Worcester, MA --- The University Transportation Center at Assumption College will host a lecture entitled, "Machine in the Garden", by Dr. Jed Watters on Thursday, February 10, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the Salon of the La Maison Francaise.

Using literary and artistic sources, Dr. Watters will speak about the perception and reality of the American railroads' relationship to the environment from 1830 to the present. His talk will be accompanied by a series of slides. The title of Dr. Watters' lecture is derived from a popular book of the same title by Leo Marx, in which the impact of technology upon nature is discussed.

Dr. Watters is an assistant professor of history at the College. He has also taught at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy, and was also Chief Reserve Officer for Strategic Studies at the Navy War College in Newport, RI.

The University Transportation Center (UTC) is a newly-launched, federally-funded program at the College, in cooperation with local partnerships, in which transportation and environmental issues will be incorporated into education and science curricula for training future K-12 teachers.

This lecture is the first in a series of lectures that will explore the history of American transportation, and especially in New England.