Distinguished UCSB Historian to Deliver Award Lecture Revealing New Perspectives on Military History

Studying the lives of ancient Greek soldiers in the field, as UC Santa Barbara historian John W. I. Lee has done, has led to a new kind of military history.

Lee will discuss this development in his Plous Award lecture on May 1 at 4 p.m.

The title of his presentation is "Beyond the Battlefield: New Perspectives on the History of Warfare."

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the McCune Conference Room in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 6020.

Lee, who is described as an "innovative, brilliant scholar in the early stages of his career," was honored earlier this academic year with the 2005-06 Harold J. Plous Award.

The award is given annually to an assistant professor for exceptional achievement in research, teaching and service to the university.

His areas of expertise are Greek history, the history of warfare, and archaeology and epigraphy.

Lee's first major work, soon to be published as a book, is a nontraditional military history of the customs and practical concerns of the ancient Greek mercenary army that invaded Persia in the fourth century B.C.

Sarah Cline, a UCSB history professor and Plous committee member, described Lee as a "superb" scholar and teacher whose "contributions to the intellectual life of the campus community and beyond are truly exceptional."