Activities

Since 1956, the Society's Visiting Scholar Program has been offering undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America's most distinguished scholars.

Recent past Visiting Scholars who have come to Hofstra’s campus include:

• Corey D.B. Walker, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest University, 2023
• Marta Tienda, Maurice P. During ’22 Professor of Demographic Studies and Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University, 2022
• Susan Birrin, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at Brandeis University, 2019
• Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, 2016
• Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of History and Department Chair at the University of California, Irvine, 2014
• John Comaroff, Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African American studies and Anthropology at Harvard University, 2013
• Jill Lepore, Professor of American History, Harvard University, 2011
• Bernard McGinn, Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity, University of Chicago, 2006
• Wendy Doniger, Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago, 2005
• Richard Bernstein, Professor of Philosophy, The New School  for Social Research, 2004

Each year, the Hofstra Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honors a PBK inductee with the Helene C. Waysek Scholarship for Graduate Study. Dr. Waysek, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Douglass College, received an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She was an active member of the Hofstra faculty for 36 years, teaching Latin, Greek and comparative literature and serving as Chair of Comparative Literature & Languages for 16 years. In addition, she served as coordinator of the University Honors Program (predecessor to the current Honors College) and as secretary of the Hofstra Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Initially the award was designated for a student who had shown excellence in Classics; in 2021 eligibility was expanded to include inductees pursuing graduate studies in the liberal arts and sciences.

2019:  Kirsten Elise Rickershauser
2020: Walton Raphael Schmidt
2021: Emma Trombetta
2022: Alexandra Attilli
2023: Rahul Ramanathan
2024: Ronja Olsen