Happenings

Exhibitions

Phipps Conservatory, Spring Flower Show: Masterpieces in Bloom, features works of Van Gogh, Monet, and other famous artists through breathtaking botanical renderings, through April 10, 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 April 25; 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; Teenie Harris Photographs: Great Performances Offstage, celebrates performances of all kinds as produced or experienced by Pittsburgh’s African American community and captured by Pittsburgh’s beloved photographer, through July 17, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 

Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, featuring the largest exhibit of flying reptiles ever mounted in the United States, through May 22, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.carnegiemnh.org 

Lectures/Seminars/Readings

mediterranean [meta]geographies: Lampedusa Beach Reading, the final event in the mediterranean [meta]geographies series, readings of Lina Prosa’s award-winning play Lampedusa Beach, performed in Italian, 7 p.m. March 14; performed in English, 7 p.m. March 15, Henry Heymann Theatre, Department of French and Italian Languages and Literatures, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.humanities.pitt.edu

“Climate Change: Health Risks and Opportunities,” Jonathan Patz, professor and John P. Holton Chair in Health and the Environment, University of Wisconsin, relates the outcomes of the U.N. Conference of the Parties meeting to his decades of research on the health effects of climate change, 4 p.m. March 15, William Pitt Union Ballroom, University Honors College, Pitt Graduate School of Public Health, www.honorscollege.pitt.edu

Schenley Bridge Last Lecture Series: Grant Oliphant, president of the Heinz Endowments, is speaker in the lecture series that invites important local figures to share the wisdom and knowledge of a lifetime in one hour as their “last lecture,” 7 p.m. March 16, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Pitt Office of Residence Life, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.humanities.pitt.edu

“Poetry and Race in America: How the Humanities Engage with Social Problems,” an interactive poetry workshop featuring prominent Black poets, 6:30 p.m. March 20, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave, East Liberty; followed by an evening exploring the topic of race through poetry and discussion, 7 p.m. March 21, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pitt’s new Center for African American Poetry, and Humanities Center, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.humanities.pitt.edu

“Gender Equality in the Age of Academic Capitalism: Cassandra and Pollyanna Evaluate University Transformations,” Myra Marx Ferree, professor of sociology, director of the Center for German and European Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, explores the paradoxes of how gender equality politics intersect with liberal and neoliberal reform projects within universities, 2 p.m. March 21, 4217 Posvar Hall, European Studies Center, Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence, www.ucis.pitt.edu 

Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series Presents: James Fenton, discussion with a Royal Society of Literature fellow and recipient of the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize, 8:30 p.m. March 22, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Pitt Department of English, www.pghwriterseries.wordpress.com

Miscellaneous

“Engaging August Wilson’s Fences,” a staged reading of the Pulitzer Prize winning Fences, set in the Hill District, performed by professional local actors, 11 a.m. March 14, 125 Frick Fine Arts Building, Department of English, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.humanities.pitt.edu

Mindfulness Fair, showcases mindfulness resources and activities available to both the campus community and the Pittsburgh region, and features information tables, collective practices, talks, discussion groups, and children’s activities, 10 a.m. 

March 19, Frick Fine Arts Building, The Center for Mindfulness and Consciousness Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, www.humanities.pitt.edu

36th Annual Latin American and Caribbean Festival, features music, dance, food, arts and crafts, children’s activities, and information on local and regional organizations, noon March 19, First Floor Galleria, Posvar Hall, Center for Latin American Studies, Year of the Humanities in the University, www.ucis.pitt.edu 

“IBD Springboard,” a program for young patients with  inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their families to facilitate healthy pediatric-to-adult gastroenterology and college/work transitions, 5:30 p.m. March 22, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Rangos Research Center Auditorium, 4401 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville, williamscl3@upmc.edu

Opera/Theater/Dance 

Pitt Jazz Ensemble Big Band Festival, presents bands from local middle schools, high schools, and universities, as well as Pitt faculty and guest performers, 1 p.m. March 19, Bellefield Hall Auditorium, Pitt Department of Music, www.music.pitt.edu 

“Happy Hour!” presents Pitt Music Department’s Ensemble-in-Residence IonSound Project, featuring music by Zahab, Mompou, Szymanowski, and Oriana Webb, 7 p.m. March 20, Bellefield Hall Auditorium, www.music.pitt.edu

PhD Dissertations

Brianna Heath, Pitt Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Human Genetics, “MT1 Receptor Mediated Neuroprotection in R6/2 Mouse Model of Huntington’s Disease,” 9 a.m. March 14, 109 Parran Hall

Kenneth W. Drombosky, School of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Pharmacology, “Huntington’s Disease Studies at the Interface of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology,” noon March 14, 1395 Biomedical Sciences Tower

Tiffany Brooke McClendon, Pitt School of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology, “Genetic Dissection of Factors that Promote Genome Stability in the Caenorhabditis Elegans Germ Line,” 3 p.m. March 14, Magee Women’s Research Institute, First Floor Conference Room

Yven Destin, Dietrich School’s Department of Sociology, “Immigrant Coverage in the American Diaspora: Representing Haitians in the Miami Media, 1979-2010,” 4:30 p.m. March 14, 2406 Posvar Hall

Ricardo Ferrari, Pitt School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Department of Physical Therapy, “The Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Aged Skeletal Muscle Regenerative Potential,” 2:30 p.m. March 22, 6050 Forbes Tower

Holly Yanacek, Dietrich School’s Department of German, “Feeling Differently at the Fin de Siècle: Representations of Emotion and Cultural Change in German Literature, 1890-1901,” noon March 23, 1218 Cathedral of Learning Room