Bruce Grant, professor of anthropology at New York University, will give a talk on “The Edifice Complex: Social Lives of Architecture in the Contemporary Caucasus” on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. in North Lounge, Billings.

Grant’s speech, part of the Burack President’s Distinguished Lecture Series, will explore the recent and often stunning changes in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to consider how enduring socialist legacies of art, sovereignty, and reading between the lines of state power come into play in new urban settings. Grant combines methodologies and insights from the fields of history, geography, religious studies and anthropology to better understand changing social practices in the Former Soviet Union. His work has focused on both the Russian Far East and the Caucasus.

The talk, sponsored by the Russian and East European Studies program and the Anthropology Department, is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception in Billings Apse.

Information: (802) 656-0837.