The departments of Spanish and Portuguese, and History welcomed Emeritus Professor Ambeth Ocampo from Ateneo de Manila University (currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan) on April 21. Professor Ocampo is the most recognized public historian in the Philippines and one of few who works directly with Spanish archival sources. During his talk, Professor Ocampo highlighted the importance of engaging directly with the materiality of the archives by sharing anecdotes of how he arrived at finding some key historical documents. He also spoke about the importance of learning Spanish for a deeper and less filtered understanding of colonial Philippine history.