UNLV will host a panel discussion, "Did Perestroika Fail? The Fate of Democracy in Post-Gorbachev Russia," on March 21 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Moyer Student Union, Room 203, located on the campus of UNLV. The event is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, will speak at UNLV the following night, March 22, as part of the Barrick Lecture Series.

During the forum, panelists will explore the legacy of Gorbachev's efforts to build a democratic society in Russia and discuss if nearly two decades of political, economic, and legal reforms in that country have resulted in a "true" democracy. Topics will include freedom of the press, the problems with advancing a market economy, and the current pace of legal reforms.

Forum panelists will include Chief Judge Philip Pro of the U.S. District Court in Nevada; Dina Titus, state Senator and UNLV professor of political science; Daniel Villanueva, UNLV professor of foreign languages; and Paul Werth, UNLV professor of history. Dmitri Shalin, UNLV professor of sociology and director of the Center for Democratic Culture, will moderate the panel discussion.

The event is being cosponsored by UNLV's Center for Democratic Culture and the Las Vegas World Affairs Council.

For more information, contact Shalin at 895-0259.

The UNLV Center for Democratic Culture promotes civic education and civility in public discourse through research, scholarly exchange, and community-based programs. It works closely with local organizations in staging forums on the problems of democracy, conducting seminars on the issues central to local community, developing innovative programs in civic education, and building ties to fledgling democracies.