First- and second-year graduate students of the University of Miami’s Creative Writing MFA Program will present some of their finest works during the next USpeak event on Friday, March 11 at the Oasis Deli in the Whitten University Center.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with light refreshments and cookies provided. There will be no open mike at this USpeak, so the featured MFA reading will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.

USpeak events are free and open to the public and are sponsored, in part, by the University of Miami’s Department of English, Creative Writing Program, and Auxiliary Services.

The USpeak series will conclude with the Mangrove journal launch on Friday, April 15. For more information, visit www.miami.edu/uspeak, where you can also link to Podcasts of previous USpeak events.

The University of Miami’s Bill Cosford Cinema is a host venue for the 2011 Miami International Film Festival, which runs through Sunday, March 13. For a complete schedule of MIFF films playing at the Cosford, click here.

This week’s schedule:
Friday, March 11, 7 p.m. – Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times
Friday, March 11, 9:30 p.m. – Amador

Saturday, March 12, 7 p.m.  – For 80 Days
Saturday, March 12, 9:30 p.m. – Intimate Grammar

Sunday, March 13, 7 p.m. – You Are Here
Sunday, March 13, 9:30 p.m. – Small Town Murder Sons

General admission for MIFF at the Cosford is $12. Admission for seniors is $11 and $7 for students. For film descriptions, to purchase tickets, and for more information, visit http://www.miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-405-MIFF (6433).

The Department of Geography and Regional Studies presents its Geography Colloquium Series on Friday, March 11 at 1:30 p.m. in the GIS LAB – Merrick Building, Room 304. Thomas Bowell, professor of geography and regional studies, will speak on “Black Immigrants in Canada and the United States.”

Yuri Velasquez, peer educator and advocacy representative in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology at the Miller School of Medicine, will present “HIV and Latinos Today” at the Friday Noon Interdisciplinary Lecture Series on March 11, from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, Room 3023. Upon completion of this lecture participants will be able to discuss the recent statistics on the Latin community in the U.S. concerning HIV/AIDS and the factors that keep first- and second-generation Latinos from getting tested. This educational activity is approved for 1 CEU for social workers and psychologists.

Experience the 38th Annual Miami Watercolor Society Spring Exhibition on display from March 8 – 25 at the CAS Gallery at the Wesley Foundation Building. An opening reception occurs on Friday, March 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. Works from 40 artists will embody many forms of watermedia in a wide range of styles. This exhibition is one of two exhibitions held by the society every year.

The show will be juried by Teresa Kirk, a watercolor and mixed media artist who is a signature member and past president and director of the Florida Watercolor Society. She is also a signature member and acting workshop chair of the Gold Coast Watercolor Society, as well as a member of several Florida art guilds, an instructor,  and a demo artist.

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