I Tatti Marlène and Paolo Fresco Fellowship

Residential fellowship based at the Villa I Tatti Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, Italy, for postdoctoral scholars in fields related to the study of African history.

Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, has been assisting international fellows and scholars since the Villa I Tatti estate, art collection and library were bequeathed to Harvard University by Bernard Berenson in 1959.

The Marlène and Paolo Fresco Fellowship aims to encourage and facilitate academic research on cultural interactions between the African continent and the Mediterranean region during the period c. 1250-1750.

The fellowship is designed for postdoctoral scholars in fields related to the study of African history, including art history, archaeology, the history of expressive cultures, musicology, economic history, intellectual, political, and religious history, as well as literature and languages. Preference will be given to advanced research projects that address the relationship between the African continent and Italy during the early modern period, broadly understood historically to include the period from the 14th through the 17th centuries.

Candidates offered the fellowship will spend a six-month term in Florence at I Tatti with access to local and regional resources (libraries, photographic collections, archives, museums, collections),

This is a six-month residential fellowship for the spring term of 2025 (January-June). Fellows must live in Florence for the duration of the fellowship and attend the I Tatti centre at least three days per week.