By Kristen Muthig
Enquirer staff writer

MIDDLETOWN - Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh will give a free lecture as part of this fall's Cultural Arts Series at Miami University's Middletown branch.

Hersh, who made headlines this year with his reports on American abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, will speak at 10 a.m. Sept. 30 at the Dave Finkelman Auditorium. His topic is "Chain of Command: U.S. Foreign Policy Since 9/11."

"We're always trying to bring someone with diverse perspectives so that the audience can come away maybe thinking about our country and thinking globally," said Darius Prier, Miami-Middletown's multicultural affairs coordinator

Prier said the timing of Hersh's appearance, which is open to the public, was tied to the journalist's schedule, not the upcoming election.

Hersh's other investigative work has included exposing the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia, CIA involvement in the downfall of the elected Chilean President Salvador Allende, and investigations into biological and nuclear weapons.

Besides his work as a reporter for the Associated Press, the New York Times and magazines including The New Yorker, Hersh has written eight books.

Hersh will lead off the second year of the campus' Cultural Arts Series, which also will feature Brazil's Nego Gato Music and Dance Ensemble, the documentary drama My Soul Is a Witness, and bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent.

"It has enabled us to have more visibility," Prier said. "Also I think it's really sending the community a message that we are embracing diversity. You're really talking about an eclectic series of events."

For information on the Web, visit http://www.mid.muohio.edu/news/news.cfm#277

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E-mail kmuthig@enquirer.com