Anne Schiller has been selected as the recipient of a Fulbright-Fondazione CON IL SUD Award for 2016. During her tenure as a Fulbright-CON IL SUD awardee, she will be affiliated as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in the Department of History, Society, and Human Studies at the Universita’ del Salento, Lecce, Italy. Schiller’s project is entitled “Expatriates and Community-building in Southern Italy.” Under the auspices of the Fulbright-CON IL SUD Program, she will conduct research on the choices, experiences, and adaptive strategies of individuals transitioning from tourist to expatriate in the dynamic southern Italian region of Puglia.
Puglia is becoming known throughout Europe and beyond for its distinctive history, unique local cultures, and remarkable natural environment. The regional government is fostering and investing in the region’s capacity for domestic and international tourism. Schiller’s research focuses on the alchemy among person, place, and culture that may culminate with a decision to expatriate. She will also investigate the role of expatriate social networks and community-building. As a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Universita’ del Salento, Schiller will lecture on qualitative research methodology and involve graduate students as research assistants.
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is the United States’ flagship cultural exchange program. Fondazione CON IL SUD, established in 2006, is the first private non-profit organization founded to encourage the development of social capital in “Il Mezzogiorno,” or southern Italy, and to promote and sustain cultural heritage.
Schiller’s most recent book, “Merchants in the City of Art: Work, Identity, and Social Change in a Florentine Neighborhood,” is slated for publication in spring 2016. Based upon anthropological field research conducted in Florence between 2005 and 2014, that study addresses the ways that transnational flows of labor as part of globalization have affected identity and heritage ideas in a neighborhood that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and which has been an important center of commerce for over eight hundred years.