UO Libraries has partnered with the UO’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics to launch an annual lecture series in honor of University of Oregon alumnus and retired US Representative Peter DeFazio. The DeFazio Annual Lecture promotes public knowledge of politics, governance, civic engagement, and social history by spotlighting esteemed speakers with expertise in the policy areas that DeFazio advanced during his congressional career.

Join us for the second annual lecture delivered by Nicholas Kristof, a political commentator and proud Oregonian. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. Born in Chicago, Kristof was raised in Yamhill, Oregon, the son of two professors at Portland State University. Kristof's lecture will address the current Wayne Morse Center theme of 'Common Ground: Cities and Towns Confronting Shared Challenges.' 

The DeFazio Annual Lecture is made possible through partnership with the UO’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics and by generous support from the Coquille Indian Tribe. 

This event is free and open to the community. A livestream will be available for those who can't join in person. 

Learn more by visiting: https://library.uoregon.edu/rep-peter-defazio-annual-lecture

Join us in the Knight Library Browsing Room for a lunchtime talk featuring Trevor Brown, co-author with Suzanne Mettler of Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide That Threatens Democracy (Princeton University Press, Sept. 2025). A Postdoctoral Fellow in Moral and Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, Brown grew up in a rural community and is a first-generation college graduate. His research examines American politics, public policy, and the politics of inequality, with focuses on place, social class, and work. Brown’s scholarship has been published in Perspectives on Politics, World Politics, and the Journal of Policy History, and other scholarly outlets. It has been covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg, among others. Brown earned his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. In Fall 2026, he will join the University of Oregon’s Department of Political Science as an assistant professor.

This in-person only event is free and open to the public.

It is part of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics’ 2025-2027 Theme of Inquiry Common Ground: Cities, Towns, and Counties Confronting Shared Challenges.