One of America’s foremost public intellectuals, Henry Louis Gates, will deliver the UGA Peabody-Smithgall Lecture on “Genealogy, Genetics and Race” at the Morton Theatre downtown, the centerpiece of African American history in Athens. The Harvard professor has written 17 books and countless magazine articles and created 14 television programs, including the Emmy- and Peabody-winning “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.” He’s also no stranger to controversy, such as omitting Ben Affleck’s slaveholding ancestry from “Finding Your Roots” and sparking a national dialog after a white police officer detained him on suspicion of trying to break into his own house. Doors open at 2:30 p.m., and attendance is limited to the first 500 people.

3 p.m. FREE! grady.uga.edu