"The `Jurassic Park' Syndrome: Images of the Dinosaur in American Culture" will be the topic when University of Chicago professor W.J.T. Mitchell speaks at UNLV on April 28.

Mitchell, who is a professor of both English and art, will trace the evolution of the dinosaur icon from the paleontological obsessions of Thomas Jefferson to the cybernetic fantasies of Steven Spielberg.

His presentation is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Classroom Building Complex, auditorium A-108. Part of the University Forum lecture series, the event is free and open to the public.

In the slide-illustrated lecture, Mitchell will explore the dinosaur's changing function as an emblem of big corporate capitalism to a popular figure for American schoolchildren. Depictions of the dinosaur in fiction, film, television, and advertising also will be discussed.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and underwritten by the UNLV Provost's Office.