Scholar and historian Patricia Limerick will deliver the Center for the Study of Women in Society’s third-annual Joy Belsky lecture today in the EMU Ballroom.
Limerick, a MacArthur fellow and University of Colorado professor of history, is regarded by many as one of the most significant historians studying the American West, according to a CSWS press release.
Limerick will discuss the dramatic historic shift that has occurred in the West of scientists serving as key agents in resource development to scientists advocating for natural preservation.
“My lecture will explore the historical legacy inherited by the West’s contemporary decision makers, who often find themselves dealing with the puzzle of judging and choosing between conflicting scientific conclusions,” Limerick stated in the release. “One particularly fruitful area of overlapping interest lies in the investigations of constructions of gender.”
Limerick is the author of the books “The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West” and “Something in the Soil: Legacies and Reckonings in the New West.” A book signing and reception will follow the presentation.
The lecture, which starts at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public.