Award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and best-selling New York Times author Naomi Klein comes to Nevada to present at the University of Nevada, Reno College of Liberal Arts' annual Forum for Excellence at the Church Fine Arts, Nightingale Concert Hall,  from 7-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 11 .

Klein's presentation is open to the University and Reno community as she discusses the connection between global warming and capitalism.

Her presentation is coming from the momentum of her critically acclaimed new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate. This Changes Everything is the 2014 winner of the prestigious Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and was an instant bestseller when published in September 2014. It debuted at No. 5 on The New York Times list and was named to multiple Best of 2014 lists, including The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2014. In addition, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, was also shortlisted for the 2015 PEN Literary Awards in the nonfiction category.

"We like to present speakers who engage audiences in discussions with a focus on critical thinking," Larry Engstrom, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said. "Of course, that is one of our main goals in College of Liberal Arts classrooms as well: encouraging students to think critically.

The Forum for Excellence brings internationally recognized figures to the University campus in hopes of inspiring, teaching and giving knowledge to the community. The Forum for Excellence has held many notable guests through the years including historian and political commentator Michael Beschloss, American author, storyteller and radio personality Garrison Keillor and author and commentator for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," Frank Deford.

"The Forum for Excellence was created in 2000 by professor and dean emeritus Robert Mead," Engstrom said. "Since then, we have presented many speakers that have offered insights and new perspectives on critically important topics, often relevant to current issues facing the world. With Namoi Klein, we think we have hit a home run in that regard."

Klein's visit is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts. The College of Liberal Arts contains the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, as well as the School of the Arts and the School of Social Research and Justice Studies. The departments and programs of the University's largest college play key roles in undergraduate and graduate instruction, teaching students to develop intellectual curiosity, research skills and the ability to define and solve complex issues. The faculty in the department are nationally and internationally known for their research and creative activity.

Klein's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, El Pais, L'Espresso and The New Statesman, among many other publications. Klein is a contributing editor for Harper's and reporter for Rolling Stone, and writes a regular column for The Nation and The Guardian that is syndicated internationally by The New York Times. She is also a member of the board of directors for 350.org, a global grassroots movement which was created to help resolve the climate crisis. In 2015, she received The Izzy Award honoring outstanding achievement in independent journalism and media. She is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and a former Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics. She holds an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws degree from the University of King's College, Nova Scotia.