The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence, a partnership with Florida International University and the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Miami, with the sponsorship of the Program of Cultural Cooperation of Spain, will host Francesc Serra, of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, who will present “The EU’s Relations with Russia and Other Eastern European Countries” on Monday, March 29 from 5 to 6 p.m. at Merrick 307.

The University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities is cosponsoring the second annual Autism Awareness Forum on Monday, March 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Books and Books Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Avenue. During the event, a panel of experts will answer questions about autism and share their life experiences.

Panelists will include Jennifer Stella-Durocher, assistant director of UM-NSU CARD; Lula Folgosa, executive director of Autism Speaks: Miami-Dade; Haley Moss, author of Middle School: The Stuff Nobody Tells You About – A Teenage Girl with High Functioning Autism Shares Her Experiences; and Benjamin Lebish, financial services professional for Mass Mutual Financial Group, specializing in financial planning for individuals with disabilities. Jennifer Eldredge-Bird of Books and Books, a mother of two children with autism, will moderate the forum.

From 6 to 9 p.m. on the day of the forum, Books and Books will donate 10 percent of the evening’s sales to UM-NSU CARD and Autism Speaks.

The event is open to the community, but child care will not be provided. Parents are asked to use their discretion.For additional information, please contact Jennifer Eldredge-Bird at Books and Books at 305-442-4408 or via e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact Natalee George Thornburgh at UM-NSU CARD at 305-284-5901 or e-mail [email protected].

Madhur Anand, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Ecological Change at the University of Guelph, will present “Simple Ecological Models: Three Vignettes” on Monday, March 29 at 12:20 p.m. in the Cox Science Center, Room 166. Anand’s research focuses on highlighting similarities and differences between ecological events and practices on different continents, with a view to fostering knowledge exchange. Anand works to provide tools for the application of emerging interdisciplinary theories, improved quantitative methods, and predictive simulation models to the preservation, recovery, and restoration of disturbed and vulnerable forest ecosystems worldwide. For more information about this event, please contact [email protected].

UM’s College of Arts and Sciences Center for the Humanities will host the National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Workshop on Monday, March 29. Ann Meyer, senior program officer, Division of Research Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities, will lead the workshop. The day-long event, to be held on the Coral Gables campus’s Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies, 5030 Brunson Drive, in the Executive Board Room, will provide information to scholars concerning fellowships for their research and/or teaching. Faculty, graduate students, and administrators from South Florida colleges and universities are invited to attend. Meyer will also conduct a mock panel, during which participants will evaluate sample applications and will offer a limited number of consultation appointments for participants to discuss their projects with her.

“We are grateful to the NEH and Dr. Ann Meyer for providing information about the grants it administers to South Florida humanities faculty as well as for offering opportunities for faculty to have individual consultations,” said Mihoko Suzuki, director of the UM Center for the Humanities.

To pre-register for a consultation, e-mail [email protected]. There is no charge for the workshop, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but registration is required. Parking passes and lunch reservations are available to visiting participants for a nominal fee. To register and for further information, visit www.humanities.miami.edu/workshops/neh or call 305-284-1580.

The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) will host “U.S. Policy Responses to Changes in Cuba: A Simulation” on Monday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at Casa Bacardi, 1531 Brescia Avenue, on the Coral Gables campus. This event will feature ICCAS scholars and other distinguished guests acting in the roles of the United States’ top governmental officials while responding to various crises in the island nation, such as civil war, violence, refugee migration, and famine.

Participants will include ICCAS Director Jaime Suchlicki in the role of national security advisor; former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez as secretary of defense; Brian Latell, author, analyst, and former NIO for Latin America/CIA, in the role of director of national intelligence; former U.S. Ambassador James Cason as secretary of state; Andy Gomez, ICCAS senior fellow, as governor of Florida; Jose Azel, senior research associate at ICCAS, as secretary of homeland security; and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle as U.S. attorney general.

The cost for attending the event is $20; it is free to UM faculty, staff, and students. RSVP at 305-284-CUBA (2822).