The Wolfe Institute for the Humanities at Brooklyn College

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

Today we look back at Hess Scholar Tanya Kateri Hernandez's visit to campus in October 2024. She delivered The Samuel J. Konefsky Memorial Lecture on “Understanding Latinx Anti-Blackness Through the Lens of Equality Law." The event was a huge success marked by students’ appreciation of Professor Hernandez’s work. We remain impress with Hernandez’s ability to engage with our students and faculty in ways that were intellectually rewarding, personally meaningful, and generous in spirit. We look forward to welcoming her back to Brooklyn College on March 22, 2027 for HESS WEEK. Stay tuned.

08/31/2026

We are thrilled and honored to announce that Tanya Kateri Hernandez, the Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law, will be the 2026-27 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence.

Professor Hernandez is internationally recognized for her work on the study of comparative race relations and anti-discrimination law. Her work has been published in numerous university law reviews like Cornell, Harvard, N.Y.U., U.C. Berkeley, Yale and in news outlets like the New York Times, among other publications. Her books include Racial Subordination in Latin America: The Role of the State, Customary Law and the New Civil Rights Response (including Spanish and Portuguese translation editions), Brill Research Perspectives in Comparative Law: Racial Discrimination, and Multiracials and Civil Rights: Mixed-Race Stories of Discrimination. Her most recent book from Beacon Press is Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and The Struggle for Equality and its Spanish Translation edition Inocencia Racial: Desenmascarando la antinegritud de los latinos y la lucha por la igualdad. Currently under contract with Beacon Press is her next book (Under) Counting Blackness Across the Globe: The Civil Rights Crisis of Census Racial Erasure (publication date: April 2027).

Professor Hernandez is no stranger to Brooklyn College. Back in March 2024 she participated on a panel on “Anti-Blackness and Myths of Racial Mixing and Mestizaje” with Professor Jasmine Mitchell and our then Hess Scholar Professor Paul Ortiz. And in October 2024 she returned to campus to deliver the Samuel J. Konefsky Memorial Lecture. On that occasion she spoke on “Understanding Latinx Anti-Blackness Through the Lens of Equality Law.”

Professor Hernandez’s official biography:
https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law/faculty/directory/full-time/tanya-k-hernandez/

Library Guide prepared for Professor Hernandez’s Hess Residency – including her full biography, free electronic access to her books, and other related resources: https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/wolfe2026/tanyakaterihernandez

08/19/2026

We mark the recent passing of Professor George Cunningham.

In this week's BC Brief, you can read Professor Lawrence Johnson's powerful reflection on Professor Cunningham, alongside heartfelt tributes from former students.
Link: https://www.brooklyn.edu/bc-brief/a-witness-to-generations/

Memorial Event on Tuesday, Sept. 8
Memorial Program: 5:30–7 p.m., Woody Tanger Auditorium
Reception: 7–8 p.m., Christopher Kimmich Reading Room

08/13/2026

As we prepare to announce who will be our 2026-27 Hess Scholar, we look back at this panel from Hess Week 2023 with Scholar Barbara Smith. Watch, enjoy, and stay tuned for our announcement coming on August 31st.