The Phi Beta Kappa Society
DELAWARE VALLEY ASSOCIATION
Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar at Ursinus College
On October 20, 2025, the Tau of Pennsylvania Chapter at Ursinus College hosted Catherine S. Ramírez, PhD, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for a public lecture titled "Assimilation: An Alternative History." The lecture was standing-room-only, with many Ursinus students and faculty members from the Spanish Language and Politics and International Relations departments attending and asking great questions. A prime motivator for Dr. Ramírez to think more deeply about assimilation was Samuel Huntington's 2004 book Who Are We?, in which he expressed his opinion that Latinx immigrants were less likely to assimilate and warning that this could divide America into two cultures. Dr. Ramírez's excellent and interactive talk attempted to open the audience to a more complex understanding of the definition and processes of assimilation. Her lecture followed the outline of her most recent book, also called Assimilation: An Alternative History, and in it, she investigated not just immigrant assimilation, but also assimilation of indigenous peoples. Very thought-provoking talk that kept many students around afterward asking questions into their evening. ​
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Kempton, PA
On Saturday, October 18, 2025, PBK's and guests saw one of the natural wonders of Pennsylvania at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary on the Kittatinny Ridge, the world's first refuge for birds of prey where the local geography funnels migrating raptors, including falcons, hawks, and eagles, for ideal viewing during this mid-point of their fall migration. After initial programs covering raptor identification with the center's raptor "ambassadors", the group hiked approximately about one mile to the North Lookout to spend an hour there with raptor counters and Conservation Science trainees to help spot & identify raptors.
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Book Club - Brotherless Night
On October 16, 2025, Brigid Connolly led an insightful virtual discussion of American fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and Harvard graduate, V.V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night, a deeply moving and intellectually rich coming-of-age novel that transports readers to Sri Lanka during the early years of its devastating civil war. Through the eyes of 16-year-old Sashi, a young Tamil woman with aspirations of becoming a doctor, the novel explores themes of political violence, moral dilemmas, and the resilience of the human spirit. Good Reads score 4.4 out of 5.
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Joseph Bonaparte Estate, Bordentown, NJ
On September 20, 2025, PBK's and guests enjoyed a traditional French picnic on the lawn of the former Joseph Bonaparte estate, preceded by a 1-hr. tour of the on-site Discovery Center with a description of the site’s history, beginning 13,000 years ago with the Lenape. Also detailed was the 1816 purchase by Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and former King of Spain, of the Point Breeze property, where he built a grand estate which became a cultural and political center of the young nation. Though the mansion is gone, the grounds include a grotto, fields, woods, and the former Gardener’s House which is now the Discovery Center.​
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Movie Club - Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here)
On September 11, 2025, Brigid Connolly led an thoughtful virtual discussion of the 2024 Academy Award Winner for Best International Film, Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here), directed by Walter Salles and based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir, the political biographical drama follows his mother, Eunice Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, an activist coping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva, and trying to maintain family stability during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Rotten Tomatoes score 97%.​
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Board Game Lunch at "The Board & Brew"
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On Saturday, August 9, 2025, PBK's & guests gathered for a fine lunch & a drink, craft beer, or special coffee over board games from the large game library at The Board & Brew in University City, Philadelphia. Good conversation flowed and a great time was had by all!​
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Trenton Thunder Minor League Baseball Game
On July 19, 2025, PBK's and guests had a great evening at the ball park for the Trenton Thunder game vs. the State College Spikes of the MLB Draft League, to have a look at the stars of the future with all the fun of the over-the-top fan engagement and delicious local-flavor concessions of a minor league ball park. The gates opened at 4:30 p.m. for a pre-game Happy Hour, and there were fireworks after the game.​
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Walking Tour of Outdoor Sculptures Surrounding the Philadelphia Museum of Art
On June 28, 2025, PBK's and guests enjoyed a 2-hr. guided walking tour of 16 notable sculptures surrounding the Philadelphia Museum of Art, based on the Association for Public Art narratives and led by a PBK member and her husband, following an introduction at the Rocky statue adjacent to the base of the art museum steps. After the tour, many enjoyed an optional group lunch for more good conversation at the nearby Bishop's Collar restaurant,​
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4th Annual PBK Dinner with Friends
On June 17, 2025, PBK's and guests met at the White Dog Cafe in Haverford, PA for a leisurely meal, fellowship, and great conversation with old and new friends who all share a variety of wide-ranging interests. The group looks forward to the next dinner together.​
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Book Club - Portrait of a Thief
On June 12, 2025, Frederika Jenner led an insightful virtual discussion of the novel, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li (2022), which follows a group of Chinese-American college students as they embark on a heist to steal priceless Chinese artifacts from Western museums, seeking to reclaim their cultural heritage. The story explores themes of identity, diaspora, and the complexities of reconciling personal ambition with collective history. Li's writing blends action, cultural exploration, and the ethical questions surrounding restitution and ownership. NY Times Best Seller and a NY Times Best Crime Novel of 2022. Contracted for Netflix TV series.​
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Hagley Museum, Wilmington, DE
On May 31, 2025, PBK's and friends had a 2-hour private guided tour of the Hagley Museum outside of Wilmington, DE. The large, indoor-outdoor museum with hundreds of years of history includes the buildings and grounds of the sprawling 19th-century gunpowder factory powered by the Brandywine River where the du Pont chemical empire began, early industry demonstrations, buildings from the workers' village, the first du Pont family home and gardens in America, the new "Nation of Inventors" exhibit celebrating diverse stories of American innovation, as well as the natural beauty throughout the museum grounds. After the tour many of the group enjoyed lively conversation over lunch at nearby Buckley's Tavern.​
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Movie Club - Everything Everywhere All at Once
​On May 8, 2025, Richard Klein led a thoughtful virtual discussion ofthe top awarded film of 2022, "Everything Everywhere All at Once", directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The film follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), an exhausted laundromat owner who discovers she must navigate a multiverse to stop an interdimensional crisis, while resolving conflicts with her young adult daughter. The film blends absurdist humor with themes of family and identity. Multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, and Screen Play, along with many other awards. Rotten Tomatoes score 94%.​​
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John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Philadelphia
On May 3, 2025, PBK's and friends enjoyed a 2 hr. bird walk at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Philadelphia, organized by Catherine Anderson and led by expert birders, Chuck Root and Emily Dodge. The group saw and/or heard close to 40 distinct bird species, training their binoculars on all levels of the leafy canopy, across the muddy wetlands, and into the sky. After the walk, the group enjoyed lunch at Stinger's Waterfront restaurant, with a wide-ranging conversation to cap a wonderful morning.​
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Book Club - West into the Night
On April 10, 2025, Joan Dalessandro led an insightful virtual discussion of the rediscovered memoir, West into the Night, by British-born, Kenyan author, aviator, and equestrian, Beryl Markham, one of the first bush pilots in East Africa, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west against the prevailing winds, and is considered an aviation pioneer. Her memoir details a selection of her adventures in Kenya with a unique perspective both from the ground and the sky. Born in England in October 1902, her early years were spent in the relatively untouched Rift Valley, 100 miles from Nairobi, with her father, farming and training horses, where she was give great latitude to play, explore, and hunt with her indigenous African child peers and elders. Good Reads score 4.2 out of 5.​
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Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
On March 14, 2025, Steve Tillery led a group to hear a concert by the Elias String Quartet from Great Britain, who performed the final string quartets of three masters of the genre. Haydn’s unfinished D Minor Quartet, Op. 103, Britten’s distinctive Quartet No. 3, Op. 94, and Mendelssohn’s F Minor Quartet, Op. 80, at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center. Many of the group had earlier enjoyed dinner together for good conversation before the concert at nearby Jasmine Rice Rittenhouse Thai restaurant.​
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Movie Club - American Fiction
​On March 13, 2025, Patricia Kapur led a thoughtful virtual discussion of the 2023 satirical drama, American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright as the protagonist, an African American literary professor navigating the complexities of race and identity while trying to write serious literature, finally becoming "...a pseudonymous success writing a potboiler he loathes". Directed by Cord Jefferson, it tackles issues of race, cultural appropriation, and the commodification of Black narratives with humor and insight. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Wright), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jefferson), the latter of which it won along with multiple other notable awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rotten Tomatoes score 93%. ​
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Woodmere Art Museum, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
On February 22, 2025, Bill Howard led a group for a private guided tour of the permanent collection of the Woodmere Art Museum in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia. The museum is dedicated to "telling the story of Philadelphia's art and artists", including regional artists, and is housed in a National Register of Historic Places 19th century estate with a sculpture garden. Many participants then enjoyed an optional group lunch after the tour for more good conversation at nearby historic (since 1743) Brittingham's restaurant in Lafayette Hills.​
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Book Club - James
On February 13, 2025, Brigid Connolly led an insightful virtual discussion of the 2024 novel, James by Percival Everett, distinguished professor of English at the Univ. of Southern California. A retelling of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as a first-person narrative from the perspective of Jim: "When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. Thus begins their dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States..." 2024 National Book Award and Kirkus Prize winner, shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, and a NY Times Bestseller. Good Reads score 4.5 out of 5.​
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Movie Club - Farewell Mister Haffman
On January 9, 2025, Tali Segal led a thoughtful virtual discussion of the gripping 2022 French historical suspense drama, Farewell Mr. Haffmann, starring the legendary Daniel Auteuil in one of his most superlative screen performances. Based on Jean-Philippe Daguerre's celebrated, multi Molière Award-winning play, the film takes place in occupied Paris in 1941 when jeweler Joseph Haffmann (Auteuil) arranges for his family to flee the city while his employee (Gilles Lellouche) takes over the store presumably until the conflict subsides. When Haffman's own escape is thwarted, he finds himself living hidden in his basement while the employee and skeptical wife live in his home above. The agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all. Rotten Tomatoes score 98%.​
