PHILADELPHIA -- Demetrios Papademetriou, co-founder and president of the Migration Policy Institute, will present the inaugural lecture of the University of Pennsylvania's Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism.

The lecture will be on Sept. 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Kirby Auditorium of the National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St. in Philadelphia, with a reception to follow.  The event is free and open to the public.

Papademetriou will speak on "Immigration: Global Trends and Issues." Douglas Massey, professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, and Joseph H. Carens, professor of political science at the University of Toronto, will be commentators.  

"Controversies over immigration are major parts of politics in the U.S. and most other constitutional democracies today, and our speakers are internationally recognized as among the most probing, knowledgeable experts on these topics," Rogers M. Smith, chair of Penn's DCC Program and professor of political science at Penn, said.

Established in 2006, the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism brings scholars to Philadelphia to share perspectives on the interplay between democratic institutions, constitutionalism and citizenship.

The DCC Program inaugural lecture, faculty workshop series and spring conference is designed to generate innovative research on annually designated themes such as this year's "Citizenship, Borders and Human Needs."

The full schedule of 2007-2008 DCC Program speakers is available at www.sas.upenn.edu/dcc/events.html