Sharon Block, a respected historian of gender, sexuality and race in colonial America and associate professor of history at the University of California–Irvine, will deliver a free public lecture, “Rape: Race, Power and Politics in Early America,” from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today (Thursday, Jan. 31), in the UO Knight Library Browsing Room.

The lecture will be based on material in Block’s first book, “Rape and Sexual Power in Early America.” The book explores rape and its prosecution in British America between 1700 and 1820. The work is particularly relevant to recent political controversies on how people understand rape.

The lecture is sponsored by the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society, CSWS Law and Society Research Interest Group, and the UO Department of History.