Archaeologist to Explore Ties between Water, Societies in UA ALLELE Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Brian Fagan, one of the world’s leading archaeological and historical writers, will visit The University of Alabama campus to give the lecture, “Elixir: Water and Humans over 10,000 years,” Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in room 127 of the Biology Building.

His lecture is part of the Alabama Lectures on Life’s Evolution, known as ALLELE, lecture series, which is in its sixth year.

Fagan, professor emeritus of archaeology at the University of California Santa Barbara, is the author or editor of more than 45 books, including several widely used undergraduate college texts. He has been an archaeological consultant for the National Geographic Society, Time Life, Encyclopedia Britannica and Microsoft Encarta.

At UA, Fagan will discuss the changing relationship between water and human societies since the beginnings of farming some 10,000 years ago and the lessons this history offers for human societies of the future.

Born in England, Fagan studied archaeology at Pembroke College in Cambridge. He worked in the field for many years in Africa on multidisciplinary African history and monument conservation. He later came to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has specialized in communicating archaeology to general audiences through lecturing, writing and other media.

His many books include three volumes for the National Geographic Society, including the bestselling “Adventure of Archaeology.” Other works include “The Rape of the Nile,” a classic history of archaeologists and tourists along the Nile, and four books on ancient climate change and human societies. His recently published “Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind” extends his climatic research to the most vital of all resources for humanity.

The presentation is part of the 2011-2012 ALLELE series, which is an interdisciplinary lecture series supported by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors College, the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, New College, Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology and Counseling, and the departments of anthropology, biology, chemistry, English, gender and race studies, geological sciences, history, philosophy, psychology, and telecommunications and film.

The ALLELE lecture series is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.