Plural marriage and comets and asteroids will be the topics discussed at two University Forum lectures at UNLV in October.

On Oct. 10, Phillip Kilbride of Bryn Mawr College will talk about "Plural Marriage for Our Times: A Reinvented Option?"

Various types of plural marriage are surfacing around the world as viable alternatives to traditional forms of marriage, which are facing economic and spiritual crises, according to Kilbride, a professor of anthropology. In his presentation he will explore some new varieties of family as he finds them in the United States, focusing on the practice of "mansharing" in some African-American communities and polygyny among fundamentalist Mormons.

Comparisons with changing forms of plural marriage in Africa, where such marriages are traditionally valued and are increasing under modern circumstances, will shed light on the possibility in America of family reinvention to provide security and care giving for at-risk children.

"The Beauty and Danger of Comets and Asteroids" will be the topic when Tom Gehrels speaks on Oct. 15.

Gehrels, who is an author, director of the Spacewatch program, and a professor in the department of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, notes that comets participated in the formation of the Earth some five billion years ago and may have brought the water of the oceans and the molecules for life to Earth. Some comets and asteroids still come into the vicinity of the Earth today, and with them comes the danger of collision.

Gehrels says the dinosaurs were eliminated by such a calamity 65 million years ago, and a similar calamity could occur now, wiping out the human race. However, he adds, we are on our way to avoiding such a global disaster.

Both presentations will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History. All University Forum lectures are free and open to the public.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and underwritten by the UNLV Foundation. For additional information on the series, call 895-3401.