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Controversial political science professor Dr. John R. Hibbing will deliver the Lou Watkins Endowed Lecture at 12:30 p.m. Friday [NOV. 6] in the Oklahoma Room in East Central University's Memorial Student Union.

Photo of John HibbingThe title of his talk is "Biology, Political Orientations and Citizenship." He will draw on his research funded by the National Science Foundation that seeks biological causes of political behavior.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It is part of the Oklahoma Political Science Association's annual conference which will be held at ECU. It also is an ECU Centennial event.

"Hibbing's research is so original and unconventional that he has drawn a tremendous amount of interest and criticism," said Christine Pappas, program chair of the OPSA "The thought that someone might be conservative or liberal, for example, because of his or her genetics instead of environmental factors opens up all sorts of questions about who we are as citizens."

Hibbing is the foundation regents professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The purpose of the lectureship, which honors Lou Watkins, former chair of ECU's political science department, is to bring recognized authorities to ECU to address subjects of public interest at the local, state or national level.

Watkins taught at ECU from 1980 until she and her husband, former U.S. Rep. Wes Watkins, moved from Ada in 1991. She is president of World Export Services Inc. and is a member of the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges.

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