Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professorship
Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professorship
Call for nominations is now open until October 30, 2026.
Funded by a generous endowment from Edmond Safra and the Republic of New York Corporation, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies has welcomed exceptional scholars from Latin America and the Caribbean and Latin Americanists to be Robert F. Kennedy Professors since the program began in 1986. RFK Professors are nominated by faculty in any department, center or school at Harvard to teach a semester-long course or seminar in their areas of expertise. Besides teaching in their hosting departments, RFK Professors give a public lecture, participate in DRCLAS seminars and events, and become part of its on-campus community.
Eligibility and Benefits
Open to leading experts on Latin America, the Caribbean and their diasporic communities in any academic field. Candidates must be able to spend a semester or a full academic year of residency in Cambridge.
Robert F. Kennedy Professors receive:
- Competitive stipend: 75,000 USD for the academic year, or 45,000 USD for one semester.
- Health care benefits.
- J1 visa sponsorship for themselves and their dependents (spouse and children of less than 21 years old).
- A reimbursement of up to $4,000 to cover relocation expenses to and from the home state/country for both the recipient and any dependents joining them. This allocation encompasses expenses such as flights in economy class, meals, luggage, and ground transportation associated with round-trip traveling.
- An appointment as Visiting Faculty, library borrowing privileges, access to Harvard’s facilities and events, and opportunities to audit classes and attend seminars in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and other Harvard professional schools.
Nomination process
Nominations for this professorship may come from the chair of a Harvard department or from Harvard faculty. DRCLAS does not accept nominations from candidates.
The deadline to submit nominations for the 2027-2028 academic year is October 30, 2026.
To nominate a candidate to the DRCLAS Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professorship, fill out the nomination form following this link.
The application form will ask you to upload the following documents:
- Letter from nominating Harvard faculty supporting the candidate.
- If different from nominating faculty, a letter from the Chair of the nominating Department/Center.
- A current CV of the nominee.
- Title, short description, and syllabus (even if tentative) of the proposed course or seminar that the candidate would teach.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities of the Nominating Department or Center
- Appoint and hire RFK Professor
- Provide new employee orientation
- Provide office space, if possible (DRCLAS may provide office if needed and possible)
- Schedule course or seminar
- Publicize and promote course or seminar
- Assist RFK Professor in ordering the required course books
- Collaborate with DRCLAS to organize public lecture
Responsibilities of DRCLAS
- Provide onboarding information to selected candidate on visa, relocation and benefits
- Sponsor J1 visa and collaborate with HIO on visa process
- Collaborate with hosting department to organize RFK Lecture
- Collaborate with nominating department or center to promote course or seminar
- Include and engage RFK Professor as part of the DRCLAS academic community
Questions?
Please contact Maria López Portillo, program director of Academic Appointments, Fellowships and Grants, at maria_lopezportillo@fas.harvard.edu
It was absolutely phenomenal to spend time teaching a course on my research topic with great students while having extensive time to conduct research. It could not get better. It was a remarkable opportunity.
2026-2027 Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor
Ruben Oliven
When Jaguars Imagine: Rethinking Latin America Through Eco-Affective Fiction
What if fiction could reshape the way we relate to the planet? That question was central to a recent lecture by Alejandra Laera, the Fall 2025 DRCLAS Robert F. Kennedy Professor in Latin American Studies, who examined how contemporary Latin American novels are rewriting humans’ place in the world. A leading scholar of Argentine literature at the University of Buenos Aires, Laera presented research that unsettles familiar hierarchies separating humans from the environments and species that surround them.
