You live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible enlightenment. If that’s the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are several events going on in town this week. Check out one or more of them if you have time. Get your learn on, as they say, and join the cognoscenti.
If you have a community event, speaker, or film event that you’d like to see featured on Listen Up!, send the event information to joelgillespie [at] smilepolitely [dot] com by Friday the week prior to the event. Listen Up! runs on Mondays.
WHAT: “Center for Translation Studies — The Robert J. and Katherin Carr Visiting writers series presents: Rui Zink“
WHEN: Tuesday, May 5 @ 12 noon
WHERE: Room 2090B, Foreign Languages Building
From the event announcement: “Rui Zink is the Helio and Amelia Pedroso/Luso-American Foundation Endowed Chair Professor in Portuguese Studies and Author-in-Residence for the Spring Semester 2009 at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. He teaches literature and creative writing at the New University of Lisbon. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the first Portuguese graphic novel, A Arte Suprema, and a children’s book, The Boy Who Didn’t Like Television (MacAdam/Cage, 2004). His novel Dadiva Divina was awarded Portugal’s prestigious Pen Club Award for 2005. His latest work includes the critically acclaimed novel, O Destino Turistico, and a new graphic novel, Rei.
WHAT: “The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite as Religious Poetry,” Seth Schein, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Davis
WHEN: Tuesday, May 5 @ 12 noon
WHERE: Room 2090B, Foreign Languages Building
WHAT: “Enhanced Light Harvesting Efficiency of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Coupled to Photonic Crystals,” Agustin Mihi, Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Materials Science and Engineering
WHEN: Wednesday, May 6 @ 3 p.m.
WHERE: Room 3269 Beckman Institute
Once in a while, I include a speaker such as this to imply that I am intelligent enough to understand difficult concepts. Are you not impressed?
WHAT: “Feminist Futures,” various speakers
WHEN: Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8
WHERE: Various locations, see event schedule for details
Feminist Futures is the culmination of a semester-long consortium, and features Patricia J. Williams, Aimee Cox, Mary Gray, Ranjana Khanna, Linda Martin Alcoff, Nadine Naber, and Diane Negra.