Happenings

Concerts

“Hear the Chapel Sing!” OvreArts, the resident ensemble of Heinz Chapel, performs new compositions for strings and voices, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29, Heinz Chapel, Light, Color, and Sound Concert series, heinzchapel.pitt.edu

University of Pittsburgh Panther Rhythms, a cappella group sings upbeat selections, 3 p.m. Nov. 1, Heinz Chapel, heinzchapel.pitt.edu

Exhibitions

Carnegie Museum of Art, Teenie Harris Photographs: Cars, showcases a selection of 25 elegant photographs of automobiles from the 1930s to 1970s, emphasizing the roles they played in Pittsburgh’s segregated African American communities, through Oct. 31; Hélio Oiticica, presents the first comprehensive U.S. retrospective of the influential Brazilian artist, through Jan. 2; The Propeller Group: The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music, examining the funerary traditions of South Vietnam through a visual, musical reenactment, through March 21, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org  

Phipps Conservatory, Halloween Happenings, a day of family-friendly Halloween festivities, 4 p.m. Oct. 30; Fall Flower Show, celebrates Japanese chrysanthemums throughout the conservatory, lending a new perspective through the lens of Japanese horticulture, through Nov. 8, One Schenley Park, Oakland, www.phipps.conservatory.org 

The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, The Mysterious Nature of Fungi, selections from the Hunt Institute Art and Library collection illustrating the identity of these ubiquitous yet peculiar organisms, through Dec. 17, Hunt Library, 5th floor, 4909 Frew St., Oakland, www.huntbotanical.org

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, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.carnegiemnh.org 

Lectures/Seminars/Readings 

“Taking It Personally,” Mark Johnson, director of advocacy, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Ga.-based hospital specializing in treating people with spinal cord and brain injuries, 1 p.m. Oct. 27, University Club, Ballroom B, the Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy, Thornburgh Family Lecture in Disability Law and Policy, www.thornburghforum.pitt.edu 

“Everyday Media Comportment: Living Between Infrastructures,” Thomas Lamarre, professor, East Asian studies and communications studies, McGill University, 4 p.m., Oct. 30, Conference Room A, University Club, Pitt Department of Film Studies, Asian Studies Center, www.filmstudies.pitt.edu 

Miscellaneous

Do I Sound Gay? Film screening and discussion with director David Thorpe, 

8 p.m. Oct. 28, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Pitt Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Department of Linguistics,  www.wstudies.pitt.edu  

“History and Its Discontents: Commemoration in Italy and the Francophone World,” conference marking 50th anniversary of Pitt Department of French and Italian Languages and Literatures, Oct. 29-30, events at 602 Cathedral of Learning and Pitt’s University Club, www.frit50.pitt.edu

Slovak Heritage Festival, 25th anniversary of this celebration featuring musical performances, cultural displays, lectures, Slovak and East European import vendors, and ethnic food, 1 p.m. Nov. 1, Cathedral of Learning Commons Room, Pitt Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, www.slavic.pitt.edu

Opera/Theater/Dance

Water By the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a diverse crew connects in an Internet chat room and the discussion evokes an interrogation of class, violence, and national belonging, through Nov. 1, Henry Heymann Theater, Stephen Foster Memorial, Pitt Department of Theater Art, Provost’s Year of the Humanities in the University, www.play.pitt.edu 

PhD Dissertations

Caitlin Corrigan, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, “The Politics of Privatizing Governance: The Political and Institutional Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility in Africa,” 1 p.m. Oct. 28; 3430 Posvar Hall

Nathan L. Brouwer, Dietrich School’s Department of Biological Sciences, “Applying Multilevel Longitudinal Models to Plant Demographic Processes: Novel Insights into the Long-Term Impacts of Invasive Species and Overabundant Herbivores,” noon Oct. 29, Room A219B Langley Hall