Students aren’t the only ones getting in on the excitement leading up to the final presidential debate set to unfold on UNLV’s campus this fall.

UNLV professors and renowned scholars from across the country will host nine election-themed talks aimed at helping people better understand themes surrounding the Oct. 19 candidate face-off — and the general public is invited.

UNLV's annual University Forum Lecture Series will feature several election-themed talks. A separate Presidential Debate Lecture Series was specifically developed to share the expertise of top national experts this election cycle.

Presidential Debate Lecture Series

Each event is free and will be held in the auditorium of Greenspun Hall.

Obama/Romney Debates, Sept. 8, 1-2 p.m.

David Zarefsky, professor emeritus of the Northwestern University School of Communication, discusses what led to President Obama’s poor initial performance in the first 2012 debate against Gov. Mitt Romney and his "comeback" in the second debate.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Social Media Use and Debate Viewing, Sept. 12, 4-5 p.m.

This lecture is led by Mitchell McKinney, professor and chair of the University of Missouri Communication Department. His research interests include presidential debates, political campaigns, civic engagement, media and politics, and presidential rhetoric.

Politeness in Presidential Debates, Sept. 22, 4-5 p.m.

Edward Hinck, a College of Communication & Fine Arts department professor at Central Michigan University, will lead the talk. He studies political debates and is co-writing a book on how face-saving and face-threatening strategies shape audience perceptions of candidates in presidential and vice presidential debates.

Risky Business on the Campaign Trail: Why Candidates Fear Presidential Debates, Sept. 27, 7:30-9 p.m.

Northeastern University School of Journalism professor Alan Schroeder delves into the history of the first-ever televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 — and why the event has become a pre-election expectation for voters, but a source of trepidation and resentment for many candidates since Day 1.

Do Presidential Debates Matter?, Oct. 11, 4-5 p.m.

The lecture is led by Kathryn Olson, professor and chair of the College of Letters & Sciences at University of Wisconsin, who uses rhetorical criticism and argumentation to examine American texts, issues, movements, images, and debates with public consequences.

University Forum Lecture Series

Each 90-minute talk is free and will be held from 7:30-9 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, the location is Marjorie Barrick Museum Auditorium. Visit the College of Liberal Arts for a full list of fall University Forum lectures.

Originalism After Scalia, Sept. 7

Justice Antonin Scalia was probably the nation’s most outspoken advocate of the judicial philosophy known as “originalism,” which looks to the original meaning of constitutional text for interpretive guidance. UNLV law professor Ian Chamberlin Bartrum explores the future of originalism in courts and classrooms in the wake of the justice’s passing.

Presidential Power: Legitimate and Fabricated Sources, Sept. 19, Student Union’s Cohen Theatre

American presidents rely on legitimate powers that include those expressly enumerated in the Constitution and certain other powers that are implied in it. Constitution Project scholar-in-residence Louis Fisher will discuss three presidents who, on four occasions, claimed “inherent” powers but lost every time. To explain why this happened he will analyze the concepts of “prerogative” and of the “Unitary Executive.”

American Indians and U.S. Presidents: Building Nation-to-Nation Relationships, Oct. 5

Since 1783 American Indian leaders have traveled to the nation’s capital to negotiate with their titular equal – the President of the United States. UNLV history professor William Bauer, Jr. will detail how American Indian diplomats and leaders tried to create their sovereignty, self-determination and nation-to-nation relationships by meeting with presidents of the United States, from George Washington to Barack Obama.

Thomas Hobbes and Public Order, Oct. 12

This lecture is led by Brian C. Anderson, editor of the City Journal at the Manhattan Institute. Thomas Hobbes, in the Leviathan, articulates a view of security that is based on police-enforced order. Jane Jacobs, among others, advocates a conception of neighborhood security that relies on enforcement by shopkeepers, pedestrians, and other “eyes on the street.” Anderson will argue that the two conceptions are complementary and perhaps even mutually reinforcing.