Paths to Peace in Freeborn County and Riverland Community College will

sponsor &8220;The Global Gun Epidemic: Gun-Related Violence and Public Health,&8221; featuring Wendy Cukier Thursday in the Albert Lea campus lecture hall of Riverland Community College.

A dessert reception will start at 6:15 p.m. in the atrium. The keynote address starts at 7 p.m. in the lecture hall, with a question-and-answer session to follow at 8 p.m. A book-signing starts at 8:45 p.m.

Cukier is a professor of justice studies at Ryerson University in Toronto. She is internationally know for nearly 20 years of research and advocacy on the issue of firearms control. She co-founded Canada&8217;s Coalition for Gun Control and coordinates the Small Arms Firearms Research and Education Network. In 2000, Cukier was awarded the Governor General&8217;s Meritorious Service Award, one of Canada&8217;s highest honors. She is the co-author, with Dr. Victor W. Sidel, of &8220;The Global Gun Epidemic.&8221; Since its release, the book has received accolades from academics as well as activists such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Sarah Brady. It was also favorably reviewed in &8220;The Journal of the American Medical Association.&8221;

Admission is free. The event is funded in part by a grant from Albert Lea Medical Center.