The ninth annual James Jones Lecture series will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Lecture Hall in the Doudna fine Arts Center.

The lecture series will feature Matthew Basso, an professor of history and gender studies from the University of Utah.

Daniel Crews, the director of patron services for Doudna Fine Arts Center, said all of the other presenters, other than Basso, are Eastern students and faculty.

Crews also said the lecture series is named after Jones, who is an author who maintains a large literary presence.

“He is an author, he is from Robinson, Illinois. He rose to fame for writing the book ‘From Here to Eternity,’ which was a huge best seller and eventually made into an Academy Award Winning Film,” Crews said.

The title of the lecture is “Meet Joe Copper: World War II Home Front Men and our Shifting Understanding of Mid-Century America.” The lecture draws its focus from his highly regarded book, “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race on Montana’s World War II Home Front.” Basso’s works takes a look at the relationship between the federal government and the home-front men and popular wartime cultural.

Basso’s work also looks at the two main groups of America’s “Greatest Generation” during World War II. These groups and the men who served in the military, known as Citizen Soldiers, and the women who entered the work force after the men were shipped of to war, known as Rosie the Riveters.

Besides the evening lecture in Doudna, there will also be a symposium on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the Booth Library Conference Room. This is would the first time there have been a symposium associated with the James Jones Lecture series.

The symposium will feature both undergraduate and faculty papers, discussing the different aspects about World War II by focusing through both a historical and a literature lens.

Basso will also be at the symposium as the respondent for the discussion.

Jinhee Lee, a professor of history and Asian Studies, will also be discussing her paper titled “Racism with Race and the Origin of ‘Korea-phobia’ in Imperial Japan and Beyond.” Marjorie Worthington, a English professor, will also discuss her paper, titled “Coming All the Way Home: Fictions of Post-War Trauma.”

There will also be two undergraduate students will talk about their own papers individually.

The event is free and open to the public.

Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu