Happenings

Exhibitions

Senator John Heinz History Center, From Slavery to Freedom: Antislavery Movement to the Modern Quest for Civil Rights, including material from the Pitt-produced exhibition Free at Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries, displayed at Heinz History Center in 2008-09, ongoing, 1212 Smallman St., Strip District.

Frick Art and Historical Center, A Kind of Alchemy: Medieval Persian Ceramics, a look at the diversity of ceramics made in ancient Persia, through June 16, 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze, 412-342-4075, www.thefrickpittsburgh.org

Carnegie Museum of Art, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 102nd Annual Exhibition, celebrating 102 years of exceptional art by members of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, through June 23, Heinz Galleries; Japan is the Key: Collecting Prints & Ivories, 1900–1920, visual art from the early years of the Carnegie Institute, through July 21, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, What We Collect: Recent Art Acquisitions, 2007–2012, botanical illustrations from the early 19th century through the present, through June 30, 5000 Forbes Ave., 412-268-2434.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Bug Works, photography of insects, interesting specimens, and live bugs, through July 28; Garden of Light: Works by Paula Crevoshay, featuring nearly 70 fine art jewelry pieces, through Aug. 11, 4400 Forbes Avenue, 412-622-3131, www.carnegiemnh.org

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Butterfly Forest, including various species, among them Monarchs and Zebra Longwings, through Sept. 2; Summer Flower Show: Glass in the Gardens, featuring lifelike floral forms, whimsical long-legged birds, rotating stained-glass towers, and a large, articulated woolly mammoth skeleton, through Oct. 6, One Schenley Park, Oakland, 412-622-6914, www.phipps.conservatory.org

Lectures/Seminars/Readings

“Twists and Turns (Non Helical) the Transcriptional Road to Oxidative Neuronal Death: a Unifying Hypothesis for Cancer and Neurodegeneration,” Rajiv R. Ratan, professor of neurology and neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, noon May 29, 6014 Biomedical Science Tower 3, Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, www.cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu

“Artists on Art Gallery Talk: Associated Artists of Pittsburgh,” award-winning artists Nancy McNary Smith, Erika Osborne, and Chuck Johnson discuss their art and the works of their peers, 2:30 p.m. June 2, Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland,  412-622-3131, www.cmoa.org

“The Neurobiology of Social Behavior Development,” Pat Levitt, director, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, and chair, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 4 p.m. June 3, Learning Research Development Center, 2nd-Floor Auditorium, Pitt Department of Neuroscience, www.cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu

“Neural Control of Movement After Spinal Cord Injury,” Monica A. Perez, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Center for Neuroscience at Pitt Training Program, School of Medicine, noon June 10, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Senior Vice Chancellor’s Research Seminar, www.cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu

Miscellaneous

Farmers at Phipps, organic produce from local farms for sale 2:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, through October, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, One Schenley Park, Oakland, 412-622-6914, www.phipps.conservatory.org

Butterfly Weekend, learn about the life cycle of butterflies, June 1-2, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, One Schenley Park, Oakland, 412-622-6914, www.phipps.conservatory.org

Opera/Theater/Dance

Afternoon of Elves, a play about two young girls based on the Newbery Honor Book by Janet Taylor Lisle, through June 9, Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave., Oakland, 412-392-8000, www.pittsburghplayhouse.com

Pitt PhD Dissertation Defenses

Priyanka Upadhyai, Dietrich School’s Department of Biological Sciences, “Unraveling Mechanisms of Transcriptional Repression: Novel Insights From Brinker,” 10 a.m. May 29, A219B Langley Hall.

Michael K. Olsen, Dietrich School’s Department of Linguistics, “The Preemption of Competition Through Instruction: Promoting the Acquisition of Case in Spanish Pronominal Object Clitics Through Classroom Instruction,” 2 p.m. May 29, 2816 Cathedral of Learning.

Joseph A. Tipton, Dietrich School’s Department of Classics, “An Aristocracy of Virtue: The Protagorean Background to the Periclean Funeral Speech in Thucydides,” 2 p.m. May 29, 1518 Cathedral of Learning.

Gil D. Hoftman, Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, “Development of Cortical GABA Circuitry: Identifying Periods of Vulnerability to Schizophrenia,” 10 a.m. June 3, 2nd-Floor Auditorium, Learning Research and Development Center.

Kamden Hoffmann, Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, “A Participatory Approach to Physical Activity Among People With Severe and Persistent Mental Illness,” 2:30 p.m. June 3, A638 Graduate School of Public Health.

Brian Rosborough, School of Medicine’s Graduate Program in Immunology, “Manipulation of Regulatory Myeloid Cell Differentiation and Function and Its Therapeutic Implications,” 4 p.m. June 3, 1095 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower.

Michelle Kurta, Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology, “Ovarian Cancer Epidemiology: Risk, Diagnosis, and Prognosis,” 2 p.m. June 4, UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 4C Conference Room.

Dilrukshika Singhabahu, Graduate School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics, “Robust Partial Least Squares Regression and Outlier Detection Using Repeated Minimum Covariance Determinant Method and a Resampling Method,” 10 a.m. June 5, A216 Crabtree Hall.

Rachelle Eve Stopczynski, School of Medicine’s Department of Neurobiology, “Neuroplastic Changes in a Mouse Model of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma,” 9 a.m. June 10, 1495 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower.

Faisal Y. Asiri, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, “Predictors of Performance of Activities of Daily Living and Gait Speed for Specific Diagnostic Groups of People Receiving Home-Based Rehabilitation,” 10 a.m. June 11, 4014 Forbes Tower.

Xiong Zhang, School of Medicine’s Program in Integrative Molecular Biology,  “Investigating Src Family Tyrosine Kinase Signaling in Mouse and Human Embryonic Stem Cells,” 2 p.m. June 11, 503 Bridge Side Point II.