National Endowment for the Humanities Grants New College of Florida Professor Additional $120,000 for La Sfera Project
Sarasota, Fla. — New College of Florida History Professor Carrie Beneš, in collaboration with Amanda Madden of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Laura Ingallinella of the University of Toronto, and independent scholar Laura Morreale, has been awarded an additional $120,000 grant as part of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Scholarly Editions and Translations program. This follows the initial $120,000 grant awarded to the team last year in 2023.
The grant supports the La Sfera Project, an open-access multimedia edition of Goro Dati’s 15th-century poem La sfera (The Globe). Beneš, a leading member of a research team spanning over 10 institutions, spent significant time in Europe last year photographing manuscripts of Dati’s work in Rome, Turin, Vienna, and other locations.
“This new round of funding will allow us to expand, refine, and finalize our digital edition,” Beneš said. “It’s exciting to see the project come to life through a dynamic digital presentation that enhances our understanding of La sfera, originally enriched with maps, diagrams, and illustrations.”
New College President Richard Corcoran praised Beneš and her team’s work. “Professor Beneš is deeply committed to this remarkable research, and we are proud to see the NEH recognize her efforts with this additional support. The excellence of our faculty continues to be a hallmark of New College.”
Professor Beneš is a cultural historian specializing in late medieval Italy, with research interests in landscape, urban identity, and the classical tradition. Her recent publications include Urban Legends: Civic Identity & the Classical Past in Northern Italy (2011), A Companion to Medieval Genoa (2018), and Jacopo da Varagine’s Chronicle of the City of Genoa (2019). She spent the 2023-2024 academic year in Rome as Co-PI and Director of Spatial Analysis for the La Sfera Project and will continue her work while resuming her teaching duties in Sarasota.
La sfera was written by Goro Dati, a 15th-century Florentine merchant who led a fascinating life, enduring setbacks in trade, including piracy and fraudulent partners. Near the end of his career, Dati penned the poem as a guide to the cosmos, the natural world, and Mediterranean geography for fellow merchant adventurers.
Learn more about the project and the grant at http://www.sferaproject.org/about/news.