Happenings

Exhibitions

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Out of this World! Jewelry in the Space Age, showcasing nearly 200 pieces inspired by landmark moments in interstellar discovery and our fascination with all things Space Age, through Jan. 24, Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, featuring the largest exhibit of flying reptiles ever mounted in the United States, Jan. 30 through May 22, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.carnegiemnh.org 

University Art Gallery, Studio Arts Summer 2015 Creative Research Exhibition: Wyoming Field Study & Undergraduate Research Awards, featuring the work of students participating in the Summer 2015 Studio Arts Field Study in Wyoming, offered through the University Honors College and Studio Arts Research Fellows program, through Feb. 5; conversations with the artists, noon Jan. 28, University Art Gallery, Frick Fine Arts Building, www.studioarts.pitt.edu  

Phipps Conservatory, Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, featuring colorful orchids and skillfully pruned tropical bonsai trees, through Feb. 28, 1 Schenley Park, Oakland, www.phipps.conservatory.org

Carnegie Museum of Art, The Propeller Group: The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music, the funerary traditions of South Vietnam through a visual, musical reenactment, through March 21; Jane Haskell’s Modernism: A Pittsburgh Legacy, showcasing the artist and former museum board member’s own artworks and pieces from her private collection, through May 16, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org 

Lectures/Seminars/Readings

“Institute for International Studies in Education Symposium Lecture,” Rebecca Clothey, assistant professor of higher education, Drexel University; Jia Lili, visiting scholar, Pitt Institute for International Studies in Education, discuss ethnic minority education and higher education in China, noon Jan. 20, 5604 Posvar Hall, Institute for International Studies in Education, iise@pitt.edu 

“Pierre Menard the Sur-realist,” Delia Ungureanu, lecturer of comparative literature, Harvard University, discusses Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges’ intimate connection to the surrealists from whom he always sought to distance himself, 12:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Humanities Center, 602 Cathedral of Learning, Pitt Department of English, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.humcenter.pitt.edu 

“At the Feet of Rhetorica,” Debra Hawhee, professor of English and of communication arts and sciences, Penn State University, examines an early 17th century portrayal of Rhetorica, the classical female figure who holds a three-headed beast with a cord or leash, 3 p.m. Jan. 22, Humanities Center, 602 Cathedral of Learning, Pitt Department of English, the Medieval Studies research group, Year of the Humanities in the University, mwo4@pitt.edu 

“Word Riffs with Terrance Hayes,” Terrence Hayes, Pitt professor of English and 2010 National Book Award winner, explores the various ways of how language can prompt stories and songs, 3:30 p.m. Jan. 22, Pitt Writing Center, 317B O’Hara Student Center, www.writingcenter.pitt.edu

“Beyond the King’s Eye: Observing Comets in the Age of Versailles,” Claire Goldstein, associate professor, Department of French and Italian, University of California-Davis, examines the ways Versailles has been shaped and reinterpreted over the past four centuries, 6 p.m. Jan. 25, Carnegie Museum of Art Theater, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, Pitt Architectural Studies Program, Pitt Department of French & Italian Languages and Literatures, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.arch.pitt.edu

“Myth of the Color-Blind and Gender-Blind Judge,” Pat K. Chew, Salmon Chaired Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Pitt School of Law, noon Jan. 27, 2017 Cathedral of Learning, Pitt School of Social Work, Center on Race and Social Problems, www.socialwork.pitt.edu

“Monitoring Groundwater Variability from Space,” Matthew Rodell, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory chief, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, discusses how satellite technology can be used to monitor groundwater systems, 4 p.m. Jan. 27, Connolly Ballroom, Alumni Hall, University Honors College, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, www.honorscollege.pitt.edu 

“Ethics, Citizenship and Governance: Can We Fix the Criminal Justice System for the 21st Century?” Fred Thieman, Buhl Foundation president and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, explores the fallacies inherent in how we administer criminal justice in America, noon Jan. 28, 111 Barco Law Building, Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy, Pitt School of Law, University Honors College, www.thornburghforum.pitt.edu

“Hard-Hatted Women and Wild Sisters: Lesbian Organizations in Pittsburgh Women’s Movement Community,”
Patricia Ulbrich, visiting scholar, Pitt Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program, 4 p.m. Jan. 28, Humanities Center, 602 Cathedral of Learning, Pitt Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, www.gsws.pitt.edu

“Modeling Human Heart Development, Disease, and Regeneration Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells,” Lei Yang, assistant professor of developmental biology, Pitt School of Medicine, and an assistant professor of bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering; noon Jan. 29, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor, Senior Vice Chancellor’s Research Seminar series, www.svc-seminar.pitt.edu

“Recovering the Rhetoric of Mathematics,” Edward Schiappa, professor of comparative media studies and English writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3 p.m. Jan. 29, Humanities Center, 602 Cathedral of Learning, Pitt Department of Communication’s Agora Speaker Series, www.comm.pitt.edu  

PhD Dissertations 

Dushani Palliyaguru, Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, “Characterizing Withaferin A as a Novel Nrf2 Inducer: Implications for Liver Disease Prevention,” 1 p.m. Jan. 26, 5th Floor Conference Room, Bridgeside Point