Presentations on aspects of life in Spain, Mongolia, Kenya, East Asia and the Siberian Arctic will highlight the fall lecture series from the Center for International Studies at Western Washington University. The center sponsors lectures and presentations by visiting and resident scholars during the academic year, covering such diverse topics as children’s family lives in Kenya and the behavior of Spaniards toward soccer-jersey-wearing tourists.

“We tried to put together a series of lectures from across disciplines and from a broad range of colleges,” said Edward Vajda, a professor in the Center for International Studies. “These are presentations from faculty members and others at Western who do really interesting international work. Their research is not narrowly focused; you’ve got economics mixed with politics, or politics mixed with culture.”

All presentations are at noon on the following Tuesdays in College Hall Room 131 on the WWU campus:

Oct. 6: Reid Nelson, who has a master’s degree in experimental psychology from WWU, will present “Effects of Similarity and Tourist Status on Prosocial Behavior: A Field Study in Spain.” Nelson will discuss the results of his research on the likelihood of a Spaniard helping a suspected tourist based on the tourist’s attire, stated nationality and choice of language.

Oct. 13: Marie Eaton, a professor in Western...