Cary Nelson, former national president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and author of No University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom, will speak at Northern Michigan University. His talk is titled “Academic Freedom in Times of Crisis: The Future of Collective Bargaining, Free Speech on Campus, and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East.” The event is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in Reynolds Recital Hall. It includes a question-and-answer period after the lecture, followed by a reception. Light refreshments will be served. 

Nelson’s appearance is made possible by a grant from the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. It is presented by the Center for Academic and Intellectual Freedom, in cooperation with College Democrats, College Republicans and Young Americans for Liberty. It forms part of this year’s distinguished speaker series, “Reclaiming Academic Freedom and Free Speech On Campus.” 

The aim of the series is to address squarely topics that inevitably generate interest on many college campuses today, with the hope of elevating the discourse by fostering viewpoint diversity and tolerance for a range of responsible opinion.

Nelson is Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an affiliated professor at Haifa University in Israel. He specializes in poetry, literary theory, and Middle East studies.

Professor Daniel Mahoney of College of the Holy Cross will also give a campus presentation as part of the speaker series at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, in Jamrich 1311. Columbia Professor Mark Lilla will round out this year's calendar at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the University Center’s Ontario Room.

For more information, contact Associate Professor of English at NMU, Gabriel Noah Brahm, at 227-1690 or gbrahm@nmu.edu.