In Bulgaria, the Cornell-affiliated American Research Center in Sofia (ARCS) stands sentinel on the other side of the former Iron Curtain.

The center, which opened in 2004, facilitates academic research in Bulgaria by North American scholars and fosters collaboration between such scholars and those in former communist countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

"The idea for this center gradually occurred in the course of my travels and studies in Bulgaria in 2000-01," said Kevin Clinton, professor emeritus of classics, who established the center with his wife and colleague, Nora Dimitrova, a former Cornell research associate in classics. "It became clear that an American research institute dedicated to ancient studies and the languages of the region would be of enormous help, not only to American but also to Bulgarian scholars," Clinton said. "When I mentioned this prospect to Bulgarian colleagues, their response was immediate and enthusiastic. We soon enlarged the academic scope of the project to include the humanities and social sciences."

ARCS is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. These outposts of American higher learning throughout the world are not-for-profit, private organizations that provide valuable resources, such as research libraries and sometimes fellowships, not otherwise available to local scholars. They sponsor fellowships for North American graduate students, give them a venue to conduct their research and foster good foreign relations.

"Those of us who worked in Greece, Turkey or the Near East have been keenly aware of the intellectual advantages and the great cultural role provided by the American research centers in those regions, for us as well as the scholars of host countries," Clinton said. "The Iron Curtain prevented East-European scholars from easy access to Western research, and Western scholars have remained largely unacquainted with numerous publications by East European colleagues. ARCS hopes to contribute to correcting this imbalance, as the first -- and only -- American Overseas Research Center in a former communist country."

Cornell serves as the host institution for ARCS in the United States. A consortium of academic institutions in the United States provides support for the center. Cornell provides an office and Web site at the Einaudi Center and mail services in the Department of Classics.

;Last year ARCS received a $2.75 million grant from the Packard Humanities Institute to acquire a large property and four-level building near the center of Sofia. Recently, the center also benefited from a $380,000 grant from the America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF), an offshoot of the U.S. Agency for International Development, in support of Bulgarian-American archaeological research, including excavations, permitting ARCS to team up with the Field Museum in Chicago to recommend projects for ABF funding. ARCS also has received $100,000 from the Getty Foundation for library acquisitions for art historians.

Among its other activities ARCS:

· Supports research in the humanities and social sciences from prehistory through the modern period;

· Maintains close communication with other American institutions dedicated to research in the Mediterranean and the Middle East;

· Supports research on the modern languages of southeastern Europe;

· Sponsors archaeological tours of Bulgarian antiquities;

· Facilitates communication between North American, Bulgarian and other archaeologists in the region and promotes joint excavations.

Jennifer Wholey '10 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.