Briefly Noted

Pitt’s Shakespeare-in-the-Schools Program Presents Lovers and Fighters Oct. 14-24

The University of Pittsburgh’s Shakespeare-in-the-Schools program will offer an anthology described as “a perfect introduction to the Bard,” Shakespeare’s Lovers and Fighters, which will run at 8 p.m. Oct. 14-24 in Pitt’s Henry Heymann Theatre in the Stephen Foster Memorial. Matinees are scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 16 and 24. There is no Monday performance.

Part of Pitt’s Department of Theatre Arts, the Shakespeare-in-the-Schools program connects students and teachers to the writings of Shakespeare and other classical authors through touring shows, field-trip matinees, K-12 artist residencies, teacher workshops, talk-back sessions, and study guides.

Shakespeare’s Lovers and Fighters was adapted by Pitt theater arts graduate student Chip Crane and directed by Pitt teaching artist Sam Turich. The 45-minute production features 10 of Shakespeare’s best-known romantic and sparring scenes, including excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Each performance will be followed by a talk-back session with the actors. Tickets are $12 general admission and $8 for students and may be purchased by calling 412-624-PLAY (7529), visiting www.play.pitt.edu, or stopping by the Stephen Foster box office between noon and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, visit www.shakespeare.pitt.edu.

—By Sharon Blake

Pitt to Offer Entrepreneurship Course for Faculty, Grad Student Innovators

Pitt’s Office of the Provost and Office of Technology Management (OTM), in partnership with the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business’ Center for Executive Education, will host a seven-week course titled “Academic Entrepreneurship: The Business of Innovation Commercialization,” beginning Nov. 1.

The course takes inventors from idea conception through a process that includes lateral thinking techniques, intellectual property protection and licensing, early-stage market research, and the effective communication of ideas to potential licensees or investors.

“This course supports Pitt’s commitment to foster innovation development and commercialization and to create a more entrepreneurial environment at the University,” said Dan Bates, strategic relations manager at the OTM. “The course is designed to motivate faculty and graduate students to engage in innovation development and commercialization, and to educate them about the tools and thought processes that strategically transform their ideas into innovations with greater market potential.”

The course includes a one-day Innovation Workshop on Nov. 22, during which participants will have an opportunity to discuss their innovations and ideas and join the staffs of OTM and the schools of the health sciences’ Office of Enterprise Development for a sit-down luncheon.

The intensive course will be held Mondays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in 531 Alumni Hall. Class size is limited, and participants are encouraged to register by Oct. 22.

A course description and registration form are available at http://www.otm.pitt.edu/sc.php?page_title=Academic+Entrepreneurship+Course.

For more information, call Dan Bates at 412-624-4474.

—By John Fedele

Head of University of Minnesota’s Institute on Race and Poverty to Speak Nov. 4

The Innovation Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) will present a lecture by Myron Orfield, executive director of the Institute on Race and Poverty and professor of law at the University of Minnesota. The lecture titled “Metro Patterns and Regional Engagement,” part of the Changing Nature of Civic Engagement in America lecture series, will take place at 9 a.m. Nov. 4 in Ballroom A of the University Club.

An expert in the fields of civil rights, state and local government, state and local finance, and the legislative process, Orfield is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and an affiliate faculty member at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Cosponsored by The Congress of Neighboring Communities and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, among others, Changing Nature of Civic Engagement in America is the Innovation Clinic’s newest lecture series, designed to further students’ interest in local and national public policy issues.

The event is free and open to the public, though an RSVP is required by Oct. 25. A continental breakfast will be available 30 minutes prior to the lecture. For more information or to RSVP, call 412-648-2282 or e-mail gspiaic@pitt.edu.

—By Sierra L. Starks