The American Institute For Roman Culture (AIRC) is a non-profit organization. The AIRC has classrooms in Naples, Florida, United States, and Rome, Italy, providing students education in Italian history and contemporary Italian culture.
The American Institute for Roman Culture was founded in 2002 by archaeologist Darius Arya and architect Tom Rankin. The organization is a non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in Massachusetts. In 2003, AIRC inaugurated its first project, the Post Aedem Castoris excavation in the Roman Forum led by Drs. Jennifer Trimble (Stanford University) and Andrew Wilson (Oxford University). By its third and final season in 2005, AIRC students counted for 1/3 of the summer field school's participants.
The success of the collaboration led to two AIRC-organized, semester-long architecture programs with California Polytechnic State University and Northeastern University. From 2007 until 2011, AIRC hosted a semester-long classics program and "Maymester" program with the College of the Holy Cross. Arya has served as AIRC's CEO/Executive Director since spring 2008, acting as principal fundraiser and liaison with the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Ancient Rome Live (ARL) isÃÂ AIRC's documentary film division that showcasing the culture of Ancient Rome. ARL produces original documentary films of cultural heritage sites in English, with the objective of exposing these sites to a wider audience than accessible through only the Italian language. Production experience began after Arya's appearances in several documentaries featured on History Channel and National Geographic, including 2011 a video documentary course in Rome with Northeastern University students.
In 2011, Fasti Online, the main digital database of active archeological excavations in Italy, invited AIRC to produce video documentaries of participating sites. AIRC has filmed six documentaries at sites in Rome, including Palatine, Oppian Hill, Sant'Omobono, Gabii, San Marco, and Pompeii. More than 35 other active projects have since requested documentation by the AIRC.
The AIRC offers study abroad programs for university students and scholars.
Semester Signature Program - The AIRC offers a semester program that runs for 14 weeks with a one-week break, both in the fall and spring academic semesters. The program, entitled "History, Media, and Cultural Heritage", is open to university students and scholars from all majors, and consists of 3 core courses and a choice of 2 or 3 elective courses.
The core courses are Rome: Layers of History, Discovering Italy, and Elementary Italian.
The AIRC has been a participant in the funding of the important conservation of frescoes of the Santa Maria Antiqua Church in the Forum Romanum for the past five years.
The AIRC provides English language content translation for the Italian Ministry of Culture's General Directorate of Management and Promotion of Cultural Heritage. This includes content for their social media platforms as well as the English-language version of the General Directorates' website. This partnership allows AIRC access to cultural heritage sites under the management and jurisdiction of the Italian Ministry of Culture, which helps AIRC to further its mission.
In 2011 the AIRC launched the "Unlisted" Conference. The conference is held each year in the spring, generally in March or April, for two days. Each participant presents and then submits an academic paper for the proceedings.
The AIRC has been the recipient of numerous grants including an NEH grant, American Express Foundation grant for the Villa delle Vignacce excavation, World Monument Fund (WMF) collaboration for Santa Maria project, anonymous angel grants, numerous donations from supporters in California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Georgia.