Catherine Lutz, Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Family Professor of Anthropology and International Studies at Brown University, will give a talk, “Inequality, Myth, and the American Automobile System,” on Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. in North Lounge, Billings as part of the Dan and Carole Burack President’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

Lutz, a cultural anthropologist known for critically acclaimed studies on the cultures of militarism, war, local democracy, media and emotion, will focus on her most current research interest in automobile cultures, highlighted in her new book Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile and its Effects on Our Lives and in her regular commentary series in the Huffington Post. In these publications, she details the socio-cultural, environmental, economic, and health impacts of automobility in modern life and explores the relationship between automobility and the production of social inequality.

Lutz’s work provides culturally informed perspectives on how to develop a cheaper, healthier and greener relationship with cars, detailing how to gain both cultural and political-economic support for alternative transportation modes.

A reception in Billings Apse will follow the lecture, co-sponsored by Global and Regional Studies Program and Transportation Research Center.

Information: (802) 656-1096.