AUGUSTA — Sonja Thomas plans to present “Caste: A Crash Course” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7, in the Community Meeting Room at Lithgow Public Library on 45 Winthrop St.

This 40-minute primer on caste aims to teach about terms, caste discrimination in South Asia and in the U.S., and activism to end caste apartheid. Thomas will discuss how caste is systemic and dispel commonly held myths about caste, according to a news release from Sarah Schultz-Nielsen at the library.

The event is sponsored by The Camden Conference, whose mission is to foster “informed discourse on world issues.”

Thomas is an associate professor of women’s gender and sexuality studies at Colby College. Her research examines the intersections of caste, race, gender, class and religion in postcolonial India and race, Catholic settler colonialism, and the South Asian diaspora.

She is the author of “Privileged Minorities: Syrian Christianity, Gender, and Minority Rights in Postcolonial India.” She also has written articles on tap dance in the U.S. and globally.

Thomas is writing a manuscript, “Indians and Cowboys: Race, Caste, and Indian Missionary Priests in Rural America,” about Catholic missionary priests from India serving in rural Montana and North Dakota.

This event is free and open to all.

For more information, call 207-626-2415 or visit lithgowlibrary.org.

Check out other upcoming area events!