DOCUMENTARIAN BRINGS HISTORY TO LIFE FOR PRESIDENT'S LECTURE SERIES TONIGHT

Michael Wood, noted British historian and film producer, will speak on campus tonight as part of the President's Lecture Series.

The series' Distinguished Presidential Lecturer in History, Wood will address "The Conquistadors 500 Years On: Perceptions of the Victors and the Vanquished." The free event will be at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building.

Wood is widely recognized by viewers of public television as the host of the acclaimed PBS series' "Art of the Western World," "Legacy" and "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great." Born in Manchester, England, he holds degrees from Oxford University, where he specialized in Anglo-Saxon history. He worked in journalism before writing for television and film, and has authored more than 60 documentaries, including "Great Railway Journeys of the World," "River Journeys" and "The Sacred Way."

Focusing on history and travel, Wood's projects have taken him all over the world, from the jungles of South America to the villages of India. He recently completed "Conquistadors," a travel series that traces the epic journeys of the Spanish Conquest of the New World and will be shown on PBS in spring 2001. The editor of "The World Atlas of Archaeology," Wood has written and contributed to numerous books. This year, he published a collection of medieval essays titled "In Search of England."

For more information call 683-3116.