Weekly Bulletin

Science Cafe looks at microbes' role on tree of life

Laura Katz, professor of biological sciences at Smith College, will speak on “Microbes Shake the Tree of Life” at a Science Café on Monday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Esselon Café in Hadley.
 
Katz will discuss her work exploring the position and influence of microbes on the tree of life. Microbes, she reminds us, have dominated Earth’s history and represent the bulk of biodiversity and biomass on our planet, yet much remains to be learned about microbial life. Light snacks will be provided and drinks will be available for purchase.

Visiting Writers Series hosts reading by Noy Holland

The Visiting Writers Series will host a reading by English professor Noy Holland on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall.
 
Holland, who directs the MFA Program for Poets and Writers, is the author of The Spectacle of the Body, What Begins with Bird, and Swim for the Little One First. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the University of Florida and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference.
 
Visiting Writers Series

UMCA exhibits recent acquisitions

The University Museum of Contemporary Art is exhibiting "Recent Acquisitions," featuring a number of important works received during the past year, from Nov. 15 through Dec. 9.
 
The exhibition honors and celebrates the donors and supporters who have made possible the growth of the archive, as well as the artists who represent the vitality and richness of art-making today. Some of the artists included in the exhibition are David Goldblatt, Stephen Petegorsky, Avery Preesman and Robert Mapplethorpe.
 
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Image: Stephen Petegorsky's Corn Debris on Snow, 2007.
 
 

STEM talk focuses on online course planning and implementation

Joan Thormann of Lesley University will speak on “Nuts and Bolts of Planning and Implementing your Online Course” at a STEM Talk on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. in 138 Hasbrouck Lab.
 
Thormann will describe strategies to support online course development and teaching that have proven to make the online experience engaging and satisfying for both students and the faculty member. Techniques to enhance student participation such as optimizing introductions, using targeted grading systems and voice conferencing will be presented.

Panel to discuss 'Wearing a Hijab' at UMCA

Two members of the campus community and artist Elizabeth Stone will participate in a discussion titled "Wearing a Hijab - Garment and Symbol" on Thursday, Nov. 8 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the University Museum of Contemporary Art in the Fine Arts Center.

When Stone and artist and MFA candidate Nour Bishouty exchanged thoughts about "Woman in a Burkha," a painting by Stone in the exhibition "Dialogue with a Collection: Elizabeth Stone - Embodied/Disembodied," both realized that they had entered intellectual territory that required a respectful and thoughtful conversation beyond the casual comments

UMass Extension’s new Garden Calendar on sale

UMass Extension’s 2013 Garden Calendar is now available.
 
The calendar features daily gardening tips for Northeast growing conditions, daily sunrise and sunset times, phases of the moon, room for notes and inspiring garden images for each month.
 
Calendars are $12 each, plus $2.50 shipping for one calendar and $2 for each additional calendar. Send check payable to UMass to Garden Calendar, c/o Mailrite, 78 River Road South, Putney, VT 05346.
 
For information, contact the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program at 545-0895 or eweeks@umext.umass.edu
 
 
 

Tomaskovic-Devey to speak on 'Documenting Desegregation'

Sociology professor Donald Tomaskovic-Devey will discuss his new book, "Documenting Desegregation, Racial and Gender Segregation in Private-Sector Employment Since the Civil Rights Act," at a Sociology Department colloquium on Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 12:30-2 p.m. in W-32 Machmer Hall.

Enacted nearly 50 years ago, the Civil Rights Act codified a new vision for American society by formally ending segregation and banning race and gender discrimination in the workplace. But how much change did the legislation actually produce?

Walk for Light to check campus for safety issues on Nov. 7

All members of the campus community are invited to take part in the annual Walk for Light, which identifies safety-related issues on campus and documents those concerns for repair or other follow-up, on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m., starting from the Student Union steps.
 
Participants will break into groups and head out to different areas of campus, where they will observe and record areas of concern due to poor or broken lighting, overgrown trees or bushes that reduce lighting, broken railings or uneven steps, inoperable help phones, new paths due to construction and other safety-related

McGill scholar to present Distinguished Lecture in the Anthropology of Europe

Ismael Vaccaro, associate professor of anthropology and environmental sciences at McGill University in Montreal, will present this year’s Distinguished Lecture in the Anthropology of Europe on Monday, Nov. 5 from 4-5:30 p.m. in 1001 Campus Center.
 
Vaccaro’s lecture, “The 21st Century Peasant: The Case of the Catalan Pyrenees,” will examine the region’s transformation during the last 200 years. Following economic and demographic decline, many European peripheral rural communities have moved from agro-ranching economies to integration in the leisure economy.

Yale researcher to speak on axon regeneration and degeneration

Marc Hammarlund of Yale University School of Medicine will discuss axon regeneration and degeneration at a Neuroscience and Behavior colloquium on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. in 222 Morrill II.

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