ORONO – The University of Maine has announced spring lectures for its Socialist and Marxist Studies Series. Lectures will be held 12:30-1:45 p.m. in the Bangor Room of Memorial Union, unless otherwise noted. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Jan. 31: “60 Years After the Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi (Jan. 30, 1948): The Relevance of Gandhi’s Philosophy for Today’s World,” philosophy professor Doug Allen.

Feb. 7: “The Long Haul: Building Unity Against Racist Oppression,” Jarvis Tyner, executive vice chairman, Communist Party USA; founding member, Black Radical Congress; leader in the struggle against racism and its relation to working class liberation.

Feb. 14: “Racism at UMaine, in Maine and Beyond,” panel of University of Maine students Gimbala Sankare, Ashley Miller and Sandy Nesin.

Feb. 21: “Year of the Rat: China-U.S. Relations and Their Implications, history professor Ngo-Vinh Long.

March 20: “Five Years After the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq: What Is To Be Done?” A panel presentation and teach-in, cosponsored by the Maine Peace Action Committee and the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, 7 p.m., 140 Little Hall.

March 27: “A Leftist Analysis of Elections: Why the Republican and Democratic Parties and the Political Process Are Obstacles to Real Democracy,” Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

April 3: “The Destruction of the Modern State of Iraq,” 7 p.m. April 3, 140 Little Hall; Sinan Antoon, from Baghdad, faculty member at New York University with specialization in pre-modern Arabo-Islamic culture and contemporary Arab culture and politics; widely published poet and essayist; co-producer and co-director of film “About Baghdad,” which he will show April 4.

April 10: “Public Intellectuals in the Early Cold War: Lessons for the 21st Century,” history professor Nathan Godfried.

April 17: “Empowering Venezuela Domestically and Internationally Under Chavez: A New Alternative for Peaceful Conflict Resolution in the Hemisphere or the Decline of American Hegemony in the Hemisphere,” Georges Kabche and Stefano Tijerina, University of Maine students from Venezuela and Colombia.

April 24: “Russia Resurgent: Implications for the Region and the World,” political science professors James Warhola, Paul Holman and Seth Singleton.

For information on the lecture series, call 581-3860.