Happenings

Concerts

Squirrel Hillbillies, local Pittsburgh duo shares its eclectic mix of folk, country, and blues songs, noon Jan. 9, Cup and Chaucer Café, Hillman Library, Emerging Legends Concert Series, www.library.pitt.edu/emerging-legends 

Exhibitions

Reading Goethe, rare books, manuscripts, and other Goetheana related to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), through Dec. 12, Room 363, Hillman Library, Special Collections Department, University Library System, www.library.pitt.edu

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Dangerous Beauty: Thorns, Spines and Prickles, features drawings, watercolors, prints, and books displaying the defensive structures that have evolved to protect plants from predation, through Dec. 18, Hunt Library, 4909 Frew St., Oakland, huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu 

Carnegie Museum of Art, The Neapolitan Presepio, recreates the Nativity scene within an 18th-century Italian village with more than 100 handcrafted, lifelike figures, through Jan. 5; 2014 Carnegie Trees: Winter Wonders, features several 20-foot Colorado spruce trees decorated with handmade ornaments, through Jan. 5; Maggie’s Centres: A Blueprint for Cancer Care, offers a look into the innovative architecture and functions of five “Maggie’s Centres” located throughout the United Kingdom, through 

Jan. 5; Sebastian Errazuriz: Look Again, combines found and repurposed objects in unexpected ways, through Jan. 12; Pierre Leguillon: Arbus Bonus, combines 256 of famed photographer Diane Arbus’ snapshots in an installation by French artist Pierre Leguillon, through Jan. 12; Storyteller: The Photographs of Duane Michals, features the creative work of Pittsburgh-native and one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, through Feb. 16; Teenie Harris Photographs: Civil Rights Perspectives, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act with 25 select photos from the Teenie Harris Archive, through Mar. 31, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.cmoa.org 

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Finding the Words: Pittsburgh and the Early Civil Rights Movement, focuses on local and national efforts to engage in dialogue about race in light of rising racial tensions at the time, through March 1, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland, www.carnegiemnh.org

Lectures/Seminars/Readings

“Developmental Critical Periods and Alzheimer’s Disease: Can Knowledge of One Help Cure the Other?” Carla Shatz, Sapp Family Provostial Professor, professor of biology and neurobiology, Stanford University, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, noon Dec. 10, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Pitt School of the Health Sciences, www.svc-laureate.pitt.edu 

“Endothelial Cell Expression of Hemoglobin Regulates Nitric Oxide Signaling,” Adam Straub, visiting assistant professor, pharmacology and chemical biology, Pitt School of Medicine, noon Dec. 12, Lecture Room 6, Scaife Hall, Pitt School of the Health Sciences, www.svc-seminar.pitt.edu 

“Mood Matters: Depression and the Risk of Dementia,” Meryl Butters, associate professor of psychiatry, Pitt School of Medicine, noon Dec. 12, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic Auditorium, Department of Psychiatry, www.psychiatry.pitt.edu 

“Medical Science Liaison,” Andrew Lepisto, executive medical science liaison, Bristol-Myers Squibb, noon Dec. 12, 1105ABC Scaife Hall, Pitt Office of Academic Career Development, www.oacd.health.pitt.edu 

“Modeling Neural Circuit Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: Toward Computational Psychiatry,” John Murray, computational neuroscientist, New York University, noon Dec. 15, 1695 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower, Pitt Department of Psychiatry, www.psychiatry.pitt.edu 

“Novel Roles of Non-Coding RNAs in Brain Development and Plasticity: Implications for Psychiatric Disorders,” Nikolaos Mellios, postdoctoral fellow, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, noon Dec. 18, 1695 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower, Pitt Department of Psychiatry, www.psychiatry.pitt.edu 

“The Second Step: Developing a Business Plan,” presented by Pitt’s Small Business Development Center, 7:30 a.m. Dec. 19, Mervis Hall, Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, www.entrepreneur.pitt.edu 

“Non-Coding RNAs that Contribute to Autism and Schizophrenia,” Dan Campbell, assistant professor of psychiatry and the behavioral sciences, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, University of Southern California, noon Jan. 6, 1695 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower, Pitt Department of Psychiatry, www.psychiatry.pitt.edu 

“The First Step: Mechanics of Starting a Small Business,” presented by Pitt’s Small Business Development Center, 7:30 a.m. Jan. 9, Mervis Hall, Pitt Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, www.entrepreneur.pitt.edu 

“Do the Means Justify the Ends? The Role of Firearms Availability in Violent Death,” David Brent, director, Services for Teens at Risk (STAR) Center, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, noon Jan. 9, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic Auditorium, Pitt Department of Psychiatry, www.psychiatry.pitt.edu 

Miscellaneous 

“A Doctor of My Own,” Trisha Pasricha, Vanderbilt University medical student and former television and film producer, captures the experience of some of the first students to graduate from the University of Namibia School of Medicine, noon Dec. 9, 109 Parran Hall, School of the Health Sciences, www.health.pitt.edu 

Opera/Theater/Dance

Romeo & Juliet, Point Park University’s Conservatory Dance Company performs one of Shakespeare’s most timeless love stories as a ballet, through Dec. 14; Urinetown, a musical satire set in a time when water is so scarce that corporations make people pay to use the bathroom, Dec. 9-14, Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave., Oakland, www.pittsburghplayhouse.com 

PhD Dissertations

Saketh Chemuru Muni, School of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Biophysics and Structural Biology, “Biophysics Investigations of A Aggregation Process,” 1:30 p.m. Dec. 8, 1018 Biomedical Science Tower 3

Michele Leininger, School of Information Sciences’ Library and Information Science Program, “From Librarian to Proficient Manager: The Journey of Public Library Front-Line Managers,” 9 a.m. Dec. 10, 828 Information Sciences Building

Jennifer Burgher Seaman, School of Nursing, “Patient-Centered Outcomes among Seriously-Ill and Non-Surviving Mechanically Ventilated ICU Patients,” 10 a.m. Dec. 10, 451 Victoria Building

Milos Vuletic, Dietrich School’s Department of Philosophy, “Ways of Appearing: Experience and Its Phenomenology,” 2 p.m. Dec. 11, 1001B Cathedral of Learning

Shuang Li, School of Medicine’s Center for Neuroscience, “Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Noise-Induced Tinnitus,” 9 a.m. Dec. 16, S123 Biomedical Science Tower

Heather Livengood, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Department of Occupational Therapy, “Exploring Participation in Individuals with Glaucoma to Understand Changes in Everyday Living,” 10 a.m. Dec. 17, 4065 Forbes Tower