of museums and request to see vases that weren’t on display.
“Going to see the vases in person is essential to my research,” said Dr. Bundrick.
Aside from strictly doing research, Dr. Bundrick also partook in “walks and talks” that were hosted by the academy. She said this part was less for her research and more for her teaching. Dr. Bundrick has been teaching at USF St. Petersburg since 2001.
She got to stand inside the Colosseum and see the Temple of Mithras. One of her favorite trips was a visit to the Cinecitta studio, the most famous cinema in Italy. There, she toured the sets. Cinecitta is the most famous cinema in Italy. She also got to see the Pope.
Now that she is home, Dr. Bundrick said she has enough research to continue working with for a long time, and she considers herself lucky to have received the Rome Prize.
