1979 - CFH Establishes Canadian Academic Centre in Italy

In 1976, the Humanities Research Council of Canada (HRCC) meets to discuss establishing a Canadian Academic Centre in Italy. A great number of Canadian scholars already visit Italy regularly for research in a variety of fields, such as the Classics, Renaissance Studies and Fine Art. The HRCC, shortly to become the Canadian Federation for the Humanities (CFH), decides to establish a centre to help scholars visiting Italy find lodging and resources and to connect them with the Italian scholarly community. The CFH approves funding for the centre in April 1978, and by 1979 the centre is established in Rome. In 1980, to alleviate funding constraints the centre merges into the larger Canadian Mediterranean Institute (CMI), including the Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens (CAIA), and the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. In 1982, Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) approves a 12-year grant for the CMI, which expires in 1994. Lacking adequate funding, the centre shuts down and only the CAIA remains, becoming the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG). Today, the CIG is Canada’s official academic centre in the Mediterranean region.