On Wednesday, April 13, Orlando Patterson gave the inaugural lecture launching a new Center at McGill University,  the Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Cultures in the Ancient and Modern Worlds.  The Center “draws together political theory and philosophy, comparative and global history, classics, and a group from architecture and engineering working on technology and society.” Jacob T. Levy, the Center’s first director, describes it as “one of the largest initiatives in the liberal arts at McGill in a very long time, spanning the Faculties of Arts, Engineering, and Law.” Patterson's lecture attracted a full house, with both the Deans of Arts and Sciences, and of Engineering, as well as the Center’s benefactor, Dr. Lin, in attendance. His talk was entitled “Freedom and Contestation: From the Ancient Greeks to America’s Tea Party.”