"History of Myself at Walden, or Why I Went to Live Alone in the Woods" will be the topic of the Sept. 17 University Forum lecture.

Appearing in character and in costume as Henry David Thoreau, UNLV English professor David Barto will present a living history of this literary recluse and explain the real reason he went to live alone in the New England woods.

On Sept. 19, Norman Finkelstein, professor of English at Xavier University, will examine the work of several Jewish American writers during his lecture, "Tracing Jewish Identity in Contemporary American Poetry." Among the writers he will discuss are George Oppen, Charles Reznikoff, Cythia Ozick, and critic Harold Bloom.

Both lectures will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History. All University Forum lectures are free and open to the public.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and is underwritten by The Jerry Kalafatis Lodge Charitable Foundation and the UNLV Foundation.