The UA Little Rock Downtown Lecture Series continues on Wednesday, Feb. 20, with a talk on “Poverty, Food, and Nutritionism” by Dr. Don Willis, assistant professor of sociology at UA Little Rock.

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. at UA Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave.

Willis will discuss how food shapes our identity, social relationships, and even acts as a resource to blur or distinguish people across social categories. He will focus on a particular form of poverty— food insecurity—and how it impacts lives and health through social, or non-nutritional pathways, such as one’s sense of social positioning in an unequal world. In the lecture, Willis also addresses fundamental questions about the character of food itself and its role in shaping social experiences such as trust and belonging.

The UA Little Rock Downtown Lecture Series features UA Little Rock faculty discussing issues in science, health, community, the arts, and other topics every Wednesday from 6-7 p.m.

All lectures are free and open to the public, but individuals are encouraged to RSVP by emailing downtown@ualr.edu. For more information, contact Ross Owyoung, UA Little Rock Downtown director, at 870-501-2700 or rlowyoung@ualr.edu.