Academic freedom and homeland security lecture at UNL Oct. 11

Barbara Weinstein, history professor at New York University and president of the American Historical Association, will give the sixth annual Carroll R. Pauley Memorial Lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Oct. 11.

Sponsored by the UNL Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences, Weinstein's lecture, "Academic Freedom in the Age of Homeland Security," will be followed by a response from Waskar Ari, UNL professor of history and ethnic studies. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Attendance is free and open to the public.

Ari was hired by UNL in 2005, but spent nearly two years hamstrung by bureaucratic red tape before he was allowed to enter the United States. For months, lawyers, University of Nebraska administration and international historians waited, then petitioned and finally sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to grant a visa to Ari, a member of Aymara indigenous group of Bolivia. The American Historical Association was actively involved with his case. In May 2007, the government granted Ari's visa and he arrived in Lincoln in August.

"During our efforts to bring Waskar Ari to UNL, Barbara Weinstein became president of AHA, and under her watch, the organization issued a letter supporting Ari's request to enter the U.S., which we really appreciated," said Ken Winkle, chair of the UNL history department. "She will speak about he impact of homeland security issues on academic freedom, particularly the international exchange of ideas and scholars, with particular reference to Dr. Ari's recent situation."

Weinstein earned her doctorate in history from Yale University in 1980, with a specialization in modern Brazil. Her earliest research focused on the intersection of social history and political economy. Weinstein's next major research project dealt with the state of Sao Paulo, home to Latin America's largest industrial economy. In 1998, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for research on race, gender and regionalism in Brazil. She is completing a manuscript tentatively titled "Race, Region, Nation: Sao Paulo and the Formation of Brazilian National Identities," to be published by Duke University Press.

CONTACT: Kenneth Winkle, Professor and Chair, History, (402) 472-2414