PBK Visiting Scholar
The Visiting Scholar Program offers undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America’s most distinguished scholars. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the institution by fostering interaction between Visiting Scholars and the resident students and faculty. The Visiting Scholar spends two days on each campus, participating in class discussions, meeting informally with students, and giving a public lecture open to the academic community and the general public.
History
In 2017, Phi Beta Kappa received a gift from Carl F. Cranor, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at University of California-Riverside, to establish an endowment in support of the Society’s Visiting Scholar Program. Every year the Carl F. Cranor Family Endowment for the Visiting Scholar Program funds a Scholar whose visits will include at least one to a Phi Beta Kappa chapter campus located in Southern California.
More information about Cranor’s scholarship and background, visit the following website.
Upcoming Lectures
Douglas E. Christie, Professor Emeritus in the Theological Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University, will be visiting UCI on April 15, 2025.
Prof. Christie will be meeting with faculty and students. If you are interested in meeting Prof. Christie during office hours, let us know in the RSVP form below.
On April 15, 5-6:30 pm, Prof. Christie will be giving a public lecture: “Thinking Like A Mountain: Contemplative Ecology in the Anthropocene.” This catered event is available to everyone, regardless of university affiliation.
Learn more about Prof. Christie’s VSP Public Talk and RSVP by clicking the button below:
Past Lectures
Natalia Molina, 2024
April 16, 2024 | Natalia Molina explores the interconnected histories of race, place, gender, culture, and citizenship. She is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and winner of the Popular Culture Association book award.
Mark D. Hayward, 2023
April 20, 2023 | Mark D. Hayward has served on numerous scientific advisory boards at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, major foundations.
Donald S. Lopez Jr., 2022
April 20-21, 2022 | Donald S. Lopez Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan.
Roger Guenveur Smith, 2021
May 5-6, 2021 | Roger Guenveur Smith adapted his Obie Award-winning performance of A HUEY P. NEWTON STORY into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm.
Richard Alley, 2020
Dr. Richard Alley (PhD 1987, Geology, Wisconsin) is Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State. He studies the great ice sheets and climate.
Natasha Trethewey, 2019
Dr. Natasha Trethewey is the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University. She previously spent 15 years at Emory University.