Noted Near Eastern studies scholar Michael A. Cook will give a talk on "The Political Style of the Prophet Muhammad" at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union, Mountain Suites. The talk is free and open to the public.

Cook, a preeminent expert on Islam, is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. In 2002, he received the Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of Middle Eastern studies. He is author of "The Koran: A Very Short Introduction," "Muhammad" and "Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought," winner of the 2001 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association.

Cook will be on campus as the 2007 Mills Distinguished Lecturer. This visiting lecture series was endowed by Ernest and Albina Mills, longtime supporters of the University, to bring noted scholars in the liberal arts to UNC Asheville each year.

For more information, call Samer Traboulsi, UNC Asheville Assistant Professor of History, at 828/251-6298.