Victor Davis Hanson, a renowned author and professor, will address agricultural issues during a special visit to MSU today.

His speech, “The Legacy of Family Farming from Ancient Greece to Contemporary America,” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Union.

Hanson, who directs the Classics Program at California State University, is also a fifth-generation fruit farmer. His visit is a joint initiative between the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Arts and Letters.

Arthur Versluis, acting director of the Residential Options in Arts and Letters, said Hanson’s visit is a good opportunity to discuss issues expanding across disciplines.

He plans to put agricultural issues into a historical framework by drawing on examples from Ancient Greece and Rome.

“He represents, in himself, a connection between areas of the university that aren’t always interconnected,” he said. “He’s not only a specialist in classics but also a historian of agriculture.”

Versluis, also an associate professor of American Thought and Language, has also convened a discussion group to address the correlation between humanities and agriculture and Hanson’s work.

Hanson has written several best-selling books on classical issues and agriculture including “The Land was Everything: Letters from an American Farm.”