NIU Anthropologist and Associate Professor William Fash will reveal the progress of his Copan Mosaics Project during a presentation at 8 p.m. today in the Holmes Student Center Heritage Room.

Michael Gonzales, associate professor of history and acting director of the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, asked Fash to present a lecture on this project. Gonzales said, “He (Fash) is a dynamic teacher who is, all-in-all, one of the most outstanding faculty members.”

Fash has been working on the project for the past 10 years. He teaches at NIU in the fall and conducts field work at archaeological digs in the Honduras during the spring and summer.

The dig in Honduras is a long-term project that involves NIU students as well as professionals, Fash said. In the spring, seven or eight students come to the site for a four-month dig. A one-month field school is held for 15 students in the summer.

Fash said his lecture will focus on the results of the digs, the modern day situations in Honduras, reasons why the Mayan civilization collapsed, and how to use lessons from digs to learn from past mistakes. He also will show the complications of putting the temples found in the excavation back together and will express the concept of “applied anthropology.”

Anthropology Chairman Clark Larsen said Fash’s specialty is Mayan archaeology. Fash received a bachelor of arts degree from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He holds a doctorate degree in anthropology from Harvard.

Fash has received many grants and awards for his significant work. He also has published numerous articles and has been featured in a series of television science specials called “The Infinite Voyage.”