Local churches and Winthrop University will host author and speaker Mary Mikhael next week in Rock Hill.

Mikhael recently retired as the president of the Near East School of Theology in Lebanon.

At Winthrop’s event on Monday, Mikhael will speak as a Syrian, scholar and resident of the Middle East region who has extensive personal knowledge of the civil war in Syria. The lecture is free and starts at 7 p.m. in Withers 401.

She will speak during morning services and during Sunday school classes at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church on Sunday. The services are at 8:45 and 11 a.m.