Fluent in five languages, including Russian, Polish, German and Spanish, Mr. Cobb has traveled widely on four continents. He is the author of three books on the history of Brooklyn as well as articles that have appeared in Irish-America magazine, the New York Irish History Roundtable and The Volunteer. Last year, his research on the Irish-American painter John Mulvany was featured in the New York Times. Mr. Cobb has previously taken part in four other National Endowment of the Humanities seminars. He has spoken at the Society for Old Brooklynites, the Consulate of the Irish Republic and at a conference on Norwegian- American immigration history in Bergen and Norwegian Radio 2.