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Getty Research Exchange Fellowship Program for the Mediterranean Basin and Middle East

The 2012 fellowship program is open to scholars in participating countries* who have already obtained a Ph.D. or have professional experience in the field of art history and who wish to undertake a specific research project in Algeria or Turkey related to the seminar theme: Art and Archaeology of the Sacred (Algeria) or Vision and Visual Culture in Byzantium (Turkey).

Funded by the Getty Foundation, the fellowship includes a travel and living expense stipend of $7,500. The fellowship tenure will be June 9 to July 16, 2012, including an opening and closing seminar. Fellows will be required to conduct their research during this time period.

Scholars must apply through the American Overseas Research Center in their home country. Final award selection will be conducted by CAORC. Notification of fellowship status will be made available to each applicant via email by April 16, 2012.

* Participating countries include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen. Please note: Algerian scholars may apply only for the fellowship in Turkey and Turkish scholars may apply only for the fellowship in Algeria.

Fellowship Locations

Applicants may apply to go to Algeria or Turkey.

Art and Archaeology of the Sacred
Oran, Algeria | 9 June – 16 July 2012
Since well before the first millennium BCE, North Africa has been a land of migration, occupation, and settlement. Berber, Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, Vandal, Arab, Spanish, Ottoman, and French presence have each left enduring traces, each distinct. However, far from discrete, layered civilizations, incoming groups too adopted local customs and vice-versa. Pre-monotheistic religions developed syncretic cults; common practices of saint worship and pilgrimage, architecture, and semiology link the monotheisms. While syncretic forms of ritual may have disappeared from today’s practices, they are nevertheless preserved in the archaeological record, underscoring the cultural richness of the region. The purpose of this seminar is to examine cross-cultural continuities through the ‘art and architecture of the sacred,’ where inter-connectivity underscores deeper, rooted cultural continuity.

Fellows should plan to arrive in Oran no later than 9 June 2012 and depart no earlier than 16 July 2012. The fellowship tenure is comprised of three sections:

  1. Opening Seminar, 10-11 June 2012: Fellows will gather with scholars from the Algerian academic community at an opening seminar.
  2. Independent Research, 12 June – 14 July 2012: Fellows will conduct independent research as described in their application. Research projects should relate to the seminar theme of Art and Archaeology of the Sacred.
  3. Closing Seminar: 15 July 2012: Fellows will reconvene to share their preliminary findings from their research.

Vision and Visual Culture in Byzantium
Istanbul, Turkey | 9 June – 16 July 2012
Byzantium was a profoundly visual culture, which has left us some of the singular monuments from the history of art and architecture, such as Hagia Sophia or the Chora Monastery. The purpose of the seminar is to investigate ways of looking and ways of seeing Byzantine art and architecture – that is, learning to “read” the monuments with the same nuance and insight a philologist would apply to a text. This may encompass several approaches, such as recreating the cultural context in which the monument or image was constructed or experienced; understanding the dynamic relationship of a painted or mosaic program and its architectural setting; interrogating the science of vision itself, as the Byzantines understood it; or contemplating the relationship of the cognitive visual process to spiritual understanding.

Fellows should plan to arrive in Istanbul no later than 9 June 2012 and depart no earlier than 16 July 2012. The fellowship tenure is comprised of three sections:

  1. Opening Seminar, 10-11 June 2012: Fellows will gather with scholars from the Turkish academic community at an opening seminar.
  2. Independent Research, 12 June – 14 July 2012: Fellows will conduct independent research as described in their application. Research projects should relate to the seminar theme of Vision and Visual Culture in Byzantium.
  3. Closing Seminar: 15 July 2012: Fellows will reconvene to share their preliminary findings from their research.

Participating Countries

Participating countries include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen. Please note: Algerian scholars may apply only for the fellowship in Turkey and Turkish scholars may apply only for the fellowship in Algeria.

How to Apply

Scholars must apply through the American Overseas Research Center in their home country. Please note that the deadline date and method of submission may vary by country, please be sure to read the instructions from the appropriate Center.