West Virginia University continues to highlight and promote the humanities and the arts this year, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Michael B�rub�, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature and Director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, will be a visiting scholar on campus Oct. 26 and 27. His visit is cosponsored by the WVU Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the National Phi Beta Kappa Society.

B�rub� will present the third Festival of Ideas lecture of the 2015-2016 series. In his talk, “The Culture Wars of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” he will argue that an understanding of the trajectory of cultural upheavals in this country from the 1960s to the 1990s is critical if we are to reflect productively on the relations between broad cultural transformations and long-term institutional change in American life.

This event will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 27 at the Erickson Alumni Center and is free and open to the public.

B�rub�, who is the author of eight books, is former president of the Modern Language Association and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. In addition to delivering the Festival lecture, while on campus he will visit several English classes, lead a discussion with faculty about the role of a humanities center on campus, and meet with graduate students from a variety of disciplines.

The Festival of Ideas lecture series spans the academic year and brings a diverse group of newsmakers, public figures and thought leaders – along with WVU’s own academic superstars – to engage the campus community in important issues of the day.

Founded in 1776, the Phi Beta Kappa Society “celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.” West Virginia University’s campus chapter is one of 286 nationwide, all of which induct students from a variety of disciplines as members according to rigorous academic criteria, usually during their senior year. The Society also sponsors and funds activities – like Dr. B�rub�’s visit to WVU – intended to “advance the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences in higher education and in society at large.”

To learn more about the university’s year-long celebration of the NEH and the NEA, including other events that are planned, visit http://artsandhumanities.wvu.edu/.

To learn more about the Festival of Ideas, contact Alexandra McConnell-Trivelli in University Events at festivalofideas@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

ac/10/21/15

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