A scholar who asserts that Americans are the most philosophical people in the history of humanity will present his theory at MTSU Friday, Nov. 8.

Dr. Carlin Romano

Dr. Carlin Romano, professor of philosophy and humanities at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., will be the guest speaker for MTSU’s inaugural Fall Philosophy Lyceum at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in Room 164 of the College of Education Building.

This event is free and open to the public.

Romano’s book “America the Philosophical” received front-page treatment in The New York Times Book Review on June 28, 2012.

Reviewer Anthony Gottlieb wrote, “Is there much more to America’s pre-eminence than the volume of cultural and scholarly products that one might expect from the free world’s largest economy? Romano seems to think that there is, and that America’s distinctive winning formula is mainly a down-to-earth approach to life, though the place’s diversity also plays a role.”

Romano joined the Ursinus faculty in 2010 following 25 years as literary critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he also served at various times as book editor, cultural reporter, general assignment city staffer and a correspondent based in St. Petersburg, Russia.

He remains critic-at-large for The Chronicle of Higher Education, the international academic newspaper based in Washington, D.C.

You can get a preview of Romano’s talk by listening to his interview on “MTSU On the Record,” which will air from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ).

For more information, contact the MTSU Department of Philosophy at 615-898-2907 or Dr. Phil Oliver at 615-898-2050 or phil.oliver@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)