The UM Lifeguards will be holding a book signing event at the UM Bookstore on the Coral Gables campus featuring Jackie Rosen, director of the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention, who will be sharing her new book The Butterfly on My Shoulder. The event will be on Tuesday, February 9 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the upstairs area of the bookstore. Rosen will give a short presentation about the book and then answer questions.

The UM Lifeguards are dedicated to providing outreach, education, and training to the University community to increase awareness of mental health issues, identify signs of suicidal and self-harm behaviors, and teach referral techniques and resources to support students.

The American Studies Program presents a lecture by Ian Baucom, professor of English and director of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University. Baucom will present “Reading a Letter: Republicanism, Empire, and the Archives of the Atlantic” on Tuesday, February 9 at 3:30 p.m. in the Richter Library, third-floor conference room. For more information, call Tim Watson, director of American Studies, at 305-284-5589 or visit www.as.miami.edu/ams/events/speakerseries2010.

International Graduate Law Programs’ International Law Lecture Series will feature a presentation by Professor James Nickel on “Human Rights: Who are the Duty Bearers? States? Individuals? Corporations? International Organizations?” The event will be held on Tuesday, February 9 from 12:30 to 1:50 p.m. in the Law Library Reading Room, D201. Lunch will be provided. Nickel holds a joint appointment in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Law. He teaches and writes in human rights law and theory, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and constitutional law. He is the author of Making Sense of Human Rights and more than 60 articles in philosophy and law journals. In 2004 his essay “Poverty and Rights” received the annual Essay Prize from Philosophical Quarterly. His human rights entry in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy receives almost 7,000 hits per year.

The semester-long International Law Lecture Series is held every other Tuesday. For more information, call 305-284-5402 or e-mail [email protected].

This seminar, offered by the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP), provides participants with knowledge and practical strategies for developing their capacity to achieve more satisfying solutions when interacting with partners, family, friends, colleagues, and even people we meet casually. The benefits of realizing successful relationships are countless and long-lasting.  Discover ways to become a powerful and positive influence in the relationships you share. Participants will review techniques used to establish respect, build trust, convey empathy, and decrease emotional reactivity.

• Miller School campus:  Tuesday, February 9 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Medical Wellness Center classroom, ninth floor.
• Coral Gables campus:  Wednesday, February 10 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the McArthur Engineering Annex, MEA202.
• Rosenstiel campus:  Thursday, February 11 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Library Map and Chart Room.

To register, visit ulearn.miami.edu. For assistance with ULearn, call the Professional Development and Training Office at 305-284-5110. Mac users, please call the FSAP office at 305-284-6604 to register by phone.

In celebration of Black History Month, the University of Miami’s Gifford Arboretum will conduct a tour entitled “Trees of Africa” on Tuesday, February 9 from 5 to 5:50 p.m. Led by biology lab manager John Cozza, the tour will focus on how the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora have used their trees both economically and culturally, and how the trees themselves are adapted to their native habitats.

Tree species to be highlighted on the tour range from one that could help fight diabetes, HIV, and malaria to one believed in Africa to host ancestral spirits. The tour will start at the half-moon stone bench in the arboretum, located behind the Cox and Physics buildings.