Monica Dowling, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the Mailman Center for Child Development and clinical instructor in the Department of Psychology for the LEND Program, and Michelle Schladant, LEND training director for the Mailman Center for Child Development, present “Assistive Technology to promote language/literacy for children with autism and related disorders (ASD)” at the First Fridays Talks on Autism held on Friday, May 1 at 12 p.m.

The speakers will present part one of a two-part discussion on the relationship of language and literacy development in children with ASD and an examination of the strategies and AAC systems and AT devices that may be used to enhance the development of literacy. The presentation will take place in the Mailman Center for Child Development, room 3023. For more information, call 305-243-4466 or e-mail [email protected].

Filmmaker Astra Taylor accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas. Offering privileged moments with great thinkers in fields ranging from moral philosophy to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophy’s power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it. Admission is $6 for all University of Miami alumni, faculty, and staff, and is free for students. General admission is $8. The film screens on Friday, May 1 at 9 p.m., Saturday, May 2 at 2 and 6 p.m., and Sunday, May 3 at 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com.

Shall We Kiss? is a essentially contemporary meditation on the myriad implications of a simple smooch. When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing, and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel’s offer of “a kiss without consequences.” Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else’s life. Admission is $6 for all UM alumni, faculty, and staff, and is free for students. General admission is $8. The film screens on Friday, May 1 at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 2 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com.

To kick off Miami Museum Month, the Lowe Art Museum offers free admission on Friday, May 1 with a special guided tour with Myrna and Sheldon Palley of the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts at 3 p.m. Space is limited. To RSVP, call 305-284-3603.

On Friday, May 1, the Institute for Women’s Health will hold the second annual Women’s Health Research Day from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at UM Hospital, South Building, first-floor Seminar Center. Nearly 40 posters will be on display and presented by UM faculty, residents, staff, and students. 

At 12 p.m., UM President Donna E. Shalala will offer opening remarks, followed by keynote speaker Vivian W. Pinn, director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health.

Read the full story

The goal of Miami Museum Month is to encourage the public to become members of a museum. Membership at any of the participating institutions grants them a free pass for any of the other museums. The month-long program enables participants to travel around and experience the Miami cultural scene, whether they are longtime museum visitors or new members.

To kick-off the month, UM’s Lowe Art Museum is offering free admission on Friday, May 1 with a special guided tour of the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts at 3 p.m. The guided tour by Myrna and Sheldon Palley is limited. To RSVP, call 305-284-3603.

This course, designed for the retina specialist as well as comprehensive ophthalmologists who diagnose and treat retinal diseases, will review the 2009 highlights in retina with an equal emphasis on medical and surgical retina. In a two-hour Fluorescein/OCT Imaging Conference, faculty and fellows will present and discuss interesting and unusual cases. Retina topics will include vitreoretinal surgical techniques as well as an update on the latest in medical retina. The course will be held Friday and Saturday, May 1-2 at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Retter Auditorium. For more information and registration, please visit http://bascompalmer.org/site/info/pdf/VitreoretinalCourse2009.pdf, or contact Monica Sotolongo at 305-326-6110 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Spring has returned and nature beckons discovery and exploration—even in art form. The annual two-part UM Student/Master of Fine Arts Exhibitions are viewable at the Lowe Art Museum. Also on view: UM’s Faculty Exhibition, featuring Carsten Meier’s Naturell. A preview and reception for the juried student exhibition and Naturell will be held Friday, April 17 from 7 to 10 p.m. The evening will be highlighted with a special lecture by Meier. A preview reception for the MFA exhibition, on view from May 14-June 14, will be held Wednesday, May 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. Both receptions are free and open to the public. Regular admission to the Lowe (not including special events) is $10; $5 for seniors and non-UM students; and free for Lowe Art Museum members, UM students, faculty and staff, and children under 12 years of age. For more information, call 305-284-3535 or visit www.lowemuseum.org.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will host Masayori Inouye, professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers, who will present “Deciphering Bacterial Toxin-Antitoxin Systems” on Friday, May 1 at 12 p.m. in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, Room 118. To meet with the speaker, call Sylka Perez at 305-243-6265 or e-mail [email protected].

Don't miss an opportunity to see Hello, Dolly! at the Ring Theatre.

Where else but the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre could Hello, Dolly! belong-on the stage where composer, lyricist, and UM alum Jerry Herman, A.B., ‘53, got his start.

Attend this production of Hello, Dolly!, an ebullient and irresistible story featuring one of the most fabulous and memorable characters of the American musical theatre stage: Dolly Gallagher Levi. Featuring such beloved songs as Hello, Dolly!, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, It Only Takes A Moment, and So Long, Dearie, Jerry Herman’s Tony Award-winning musical promises to be the thrilling conclusion to the theatre’s season.

Tickets go on sale starting Monday, March 30 at 12 p.m. Box office hours are from 12 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and two hours before each performance. Performances run from April 22 - May 2. For more information or to charge tickets by phone, call the box office at 305-284-3355. To learn more about the theatre, click here.