Alberto Moreiras, professor of Romance studies at Duke University, is visiting Cornell University for a series of lectures as an invited fellow of the Society for the Humanities.

Moreiras' lecture topics are "The Non-Subject of the Political" on Nov. 1; "God without Sovereignty. Political Jouissance . The Passive Decision," to be followed by a debate, on Nov. 3; and "The Last God: Maria Zambrano and the Politics of Subalternity" on Nov. 4. All lectures are free and open to the public. They begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Guerlac Room of the A.D. White House. Moreiras will lead a seminar, also open to the public, on Nov. 7 at 4:30 p.m. in 201 A.D. White House.

These presentations are part of a book project in which Moreiras tackles the question of political subjectivity and its discontents. His books include "The Exhaustion of Difference: The Politics of Latin American Cultural Studies" and "Tercer espacio: literatura y duelo en América Latina." He has "established himself as one of the foremost thinkers in the combined tradition of deconstruction and so-called subaltern studies," according to Bruno Bosteels, associate professor of Romance studies and the faculty sponsor for Moreiras' visit.

In recent years Moreiras' work has become oriented toward international debates regarding politics, war, subjectivity and sovereignty, and the history of what he terms imperial reason, Bosteels said. In the process, his major points of reference have branched out from Derrida, Heidegger and Borges to include Carl Schmitt, Emmanuel Lévinas, María Zambrano, Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek.

Invited fellows come to Cornell for a period of one to three weeks to give a series of public lectures, and they also may lead a panel discussion, workshop or follow-up seminar related to their lecture topics. In recent years, the Humanities Council has invited one eminent scholar to spend a semester at the Society for the Humanities, but the limited availability of active, high-profile and senior scholars has necessitated a change in the program's requested time commitment.

Moreiras is the first of three invited fellows coming to Cornell during the 2005-06 academic year. Professors Satoshi Ukai of Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, and Norman Naimark of Stanford University will visit in the spring.