Henry Louis Gates to speak at Texas Tech

From Texas Tech University:

Harvard professor and PBS host Henry Louis Gates will serve as the first guest of the inaugural African American History Month Lecture Series at Texas Tech on February 7.

Karlos Hill said he created the African American History Month Lecture Series to help raise appreciation for African American history on campus and within the broader Lubbock community.

It's only fitting that for the inaugural event the Texas Tech assistant professor of history secured a scholar he describes as "the foremost authority on African American history."

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and frequent PBS host, will serve as the event's first speaker at 7 p.m., Feb. 7 at the Allen Theater.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

"I feel like Dr. Gates will raise the profile and visibility of the speaker series," Hill said. "He will provide a lively discussion on individual lineage and African American history, citing research, DNA analysis and poignant family stories."

Gates has hosted several PBS television miniseries, including "Wonders of the African World," "African American Lives," "Faces of America," and "Finding Your Roots." He also serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard and is editor-in-chief of the Oxford African American Studies Center, the first comprehensive scholarly online resource in the field of African American Studies and Africana Studies.

The event is sponsored by the Offices of the President, Provost, and Vice President for Research, the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences.