The Creative Writing Program inaugurates its reading series “Lyric Hybrid: New Writing at the University of Miami” with author and professor A. Manette Ansay. Ansay, acclaimed author of Vinegar Hill, an Oprah Book Club selection, and Midnight Champagne, reads from her new novel Good Things I Wish You, a compelling tale of two summer romances, separated in time by more than 150 years, on Wednesday, September 16 at 7 p.m. in the CAS Gallery. The Lyric Hybrid series features the 2009 publications of the creative writing faculty. For more information, call Jeanne Luis at 305-284-2988 or e-mail [email protected].

Visiting professor Ken Kettering and professor Bill Widen will present “Taming Credit Rating Agencies” at the School of Law’s faculty seminar on Wednesday, September 16. Lunch will be served at 12 p.m. in the faculty conference room, Room G480, on the fourth floor of the law library. The talk will start at 12:35 p.m. A Q&A will end by 1:50 p.m. To attend the lunch and seminar, RSVP to Detra Davis at [email protected]. Priority will be given to those who reply first. Copies of the paper will be available outside Room G382.

Attend Plastic Surgery Division Grand Rounds featuring Woody Kassira, senior resident of plastic surgery, who will present “Chemical and Electrical Burns” on Wednesday, September 16 at University of Miami Hospital, Seminar Center C, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.

The Departments of International Studies and Political Science will present “The Forum of Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Crises: Iraq” on Wednesday, September 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Learning Center, Room 110. Presenters will include Bruce Bagley, professor and chair of the Department of International Studies, who will speak on “U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iraq Intervention: A Short Political History”; Bradford R. McGuinn, of the Department of Political Science, who will present “Security and Humanitarian Issues in Iraq”; Ramon de Arrigunaga, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force (Retired) and a faculty member in the Department of Political Science, who will speak on “Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1990-Present”; and Lieutenant Colonel Kelley Hodge, U.S. Army, director of intelligence, Special Operations Command-South, who will present “U.S. Military and Stabilization Efforts in Iraq: Current and Future Prospects.”

We South Florida residents are no strangers to the extreme weather conditions that fall under the category of natural disasters. Mass shootings, pandemics, and hazardous material accidents can all be categorized as extreme events to which our community is vulnerable. The UM DEEP (Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness) Center conducts worldwide training, research, and service in the areas of disaster behavioral health, special populations preparedness, and disaster epidemiology. Attend a grand rounds hosted by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Grand Rounds titled “Safety Function Action for Disaster Responders: A Coach-Supported Disaster Health Training Program” featuring center director James S. Shultz on Wednesday, September 16 from 12 to 1 p.m. at the Clinical Research Building, conference room 989.

Learn Shultz’s national model “Safety Function Action,” which demonstrates how responders can achieve and maintain high levels of disaster health and well-being during times of crisis. For more information, call 305-243-6398 or e-mail [email protected].