Beth A. Simmons, a world-renowned authority on international relations and human rights, will discuss “The Future of Human Rights” on Feb. 22 at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Simmons, Ph.D., the Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law and Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, will speak at 4:10 p.m. in the Benes Rooms of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.

Her book “Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics” has been called “one of the most important books on international human rights in decades.”

The book, which examines the tangible impact of human rights law, earned the American Political Science Association’s 2010 Woodrow Wilson Award for the best book published in the United States on government, politics, or international affairs. It also was recognized by the American Society for International Law, the International Social Science Council, and the International Studies Association as the year’s best book.

Simmons is conducting research in three areas: global performance assessments as informal governance mechanisms in international affairs; international border crossings, including evidence of their “thickening” in many parts of the world; and international and transnational crime.

Her Ohio Wesleyan presentation represents the university’s 28th Annual John Kennard Eddy Memorial Lecture on World Politics The lecture honors the life of student “Jeff” Eddy, killed in an automobile accident in 1988.

The event is sponsored by the OWU International Studies Program and the Department of Politics and Government. Learn more at www.owu.edu/internationalstudies or www.owu.edu/politics.