The 18th annual Chicago Humanities Festival, titled "The Climate of Concern," is conceived as a broad focus on the place of humankind in nature and the future of the relationship amid cautious and dire predictions.

Several law-related events are scheduled during the span of the festival from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11 in two dozen venues.

At 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, Prof. Christopher Stone of the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California is a panelist for "In Extremis: Do Philosophers Have Anything to Offer?"

An expert on environmental law and ethics, Stone will participate in a discussion of the prospect of human extinction. The program takes place in Thorne Auditorium at the Northwestern University School of Law.

At 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, Leigh Bienen, senior lecturer at the Northwestern University School of Law, will interview Michael Lesy, author of "Murder City: The Bloody History of Chicago in the Twenties."

Beinen is a member of the executive committee of the Center for Legal Studies. His program is scheduled in Rubloff Auditorium at Loyola University.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, at the DuSable Museum of African American History, New Orleans councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis will lecture on post-Katrina recovery, future preparedness and environmental justice.

Her talk will precede a panel discussion headed by Iva Carruthers, general secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and leader in creation of the Katrina National Justice Commission Report, "The Breach: Bearing Witness."

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, attorney and radio commentator Jonathan Kirsch will discuss "The Book of Revelation Revealed" at Loyola's Rubloff Auditorium.

Kirsch is the author of "A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization."

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, in Loyola's Rubloff Auditorium, a panel discussion on "Governing the Great Lakes: Past, Present and Future" will be presented. Lydia B. Lazar, assistant dean of international law and policy development at the Chicago-Kent College of Law is the moderator.

Speakers include Prof. A. Dan Tarlock of Chicago-Kent, an expert in land and water use law, and Henry L. Henderson, an environmental lawyer and Chicago's first commissioner of the environment.

The Humanities Festival board is chaired by Willard Frauman of Kirkland & Ellis. Christopher N. Knight of Foley & Lardner is vice chair.

Members of the board include Marie A. Lona of Winston & Strawn, and Rebecca Ford Terry, senior vice president and general counsel of Draper and Kramer.