Happenings

Exhibitions

Carnegie Museum of Art, Teenie Harris Photographs: Cars, showcases a selection of 25 elegant photographs of automobiles from the 1930s to 1970s, and emphasizes the roles they played in Pittsburgh’s segregated African American communities, through Oct. 16; Sketch to Structure, reveals the architectural design process to show how buildings take shape from an initial concept, through Aug. 17; Visiting Van Gogh: Still Life, Basket of Apples, provides a rare opportunity to experience four influential masterpieces up close and in-depth, through July 6; Antoine Catala: Distant Feel, a multimedia exploration of the way that images provoke emotion, especially as they travel virtual and physical distances via the Internet, through May 18, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org 

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Time Machines: Watches from the H. J. Heinz Collection, showcases more than 20 of ketchup entrepreneur H.J. Heinz’s most spectacular timepieces, through June 1, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.carnegiemnh.org

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Elements, uses drawings and watercolors of bird nests to focus on the natural and man-made materials incorporated into these architectural structures, through June 30, Hunt Library, 4909 Frew St., Carnegie Mellon University, www.huntbotanical.org  

Lectures/Seminars/Readings

“From a Global to Personalized Approach for Cancer Prevention,” Jian-Min Yuan, professor of epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, 4 p.m. May 11, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Provost’s Inaugural Lecture series, www.provost.pitt.edu 

“The Genetic Basis of Innate Behaviors,” Leslie B. Vosshall, Robin Chemers Neustein Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, Rockefeller University, noon May 12, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, 2015 Senior Vice Chancellor’s Laureate Lecture Series, www.svc-laureate.pitt.edu 

“Tackling Breast Cancer through the Lab, Clinic, and Community,” Nancy E. Davidson, Hillman Professor of Medicine, Pitt School of Medicine, and director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC CancerCenter, 4 p.m. May 14, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Provost’s Inaugural Lecture series, www.provost.pitt.edu 

Staff Development Assembly, a seminar offered by the Staff Association Council that will feature Chancellor Patrick Gallagher as the keynote speaker, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 19, William Pitt Union, registration required at www.sac.pitt.edu  

PhD Dissertations

Anatália Labilloy, Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Human Genetics, “Signaling Pathways in Cell Models of Fabry Disease Nephropathy,” 2 p.m. May 15, 109 Parran Hall

David Spieser, Dietrich School’s Department of French & Italian Languages & Literatures, “The Politics of Aesthetics: Nation, Region and Immigration in Contemporary ‘French’ Culture,” 11 a.m. May 26, 1325 Cathedral of Learning

Jing Wang, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, “Development and Evaluation of an Assistive Prompting System for People with Traumatic Brain Injury,” 9 a.m. May 28, 4060 Forbes Tower

Jessica Isaac, Dietrich School’s Department of English, “Compliant Circulation: Children’s Writing, American Periodicals, and Public Culture, 1839-1882,” 10 a.m. June 3, 501 Cathedral of Learning