EUGENE–University of Oregon professor Steven Shankman, known as an engaging scholar, teacher and lecturer, will launch the first Phi Beta Kappa "Celebration of the Mind" with a free public lecture, dramatization and reception from 3—5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20, in the Alumni Lounge at Gerlinger Hall, 1468 University St.

Director of the Oregon Humanities Center, Shankman–joined by the Phi Beta Kappa Thespians in their inaugural performance–will present "The Idea of Europe, Levinas and Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’: Is ‘Merchant of Venice’ Anti-Semitic? Is It a Critique of Anti-Semitism? Or Is It Both?" A reception will follow.

Shankman, a UO professor of English and classics who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa while an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, will draw on the thinking of one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, Emmanuel Levinas, whose work can be seen as a response to the Holocaust.

An information session, primarily for upper-division UO students with excellent academic records, will be part of the reception. Juniors and seniors are invited to learn about the Alpha of Oregon Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the oldest and most prestigious honorary society in the United States.

For information, call Nan Coppock-Bland, Phi Beta Kappa chapter secretary, 346-2221.

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