These issues and their significance to the American public will be explored in a "town hall" meeting with University faculty members for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Nov. 3 in Graham Chapel.

Experts on the environment, race and gender, international political economy, poverty and health care will serve as panelists.

Audience members will be invited to submit questions to the panelists early in the program. Moderator James W. Davis, Ph.D., professor of political science in Arts & Sciences and an expert on American politics, will collect the questions and present them to the faculty panelists for comment.

Panelists are:

Leslie Brown

• Leslie Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and of African and Afro-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will field questions concerning issues affecting race and gender in America. Brown earned a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and master's and doctoral degrees from Duke University. She joined the WUSTL faculty in 1999.

William Lowry

• William R. Lowry , Ph.D., professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, will address environmental concerns and natural-resource issues. Lowry has taught at WUSTL since earning a doctorate from Stanford University in 1988. He is the author of four books, including the most recent, Dam Politics, published in 2003.

Mark Rank

• Mark R. Rank , Ph.D., the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, will focus on poverty and social-welfare concerns. Rank earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin. His most recent book is One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects All of Us.

Will Ross

• Will R. Ross , M.D., associate dean for diversity and assistant professor in the renal division in the School of Medicine, will tackle issues regarding health-care policy. A longtime advocate of public health and health care for the medically underserved, he has worked to eliminate health-care disparities in the St. Louis community and has recently co-authored the book Living With Dignity? A Guide to African American Health.

Andrew Sobel

• Andrew C. Sobel , Ph.D., associate professor of political science and resident fellow in the Center for Political Economy, will field questions on international affairs. He teaches and conducts research in international relations and international political economy. His most recent book is called Private Incentives, Global Capital.

James Davis

• Davis has been teaching and conducting research at WUSTL for more than 30 years. His areas of expertise include American politics and public policy, as well as defense policy. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan.

Assembly Series events are free and open to the public.

For more information, go online to assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 935-4620.