Coastal Carolina University professor Paul Peterson will give a lecture titled “Multiculturalism, Diversity and the American Political Order” on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.

The free lecture, scheduled as a part of the university’s “Cultural Controversies” series, will be held in Coastal’s Waccamaw Higher Education Center at 160 Willbrook Blvd., west of U.S. 17 next to the Hampton Inn in Litchfield.

Peterson will discuss various issues relating to America’s melting pot personality and how it has affected the politics of native and non-native nationalities. He will put different views into historical perspective by focusing on Abraham Lincoln’s understanding of the Declaration of Independence and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the notorious Dred Scott case in 1857. Peterson will also explain why the 19th-century debate over the proposition of equality has profound implications for us and our understanding of the nature of the American political order.

Peterson is a politics professor, a member of the Horry County Board of Education and a former president of the South Carolina Political Science Association. He earned a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School in political science and a master’s degree from the University of California. He joined the Coastal faculty in 1980. Peterson is a recipient of Coastal’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year, an annual honor presented by Coastal’s Student Government Association to faculty who demonstrate excellence in teaching.