Marc and Constance Jacobson's early gift established the endowed lectureship that has brought distinguished scholars, artists, writers, and even champions for human freedom to the Institute for the Humanities and the university.
About Marc and Connie Jacobson
“The University of Michigan provided me with a quality education for which I am grateful,” said Marc Jacobson ’55, when he and his wife established the Marc and Constance Jacobson Lectureship in 1989. Their hope was that the lectures would enhance “the cultural and artistic experiences of present and future generations of students at Michigan.”
More recently, the Jacobsons responded to a “challenge match” to support the Institute’s Graduate Student Fellowships with fresh generosity: a pledge to establish the Connie and Marc Jacobson Philanthropic Graduate Support Fund.
Taken together, their gifts bear witness to the breadth of their vision. The lectures bring outstanding senior scholars and public intellectuals to campus, while their support for graduate students nurtures young scholars, the luminaries of tomorrow.
Mr. Jacobson received his BA from the University of Michigan and his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. He served in the United State Army as an enlisted officer. In 2004, Mr. Jacobson retired as Judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court, a position he had held since March, 1995.
Mr. Jacobson served as a trustee for the City of Norfolk employees retirement system; past president of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater; past president of Temple Israel, Norfolk; past president of B'nai B'rith Lodge, Norfolk. He was appointed by the Governor of Virginia as a member of the Virginia-Israel Commission, and was a recipient of the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Constance Jacobson too has served in a variety of civic, cultural and philanthropic posts, including the board of directors of the Virginia Symphony.
Marc and Constance Jacobson Lectures
2023-24 Cathy Park Hong, "‘Major Feelings: Cathy Park Hong in Conversation with Peter Ho Davies"
2022-23 Alexis Pauline Gumbs, "‘Poetry as Praxis: Alexis Pauline Gumbs in conversation with Madhumita Lahiri"
2019-20 Jenny L. Davis, "‘In the Future, Robots will Speak Chickasaw’: Indigenous Language Futurism and the Temporalities of Language Reclamation"
2018-19 Nityanand Jayaraman, "Celebrating the Poromboke Commons: Climate Change, Land-Use Change and Cultural Activism"
2017-18 Shamil Jeppie, “Archives and Futures: A View from ‘the most distant place’”
2016-17 Matthew Desmond and Alex Kotlowitz, "Race, Poverty, and Housing in American Cities: What do we do now?"
2015-16 Naomi Klein, "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate"
2013-14 Katherine Boo, The New Yorker, "Behind the Beautiful Forevers: An Evening with Katherine Boo"
2012-13 Wendy Chun, Modern Culture and Media, Brown University, "Imagined Networks, Affective Connections"
2011-12 Peter Galison, History of Science, Harvard, "Einstein, Clocks, and the Materiality of Time"
2010-11 Marjorie Garber, English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard, "After the Humanities"
2009-10 Joan Wallach Scott, History, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, "Sexularism: On Gender Equality and Secularization"
2008-09 Barbara Stafford, Art History, Emerita, University of Chicago, “Bits of Behavior/Concepts Prior to Words: The Emotional Intuition of Form”
2007-08 Dipesh Chakrabarty, History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, “Empire, Ethics and the Calling of History”
2005-06 Lawrence N. Powell, History, Tulane University, “New Orleans: An American Pompei”
2004-05 Frederic Jameson, Comparative Literature, Duke University, “History and Narrative”
2003-04 Albie Sachs, Constitutional Court Judge, South Africa, “A New Court for a New Democracy: Art, Memory, and Human Rights Come Together in Building South Africa’s Constitutional Court”
2002-03 Kwame Anthony Appiah, Philosophy, Princeton University, “Whose Life Is It Anyway? Identity and Individuality in Ethics and Politics”
2001-02 Martha Nussbaum, Law and Ethics, University of Chicago, “Global Duties: Cicero’s Problematic Legacy”
2000-01 Natalie Zemon Davis, History, Emerita, Princeton University, “Rethinking Cultural Mixture: The Travels of ‘Leo Africanus’”
1998-99 Helen Vendler, English, Harvard University, “Robert Lowell and Depressive Form”
1997-98 Jonathan Levy, Theatre Arts, SUNY-Stony Brook, “Requiem for a Lightweight: Avery Hopwood and ‘Serious Theatre’”
1996-97 Sander L. Gilman, Comparative Literature, University of Chicago, “Seeing Faces, Making Faces: Cosmetic Surgery at 100 Years”
1995-96 Patricia Meyer Spacks, English, University of Virginia, “Sensibilities of Self-Love”
1994-95 Dalia Judovitz, French and Italian, Emory University, “Playing the Field: Redefining Artistic Production”
1993-94 Richard Sennett, Theory and Culture, New York University, “The Geography of Ghettos”
1992-93 Paula Gunn Allen, writer, English, University of California, Los Angeles, A reading from her work
1991-92 Arnold Eisen, Religious Studies, Stanford University, “The Search for Authority in Twentieth-Century Judaic Studies”
1990-91 Arnold Davidson, Philosophy, University of Chicago, “The Horror of Monsters”
1989-90 Simon Schama, History, Harvard University, “Perishable Commodities: On Craft and Value in Netherlandish Still Life”
