As part of the University of Miami’s 2010 topical conference on elementary particles, astrophysics, and cosmology, sponsored by the Department of Physics in UM’s College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University’s Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Math, Science, and Technology will host a lecture by renowned physicist Pierre Ramond, on Saturday, December 18 at 8 p.m. on NSU’s main campus, in the college’s Don Taft University Center Performing and Visual Arts Wing Performance Theatre.

Ramond’s talk, titled “Mathematics, Physics, and the Large Hadronic Collider,” will explore the interplay between mathematics and physics. Guided by mathematical beauty, physicists have been led to a certain view of the elementary constituents of the universe and of space and time. This view will soon be either confirmed or revised by the experiments at the Large Hadronic Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Ramond, a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Florida, is a pioneer in the development of supersymmetry and string theory. He is the recipient of the 2004 Oskar Klein Medal, awarded by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.

RSVP to [email protected] if you wish to attend.

Cattle Herder's Hat, collected between 1960-1973. Gift of Professor and Mrs. Robert R. Ferens.

Some never before seen works are on exhibit as part of “Useable Art: African Aesthetics in Daily Life from the UM Lowe Art Museum.” Most African art serves a function—spiritual if not utilitarian, or often both. This exhibition consists of objects that provide some purpose of daily living that can be relatively easily recognized by non-Africans. They can also be appreciated for the appeal of their forms, the beauty of their patterns, and the quality of craftsmanship.

The works are on view through Sunday, January 16, 2011, with the curator’s lecture also taking place on January 16 at 2 pm at the Lowe.

The Lowe’s extensive holdings of African art include not only ceremonial masks and ritual figures but also many objects made for use in daily life. This exhibition will showcase a selection of the finest containers, textiles, tools, home furnishings, and other useful objects—very few of which have ever been displayed.

“Usable Art” is organized by the Lowe Art Museum and is sponsored in part by The State of Florida and the African Art Endowment.

The Lowe Art Museum is located on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables. Gallery and Museum Store hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.; Closed Monday. Regular Admission (not including special events) is $10; $5 for seniors and non-UM students; free for Lowe Art Museum members, University of Miami students, faculty and staff, and children under 12. For more information, call 305-284-3535 or visit www.lowemuseum.org.

In honor of Art Basel Miami Beach, the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Arts and Sciences will present Mechanomorphic: The Environmentally Minded Man\Machine.

The 21st century has seen altered sites, contested spaces, and an ever-increasing mindfulness toward environmentalism. Artists working in our contemporary moment may consequently question the role—if any—that man/machine plays in this equation. Mechanomorphia, or the concept of the machine changing into something else over time, questions man’s relationship to the machine and to nature.

Artists working around this theme may consider how the machine’s relationship to the environment has changed in our contemporary context, question whether or not man has metaphorically become a machine, or alternatively explore the role that man/machine plays in our current “green age.” Mechanomorphic works of art consider the notion that the machine has aided man in undermining our (lived) environment and the spread of urbanization, and yet, man must now turn to the machine in order to re/solve these issues.

Mechanomorphic will be held at the Wynwood Project Space in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach 2010. This exhibition will run from November 29 to December 27. Opening receptions will be held on Saturday, December 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. during Art Basel/Miami Beach week and again on December 11 from 6 to 10 p.m.

Regular gallery hours are every second Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m., and by appointment. A full schedule of exhibitions can be viewed at www.as.miami.edu/art. Visit the University of Miami Wynwood Project Space every second Saturday at 2200-A NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, during the monthly gallery walk to view student, faculty, and alumni works.

For more information about the exhibition or Wynwood Project Space, call 305-284-2543 or e-mail [email protected].