Reflections from ISAW Visiting Student: Javier Larequi Fontaneda
ISAW is pleased to highlight Javier Larequi Fontaneda, a former ISAW visiting student. Fontaneda joined the institute last winter in February 2025, through August, with a Fulbright grant.
He reflects: “At the beginning of my second year of doctoral studies in 2023, I knew I wanted to apply for a Fulbright grant to spend some time in the United States—even though it seemed to me nearly impossible, or at least very difficult, to obtain. I did, however, have both the inspiration and the advice of my friend Leyre Santos, who had just started a master’s program in European history at Columbia University with a La Caixa scholarship."
"My time in New York was not spent wandering from library to library, as it had been in Rome; instead, I had access to all the resources of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) at NYU as a full member of the research community. I owe that to the Fulbright Commission and to Greg Woolf, my supervisor during the stay and the Leon Levy Director of ISAW. I would also like to thank Marc LeBlanc for his assistance and for the many stimulating conversations with the professors and researchers of ISAW. The doctoral students and administrative staff were also exceptionally welcoming, and I am deeply grateful to them.”
Fontaneda was serendipitously brought to NYU, after initially expecting to spend the winter, spring, and summer months in Los Angeles at UCLA. However, the flexibility of the Fulbright program, coupled with the appointment of Greg Woolf as the Leon Levy Director at ISAW, brought Fontaneda to the Big Apple:
“I had first met Greg in person during the first month of my doctoral studies at the V Colloquium on Archaeology and Ancient History of Los Bañales. After reading some of his works—particularly Becoming Roman (1998) and Tales of Barbarians (2011)—I concluded that I could learn from him and his scholarship a solid method for approaching ethnographic questions.”
During the spring semester at ISAW, Fontaneda had the opportunity to attend seminars on urbanization in the ancient world with Woolf, engaging in the academic work of British historian Chris Wickham and British medievalist Hugh Kennedy. For Fontaneda, a memorable academic experience was ISAW’s utilization of the British seminar model in the classroom, which foregrounds collaboration and discussion-based interaction with small participant groups.
“Although I had heard about this type of activity from friends who studied at Oxford, I find it hard to understand why Spanish universities do not attempt to implement a similar system that encourages reading, debate, and critical thinking.”
In conjunction with ISAW’s rigorous academic program, doctoral students are given opportunities to present on topics related to their dissertations in Works in Progress seminars, as well as ISAW’s annual ISAW Graduate Student Conference. Students are encouraged to formulate a short presentation followed by an engaging Q & A discussion session from the audience. For Fonteneda, both of these experiences were highly impactful for both “...its intensity and the critical, constructive nature of the feedback.” He was able to discuss a recently published paper regarding wine production and the El Huso and La Rueca press houses in Los Bañales.
Fontaneda goes on to offer additional reflections and frustrations from this experience within the American university system compared to his experience in Spain:
“My perception—although it may be biased by the intellectual bubble I have been living in—is that at American universities, or at least those in New York, students read more and tackle works of greater significance and quality. One can stroll into Strand and find well-edited books by the great masters of literature, history, or philosophy for barely $10 or less. An even more interesting exercise is visiting Book Culture, a bookstore near Columbia University, where shelves display the books being read in each course.
If there is one question I have been asked repeatedly during these months in New York, especially outside the academic world, it is: what is an Ancient History scholar studying the Vascones doing in New York? I, of course, had to ask myself the same question before presenting my project to Fulbright. The truth is that I have had access to one of the best libraries in the world, read many books and international publications on ancient identities and ethnicities, and—perhaps most importantly—met professionals from all five continents who have broadened my horizons. One of ISAW’s greatest strengths is that it hosts specialists from around the globe who study the ancient world in a wide sense—not only Rome and Greece, but also Egypt, the Middle East, Anatolia, Central Asia, China, and the East African coast. While it may seem obvious that studying Antiquity also involves looking beyond the Mediterranean, this approach is as logical and necessary as it is uncommon, which is why a stay at ISAW has been such an impactful experience for me.
One conversation I have been reflecting on over the past few months was with a professor at ISAW, who remarked that New York is, in fact, a very European city. Immediately, I recalled a quote I had read a few days earlier from Tony Judt, the great historian of post–World War II Europe, who spent the final years of his life at the Remarque Institute at New York University:
“From an academic point of view, New York resembles the continental European model rather than the Anglo-American template. The most important conversations in town are not those conducted among academics behind college walls, but the broader intellectual and cultural debate exchanged across the city and taking in journalists, independent writers, artists and visitors as well as the local professoriate. Thus, at least in principle, universities are culturally and intellectually integrated into a wider conversation. In this sense at least, by staying in New York I could also remain European” (Thinking the twentieth century. Tony Judt with Timothy Snyder, 2012, p. 255).
My exposure to the American journalistic and cultural world has been limited, and, to paraphrase Judt, I have followed the British model and, with a few exceptions, have only had truly engaging conversations within the walls of ISAW. Therefore, Judt’s final remark about European sentiment catches my attention, as it resonates with what the ISAW professor had said. It is true that one feels European in New York because there are many Spaniards, Italians, French, or Germans around; yet, one does not always feel European when confronted with rampant consumerism, pollution, or the lack of attention given to people with mental illnesses.
In Italy, doctoral programs—at least in the Humanities—are simply funded for three years. In Spain, doctoral programs—again, at least in the Humanities—typically last four years, while in the United States I have met cases of students who are still receiving a stipend in their sixth or seventh year of the PhD. Although this might be surprising today, not long ago, researchers in Spain would also take that long to complete their dissertations.
Over these months, I have met many Spaniards who are, understandably, frustrated with the meager salaries paid in Spain and with the lack of innovation in our country and in Europe more broadly, especially when compared to the United States or China. On a scientific level, Europe—and Spain in particular—needs to step up and start valuing the work of researchers. For example, the base salary of a professor at New York University (NYU) at the lowest rank is $120,000. In Spain, a public university in Madrid may pay a contracted doctor professor a salary ranging between €35,000 and €40,000. The challenge is even greater when considering the social prestige associated with research in one country versus another.
I want to conclude this article by thanking the Fulbright Commission for their confidence in my project. When I received the call in October 2024 informing me that I had been awarded the grant, I could not have imagined that the experience would be so positive or that I would have the opportunity to enjoy such a stimulating academic environment as ISAW. From now on, I hope to be a good ambassador for Fulbright and for American universities. I owe this gratitude to Greg Woolf, who opened the doors of an interdisciplinary and global center with pioneering researchers and brilliant students, and to Javier Andreu, my doctoral advisor, who has always placed his trust in me."
ISAW would like to extend its gratitude to Fontaneda for his insightful reflections on his experience at NYU, and his meaningful engagement with the ISAW students, faculty, and staff. We are so happy to have had such a wonderful addition to our Upper East Side community.
The reflections above are an abridged and adapted version to an article Fontaneda initially published on his personal blog. To read more of Javier's reflections from his time in both New York and Rome, click here.