The university confirmed plans to host Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Margaret Levi Thursday in the Alumni Memorial Union, ending a process that dates back to the last academic year.,”

Marquette will host a guest speaker today who will discuss the conditions that inspire people to act outside of their self-interests.

Margaret Levi, professor of international studies at the University of Washington, will spend two days on campus where she will give a public lecture in the Alumni Memorial Union and interact with students and faculty.

In an interview, Levi said part of her lecture would focus on labor unions, as they occasionally "promote a larger social cause" rather than focus on materialistic, self-interested goals.

"We see a number of unions where the members also care about U.S. government policy … or care about war, or even about other unions who aren't organized," Levi said. Having studied these types of unions, Levi will discuss characteristics of "certain kinds of organizations that make them act beyond self-interest."

Levi first became intrigued by unions that work for social justice as the former chair of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington. Levi, also the former president of the American Political Science Association, has authored three books, including "Bureaucratic Insurgency: The Case of Police Unions."

In addition to her lecture, Levi will hold a discussion, open to all Marquette undergraduates, in the AMU on Friday.

The title of her discussion, "Global Justice Campaigns," is "an excellent expression of Marquette's values," said Steven Taylor, associate professor of French, coordinator of Medieval Studies and president of Marquette's Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Taylor planned Levi's visit with Lawrence LeBlanc, chairman of the political science department, and Stephani Richards-Wilson, assistant dean for recruitment and retention of the College of Arts & Sciences. Every year, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program releases a list of several distinguished scholars who are available to visit colleges and universities with chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society.

The list circulated among Marquette's various academic departments and, after members of each department reached a consensus, the university placed a bid to host Levi. The chairs of each department later chose the topics, applicable to all Marquette students, on which Levi would speak.

"We tried to pick topics that would cast the biggest nets," LeBlanc said.

Marquette students are encouraged to attend Levi's public lecture, Taylor said, because the topic "embodies the mission and aspirations of Marquette students, faculty and administration."

“