On February 18, 1965, an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America’s most influential conservative intellectual. The subject was “the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro.” Nicholas Buccola will revisit that historic debate and discuss its continuing relevance to this country's persistent racial divide. Join Columbia University in Pupin Hall, Room 301 for a lecture by Nicholas Buccola, Professor of Political Science, Linfield College, and author of "The Fire is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley, and the Debate Over Race in America." This event will be sponsored by the Center for American Studies.

• The Great Debate Details