The Roots of Contemporary Issues (RCI) annual fall and spring lecture series is designed to engage students and faculty at WSU, both in and beyond the RCI program, as well as interested members of the Pullman-Moscow community, with cutting-edge scholarship addressing vital contemporary issues in global-historical perspective.

The annual RCI George and Bernadine Converse Lecture taps into the latest advances in scholarship by inviting recognized authorities on pertinent topics from beyond the WSU community to come share the best of their research and insights with us, building bridges and fostering dialogue between WSU and the broader academic world.

The annual RCI Interdepartmental Lecture draws on the strength and expertise of WSU faculty. It intentionally promotes interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, and inter-program cooperation and exchange by inviting scholars from outside the department of history and, whenever feasible, outside the humanities, to bring their disciplinary expertise, grounded in a historical approach, to bear on current issues of global concern.

The RCI program partners, as much as possible, with other university and community entities in hosting these events, including the Department of History and other university Departments, the College of Arts and Sciences and other university Colleges, the Foley Institute, the WSU Asia Program, the Center for the Humanities, International Programs, various student organizations, and more. The lectures are typically hosted in the CUB Senior Ballroom and made free and open to the public.