The Humanities Research Group will host University of Massachusetts, Amherst, professor emeritus Nancy Folbre for a lecture Thursday as part of its series on the theme “Off the Page: Ideas that Walk and Talk in the World.”

Dr. Folbre will deliver her free public presentation, entitled “Women, Labour, and History,” at 5 p.m. March 17 in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall. She is an internationally renowned scholar whose work links theory with the realities of everyday life in North America—an expert who asks us to rethink our assumptions about the way things work, the way knowledge is produced, and the value we give to the labour of those who care for others in our society.

Folbre is the author of the books Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas and Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values, among others. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times Economix blog. Folbre’s books focus on the often forgotten needs of women and children; the health care industry; the problems of higher education; the invisible labour of women; as well as on family values, and governmental policy.