Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi, the first woman elected to the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, will deliver a lecture at the University of Kentucky in March about the prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Ashrawi, chairwoman of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, follows former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spoke at UK on Oct. 14.

The lectures are setting the groundwork for establishing the Peace House Living-Learning Community at UK, a residence hall that will house students interested in the cause of peace.

Ashrawi is scheduled to give the free lecture March 29, the university announced. Other details and seat reservation information will be announced later.

Ashrawi, who has a doctorate in medieval literature from the University of Virginia, first gained prominence in the United States as a participant in a three-hour televised discussion about Middle East peace on ABC's Nightline in 1988.

A native of Ramallah, just outside Jerusalem, Ashrawi went on to play key roles in the Palestinian delegation during peace talks throughout the 1990s.