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.

February 7-8, 2019, the Visiting Scholar Program will welcome Susan Birren, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at Brandeis University.

In Professor Birren's Developmental Neurobiology laboratory, undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers work together to gain a new understanding of how cellular interactions control the development of nerve cells and functional neural circuits. Her work has defined the reciprocal signaling between the nervous system and the heart that leads to neural control of cardiac function and to cardiovascular disease. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles and did post-doctoral work at the California Institute of Technology in the area of Development Neurobiology. She has been a member of the Brandeis faculty since 1994 and is a member of the Brandeis National Center for Behavioral Genomics and the Volen Center for Complex Systems.

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

• 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 Award for study in the classics. 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.

Past Waysek Award Winners

2018: Dana Aprigliano and Catherine Yanchak
2017: Nicholas A. Rizzuti
2016: Nicole Vincenza Speth
2015: Jacquelyn Marie Blaine
2014: Mary Rooney
2013: Corey Williams
2012: Nicole Cieslewicz, Michelle Marsilla
2011: Amanda Jarvis
2010: Lisa Young
2009: Michael Chui
2008: Claire Graves
2007: MaryEllen Van Wie

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The honorees for the 2017-2018 academic year are:

Rachel Davis, Women's Studies Senior
Amanda Lastella, Fine Arts, Psychology Junior
Laura Mascuillo, Economics Sophomore
Hannah Matuszak, English, Computer Science Junior
George Osterweil, Computer Science Sophomore
Bhakti Patel, Pre-Health Senior
Bianca Saraniero, Biology Junior
Paras Shah, Pre-Health Junior

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The honorees for Fall 2016 are:

Julian B. Donahue, Junior (Dance and Political Science)
Paul J. Franco, Senior (Biology)
Ariel Golshan, Junior (Mechanical Engineering)
Jordan S. Laird, Junior (Journalism and Political Science)
Fatimah Mozawalla, Junior (Pre-Health/Global Studies)
Stephanie M. Nagel, Senior (Computer Science and Mathematics)
Jacqueline M. Pollina, Junior (Biology)
Stella K. Schoen, Senior (Economics)

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The honorees for Fall 2015 are:

Francine Chirico, Philosophy
Amanda Clouser, Chemistry
Svetlana Krilyuk, Political Science, Psychology
Natalie Mishkin, Political Science
Eve Morin, English, Early Childhood & Childhood Education
Rebecca Ragusa, Speech Language Hearing Science
Hannah Rembrandt, Speech Language Hearing Science
Nicholas Rizzuti, English
Garrett Shum, Linguistics, Philosophy, Rhetorical Studies
Daniel Zhu, Pre-Medical Studies