ASU professor Eduardo Pagán will soon be getting his second chance to appear on the small screen.

Pagán, an associate professor in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at ASU’s West campus, will guest host an episode of PBS’s television series “History Detectives.”

The show allows the viewing public to contribute ideas and artifacts for the detectives to investigate.

These items often hold ties to historic events in the United States. Each episode presents three of these 17-minute stories for viewers to watch.

“That’s one of the things I love so much about this show,” said Pagán, who regularly watches the series. “There are just so many fascinating artifacts that are out there that connect to larger stories in our nation’s history.”

Chris Bryson, executive producer of “History Detectives,” said the top-rated show has been airing across the country for seven years.

“It looks to make history attractive and accessible to an audience that might not otherwise be interested,” he said.

Pagán’s first story for the show will focus on a medallion that may have played a role in Pancho Villa’s supposed raid on the town of Columbus, N.M., in 1916. The crew of “History Detectives” will be investigating where the medallion came from and whether it had any connection to the raid itself, he said.

While the episode he hosts won’t air until the summer of 2009, Pagán will travel to New Mexico for filming in November.

The professor said he knows very little about appearing on television and that he will have to learn as he goes.

Pagán has worked with PBS once before. He served as the lead historical consultant on an episode of “American Experience,” but guest-hosting will be an entirely different experience for him, he said.

“I’m excited to get in and jump into it, but I don’t know if I can say that I’m necessarily ready because there’s so much I don’t know,” he said. “These guys who have been doing it for seven years make it look so easy.”

Darryl Hattenhauer, an associate professor in the New College, is confident in his colleague’s abilities, however.

“I watch ‘History Detectives’ a lot, and I know from his previous appearance with PBS on [‘American Experience’] that he’s the perfect choice to be on ‘History Detectives,’” Hattenhauer said.

Hans Schmidt, a graduate student in interdisciplinary studies and one of Pagán’s former students, agreed.

“What I really like about the man is his ability to show us how to research something,” he said. “Without wasting time he covers a large amount of territory in a small amount of time.”

Pagán is scheduled to appear on only one episode of the show, though there is always a possibility that they may call him back to host again, he said.

He is excited to appear, regardless of what happens.

“If one story is all that ever comes from this, that’s all I need,” he said.

Reach this reporter at joshua.snyder@asu.edu.