Guggenheims Awarded to Swarthmore Faculty

Stephen Hopkins (left) and Ron Tarver of Swarthmore College have won Guggenheim Fellowships. Photos courtesy of Swarthmore College

Two Swarthmore College faculty members have received Guggenheim Fellowships for 2021: Steven P. Hopkins, the Mari S. Michener Professor of Religion, and Ron Tarver, an associate professor of art. They were selected, along with 182 other artists, writers, scholars, and scientists, from almost 3,000 applicants this year, according to the foundation.

Hopkins, who lives in Swarthmore, says that the fellowship will allow him to focus on writing a book on “lament and the ethics of mourning,” a subject he has been exploring for a decade. The project includes laments by women in the poetry and prophecies of the English poet William Blake, as well as in early Greek, Greek Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist literature.

Tarver says the fellowship will allow him to continue working on a project that uses materials from his father’s photo archive, and also produce “a book and exhibit on Black cowboys” that he has been “working on, off-and-on, for the last 25 years.” He says he heard about the award from his wife, who called while he was driving from their home in Elkins Park to South Philadelphia to deliver a print — and pick up some other prints for an exhibition. “I was a little stressed, because I was late for the appointments due to traffic,” Tarver says. “But the news made everything dreamlike.”

Published in cooperation with Swarthmore College.