Eric Van Young, professor of history at the University of California, San Diego will speak Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. in Leighton Hall, room 304, on the Carleton College campus. His presentation, part of the College’s Herbert P. Lefler Lecture Series, is entitled "Tales from the Dark Side: Lucas Alamán, Conservatism, and Modernization in 19th-Century Mexico.” His appearance is free and open to the public.

Van Young is a renowned historian of colonial Mexico; in recent years his area of study has focused on Mexico’s 19th-century wars of independence. His current work, and the subject of his lecture, is Lucas Alamán, the man who is considered the father of Mexican conservatism, and a central character in the nation’s early history.

Carleton’s Herbert P. Lefler Lecture Series is a bi-annual program that brings historians to campus that have recently raised conceptual issues that effect historians in all fields. The lectures correspond with a history “methods” class required for junior history majors. A valuable part of the history curriculum, all junior and senior majors are invited to attend the Lefler Seminar class discussion, and members of both the campus and the greater community are invited to attend the Herbert P. Lefler Public Presentations.

For more information, including disability accommodations, please contact Nikki Lamberty at (507) 222-4217.