Paolo Squatriti, a professor of history and romance languages and literatures at the University of Michigan, considered botany as historical material in his September 12 talk, "Exotic Plants, Biological Invasions, and the Medieval Mediterranean as Historical Materials." The standing-room-only event kicked off the Institute's 2013-14 programming and marked the debut of the theme, "Materials of History." Professor Squatriti's lecture is available online as an MP3 audio file and is accessible for University of Michigan account holders.