As New York marks the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal this fall, UB faculty member Marla Segol is helping bring the canal’s stories — both famous and forgotten — into the spotlight.

Segol is a member of the organizing committee for the bicentennial and will speak at an event Oct. 4 in Syracuse welcoming The Seneca Chief, a replica vessel retracing the original 1825 inaugural voyage from Buffalo to Albany. Along the way, the boat is stopping at canal locks and towns to commemorate the waterway’s profound impact on New York State and the nation.

A professor in the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies, Segol teaches a graduate seminar called Untold Stories of the Erie Canal, which explores the lives and experiences that are often left out of official histories.

The boat will arrive at Onondaga Lake Park in Syracuse at noon on Saturday; a welcome ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. Visitors can view the boat from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The free, family-friendly Bicentennial Voyage celebrates Gov. DeWitt Clinton’s historic journey on the Erie Canal from Buffalo to New York Harbor in 1825.