This spring, Brooklyn College invites the campus community and the public to gather for Hess Week 2026, a powerful three-day series exploring Asian American lives, rights, civil liberties, faith, storytelling, mental health, and movements for racial justice. At the center of this week is our 2025–26 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence, Professor Russell M. Jeung from the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University, whose scholarship and activism have shaped national conversations on race, religion, and justice. Hess Week begins on March 17 at 11 a.m. with a Welcome Ceremony honoring Jeung’s arrival on campus. The event brings together leading scholars and public intellectuals, including Carolyn Chen, Jerry Park, and David Kim, to reflect on the importance of scholarship that bridges research, community engagement, and social transformation. Later that afternoon (2:15–3:30 p.m.), the panel “The Lives, Rights, and Civil Liberties of Asian Americans in an Age of Mass Deportation” examines how contemporary immigration politics and policies are reshaping Asian American communities—and how solidarities are forming across immigrant groups. Featuring voices from law, faith-based organizing, and community advocacy, this conversation centers the urgent realities facing families and communities today. On March 18, Hess Week turns toward faith, story, and healing. In the morning (11 a.m.–12:15 p.m.), “Belief and Belonging: Faith Communities and Justice” explores how religious communities have become sites of resistance, refuge, and organizing in the struggle for immigrant dignity and human rights. In the afternoon (2:15–3:30 p.m.), “Recuperating Collective Stories: Writing Chinese American Memoirs” brings together memoirist Ava Chin and Professor Jeung to reflect on memory, migration, and the power of storytelling to reclaim erased histories across generations and coasts. The day concludes (3:40–4:55 p.m.) with “Struggling, Surviving, Thriving—Asian American Mental Health,” a timely and deeply needed conversation on the socio-emotional and developmental challenges facing Asian American adolescents and college students, featuring leading scholars and clinicians including Clarissa S.L. Cheah and Cindy Liu. Hess Week culminates on March 19 (11 a.m.–12:15 p.m.) with the 2026 Robert L. Hess Memorial Lecture, delivered by Professor Jeung: “Asian American Movements for Racial Justice: Resistance and Solidarity.” The lecture traces the long arc of Asian-American organizing—from survival to coalition-building—and invites the campus community to imagine new possibilities for justice in the present moment. Across three days, Hess Week 2026 tells a collective story: of communities under pressure, of faith and culture as sources of belonging, of memory as resistance, of mental health as justice, and of movements that insist on dignity in the face of exclusion. We invite students, staff, faculty, and community members to join us for these conversations and be part of this shared work of learning, care, and solidarity. All events are open to the public. Add the events to your calendar and join us for Hess Week 2026. About Hess Week Hess Week at Brooklyn College is an annual series of events hosted by the Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities that features a distinguished Scholar-in-Residence. The week includes public lectures, panels, and seminars, highlighted by the Robert L. Hess Memorial Lecture, focusing on critical social, political, or academic themes.
