FARMINGTON – As a part of its new Common Ground series, the University of Maine at Farmington will host nationally-known community/university partnership expert Kenneth Reardon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, in Lincoln Auditorium, UMF’s Roberts Learning Center.

Reardon’s presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session and is sponsored by the UMF Service Learning Steering Committee and funded by a Maine Campus Compact “Learn and Serve America Grant.” The event is free and open to the public.

As associate professor and chairman of the department of city and regional planning at Cornell University, Reardon speaks nationally about his involvement in successful community/university development projects across the country, from New Orleans to the Flathead Indian Reservation in Pablo, Mont.

In his presentation, “Bridging the University and Community: Lessons from East St. Louis, New Orleans and Beyond,” Reardon will share the results of his recent research, which focuses on the pivotal role that 10 higher educational institutions are playing in revitalizing their local economies.

Reardon will also discuss ways for faculty to link their courses with community/university development partnerships and illustrate how hands-on projects and civic engagement experiences offer a range of learning opportunities for college students.

Rearden’s presentation is part of the university’s new Common Ground series, which makes its debut on campus this fall. Common Ground is time set aside each week when no classes, faculty meetings or office hours are scheduled, allowing the campus community to attend events designed to enrich students’ cocurricular academic experience and to provide learning opportunities for community members.

Additional events include ‘Taxing Maine,” a theatrical production sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council, and “Issues of Consequence: The U.S. Constitution Today,” a presentation by Jim Melcher, UMF associate professor of political science, and state Rep. Janet Mills. The series, free and open to the public, takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays during the semester at on-campus venues.