The George Washington Forum, developed by Associate Professor of History Robert Ingram -- the forum's founding director -- and Assistant Professor of History Brian Schoen, will feature three forums and a conference, all free and open to the public.

The events aim to better prepare students for living and working in a global economy.

"You can't really understand the world unless you understand the nation from which you've come," Ingram said.

The Washington Forum is made possible by a $20,000 grant from the Jack Miller Center, which covers the costs of the forums and the presenters, Ingram said.

The first lecture will be held Monday, Oct. 5. Georgetown University Associate Professor Patrick J. Deneen will highlight liberal arts and the modern university. Deneen, a political theorist at Georgetown University, is the founding director of the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy at Georgetown, which is similar to Ohio University's new Washington Forum.

The second lecture on Jan. 13 will be conducted by Emeritus Professor of History Jack P. Greene of Johns Hopkins University. He will discuss his new project, "The British Debate on American Colonial Resistance, 1760-1783."

The final lecture in the series will be held on Feb. 25, when University of Virginia Associate Professor of history Paul Halliday speaks about habeas corpus. His research was cited by both sides in the recent Supreme Court case about the rights of Guatanamo Bay detainees.

All three of the lectures will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Baker University Center Theatre on their respective dates.

A three-day conference, "Making Democracy: Violence, Politics and the American Founding," will be held April 22-24. Lectures will be conducted by presenters from the United States and the United Kingdom.