UNLV will host a free public lecture, "Reflections on the Buddha's Bump: Changing Perceptions of the Enlightened One," at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Flora Dungan Humanities Building, Room 109.

During the event, Donald Lopez Jr., director of Asian studies and professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies at the University of Michigan, will discuss the various interpretations of the "crown protrusion" that figures prominently atop the Buddha's head. Considered by some to be the physical manifestation of enlightenment, the "bump" has been both extolled by Buddhist monks in Asia and debated by art historians in Europe and America.

Lopez, who is associate dean for academic affairs at Michigan, specializes in late Indian Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. His books include "A Study of Svatantrika"; "Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra"; "Prisoners of
Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West"; and "The Story of Buddhism." He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The lecture is being sponsored by UNLV's Asian Studies program and the CSUN student government. No reservations are required.

For more information, contact Janet Ward, UNLV director of interdisciplinary degree programs and associate professor of history, at 895-4961.