Rex Nettleford, professor of continuing studies, head of the Trade Union Education Institute and deputy vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies, will present three lectures on the theme "Cultural Identity and Development: A Caribbean Perspective," as Cornell University's Fall 1997 Messenger Lecturer.

Nettleford will speak on "Cultural Indices as Agencies of Marginalization," Sept. 29; "Cultural Strategies of De-Marginalization," Sept. 30; and "Implications for Development," Oct. 1. All lectures, which are free and open to the public, will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall.

Locksley Edmondson, Cornell professor of Africana studies, said Nettleford's lectures will "challenge the all-too-frequent tendencies among Western World academicians and international development 'experts' to view development independently of cultural norms, imperatives and necessities."

A former Rhodes Scholar and a leading Caribbean intellectual, Nettleford has published several books on issues of political development, race, ethnicity and cultural identity, including the recently co-edited Smithsonian Institution publication Race, Discourse and the Origins of the Americas. He is regarded as a leading authority on the performing arts and is founder, artistic director and principal choreographer of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. He has served as cultural adviser to Caribbean governments and regional organizations. His influence beyond the Caribbean has been noted in his appointments to international boards and organizations, including UNESCO, the OAS, the Ottawa-based International Development Research Centre and the London-based Commonwealth Arts Organization, which he chairs.

His numerous honors include the Zora Neale Hurston-Paul Robeson Award; honorary doctorates from St. John's University, University of Hartford, the City University of New York and Illinois Wesleyan University; and one of Jamaica's highest national honors, the Order of Merit (O.M.).