Christopher Bonura Awarded 2023–24 Rome Prize

Christopher Bonura, current Member in the School of Historical Studies, is one of 36 artists and scholars to be awarded a Rome Prize for 2023–24 by the American Academy in Rome (AAR).

Described as the gift of “time and space to think and work," the Rome Prize grants recipients a stipend, workspace, and room and board at the AAR's campus on the Janiculum Hill in Rome. The winners are selected annually by independent juries of distinguished artists and scholars through a national competition. AAR offers Rome Prizes in 11 disciplines, including Medieval Studies, which is where Bonura's research interests lie.

Bonura's work focuses on the Eastern Mediterranean, Byzantium, and Near East, and their global connections. His interests include ancient and medieval notions of time, teleology, eschatology, and imperial ideology. Before arriving at IAS, Bonura received his Ph.D. in History from University of California, Berkeley in 2019 and served as a Mellon post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto's Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. While at the Institute, he has been exploring the late antique Syriac origins and medieval reception of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, one of the first works composed in response to the Arab invasions and the establishment of the Muslim empire in the seventh century.

The AAR began when—during the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago—a small group of architects, painters, and sculptors resolved to create a place for American artists in Europe. Since then, it has become a leading research and arts institution and is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.