Boston College professors Owen Stanwood and Michael Noone were recently selected for fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, N.J.
“While I love teaching, there is no substitute to having uninterrupted time to write and think in a beautiful place surrounded by smart people,” Stanwood said. “That is exactly what the institute provides.”
The IAS offers yearlong fellowships, typically lasting from mid-September through May, during which scholars conduct independent research. The institute selects around 200 fellows from more than 1,500 applicants, according to its website.
This year’s class comprises 259 fellows representing 39 countries, who will work with the institute’s 48 permanent and emeriti professors.
Stanwood, a professor of history, will spend his second stay at the IAS working on his forthcoming book, The Imagined Continent: Searching for Lost Worlds in Early North America, which analyzes tales of advanced civilizations in North America during the colonial period.
Noone, a professor and former chair of the music department, plans to study the story of Susana Muñoz, an illiterate autodidact who eventually established a “dynasty” of musical composition printing in 17th-century Spain.
As chair of the music department at BC, Noone juggled administrative responsibilities, so he looks forward to uninterrupted time for research.
“I was delighted, especially because I’ve been serving as chair of the music department for the last 18 years,” Noone said.
Stanwood—who wrote another book, The Global Refuge: Huguenots in an Age of Empire—during a previous stay, is no less enthusiastic about being selected again.
“I was thrilled and humbled,” Stanwood said. “It’s a great honor to be asked to come here once, and to come a second time is incredible.”
Stanwood said his book will examine both the content of North American explorers’ tall tales and the context of why they benefited from passing them up the chain of command.
“For instance, both New Mexico and Louisiana were founded to try and realize these dreams of finding Native American cities of gold in the West,” Stanwood said.
Many of these stories helped fuel European colonization and had a major impact on shaping ideas about the “New World,” according to Stanwood.
Located about a mile and a half from the main Princeton University campus, IAS fellows have access to all the same academic resources while offering a more working environment.
This is especially beneficial for Noone’s study of Muñoz, who despite playing a key role in preserving Spanish court music for future generations, is difficult to research because surviving records are scarce.
“To research a woman in the 17th century, you’ve got to look into the shadows that were cast by the men in her life,” Noone said.
This research methodology reveals much about her printing practice, highlighting her importance in the musical composition, Noone added.
“Printing of music is a really highly specialized technology, and she managed to monopolize the printing of music in 17th-century Spain,” Noone said. “She produced more books of sacred music than any other printer in all of the 16th or 17th centuries.”
Opportunities such as those provided by the IAS are becoming increasingly important in the face of current academic hostility, according to Stanwood.
“The humanities are in trouble these days, but BC has shown a commitment to making sure humanities research continues, probably because history, philosophy, theology, and other subjects are so central to the Jesuit educational model,” Stanwood said.
