Phi Beta Kappa Society :: Visiting Scholars

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About the Visiting Scholar Program

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. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students. The Committee on the Visiting Scholar Program is pleased to announce the 2011-2012 panel (see below). The men and women participating during 2011-2012 will visit 75 colleges and universities, spending two days at each one and taking full part in the academic life of the institution. They will meet informally with students and faculty members, participate in classroom discussions and seminars, and give a public lecture open to the entire academic community. The visits are designed primarily for undergraduate participation.

A total of 4,845 visits have been made by 586 Visiting Scholars during the past 55 years. You may view a list of all Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars since the program’s inception here (PDF). You also may view a history of the Visiting Scholar Program.

Here is what the chapters are saying about the experience. You may view the testimonials.

Application Process

Participation is limited to the 280 campuses that shelter chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Priority is given to those institutions not located in major metropolitan centers or that do not have extensive resources on which to draw for similar programs.

Please review the procedural information before requesting a Visiting Scholar. If you are interested in bringing one of the scholars to your campus, you will need to get in touch with the secretary or president of the local Phi Beta Kappa chapter so that your preference can be considered by the chapter when applying for a visitor. Invitations should not be sent directly to the Visiting Scholars. Applications for the 2011-2012 program must be received at the national office by April 15, 2011.

Questions about the program and the application process should be addressed to the Director of Lecture Programs, or you may call (202) 745-3231.

To see videos of past Visiting Scholar lectures, please click here.

Above, Visiting Scholar James O'Donnell at Baylor University.

Visiting Scholars 2011-2012

You may view a chronological listing of visits on the Online Calendar here.

(Click on the scholar's name for a biographical sketch and schedule of campus visits.)

Teodolinda Barolini
Lorenzo Da Ponte Professor of Italian, Columbia University

Sir Peter Crane
Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University

Charles M. Falco
Professor of Optical Sciences and Chair of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Arizona

Pamela S. Karlan
Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law, Stanford University

Jill Lepore
David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History, Harvard University

James J. O'Donnell
Professor of Classics and Provost, Georgetown University; 2011-2012 Phi Beta Kappa/Frank M. Updike Memorial Scholar

Trevor Pinch
Professor of Science and Technology Studies and of Sociology, Cornell University

Gloria Ferrari Pinney
Professor Emeritus of Classical Archaeology and Art, Harvard University

Teofilo F. Ruiz
Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

William Schweiker
Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, University of Chicago

Thayer Scudder
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, California Institute of Technology

David Shambaugh
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

Richard A. Shweder
William Claude Reavis Distinguished Service Professor of Human Development, University of Chicago

John E. Straub
Professor of Chemistry, Boston University

Visiting Scholars 2010-2011

(Click on the scholar's name for a biographical sketch and schedule of campus visits.)

Terry Castle
Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University

Rochel Gelman
Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

Jane C. Ginsburg
Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law, Columbia University School of Law

Herbert Gintis
External Professor, Santa Fe Institute; Professor of Economics, Central European University

Jack A. Goldstone
Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

Doug McAdam
Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Michael McCormick
Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History, Harvard University

Ronald J. Mellor
Distinguished Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

Lisa M. Pratt
Provost's Professor of Geological Sciences, Indiana University

Kay Kaufman Shelemay
G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University; 2010-2011 PBK-Frank M. Updike Memorial Scholar

Peter Smith
Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science, University of Arizona