Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program
The Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program, established by Brooklyn College, is supported by the Robert L. Hess Fund. The program serves as a permanent tribute to the scholarly commitment of Robert L. Hess, exemplified during his tenure as president of Brooklyn College. It represents the ideal of the educated individual—knowledgeable, thoughtful, inquiring, alive to the shared purposes and concerns lining all intellectual pursuits. More particularly, it evokes the scholarly and academic virtues embodied in the curriculum at Brooklyn College.
The purpose of the program is to invite to the campus each year a distinguished individual representative of an academic discipline at the college, with the selection of such scholars being rotated through the disciplines. The distinction of the scholars in residence is based on their accomplishments and stature, not on their affiliation; they may be drawn from the academy, from the professions, or from public life. They must be able to speak to issues of their disciplines as well as significant issues of concern to the entire Brooklyn College community.
The scholar in residence engages in a variety of activities appropriate to the discipline, whether public lectures, performances, master classes, or guest lectures in undergraduate courses; participates in panels or symposia; and meets informally and socially with members of the faculty, students, alumni, and friends of Brooklyn College.
Nominating a Candidate
The Wolfe Institute for the Humanities invites your nominations for the 2019-2020 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence program. The strongest nominations will include a detailed letter – signed by multiple faculty in different departments interested in teaching the scholar’s work – listing the nominee’s accomplishments and their appropriateness to speak to the Brooklyn College community as well as to the Wolfe’s 2019-2020 theme – suggested by students and selected by a faculty committee – land. This theme engages the idea of land broadly, including nations, indigenous studies, earth and other planets, maps and mapping, digital territories, landscapes, soil, and the verb to land, as in to arrive at a conclusion, as well as other manifestations.
Multiple faculty, students, or staff may support a single nomination; simply include each person's name, relationship to the College, and email address. Please note that nominees should not be contacted directly. To nominate a candidate to be the next Hess Scholar in Residence, please submit the nominees' resume and a paragraph or two explaining why that person would be the ideal candidate to visit Brooklyn College by Monday, 1 July 2019.
Submissions should be sent to Suklima Roy at suklimaroy@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
Ethiopian and African History Collection
The Brooklyn College Library has received the Ethiopian and African history collection from the library of Robert L. Hess. A portion of the Robert L. Hess Fund is set aside for the conservation and enhancement of this collection.
Previous Robert L. Hess Scholars in Residence
- Vartan Gregorian, 1993–94
- Ann Douglas, 1995–96
- James S. Langer, 1996–97
- Daniel Miller, 2000–01
- Robin D.G. Kelley, 2001–02
- Agnieszka Holland, 2005–06
- Marc Shell, 2007–08
- Eleanor J. Sterling, 2009–10
- Sean Wilentz, 2012–13
- Thomas Frank, 2014–15
- Rob Nixon, 2015–16
- John L. Jackson, Jr., 2016–17
- Edwidge Danticat, 2017–18
- José David Saldivar, 2018–19
