“Law, Land, and Laphroaig,” a lecture Wednesday by Nancy Wright, dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, will take a lighthearted look at societal attitudes toward land ownership, and the serious legal implications of what property ownership means for people of various cultures.

Dr. Wright has taken the name of her lecture from Laphroaig distillery’s promotional promise to lease one square foot of land on Scotland’s island of Islay with the purchase of a bottle of Laphroaig scotch. More than 700,000 people around the world have taken Laphroaig up on its offer and are collectively known as the Friends of Laphroaig, with yearly rents payable to them by way of a dram of whiskey from the distillery.

The talk, 4 p.m. January 13 in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall, is part of the Humanities Research Group’s Martin Wesley Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.