At UWAG, it's the little (and big) things

A reception at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery tonight at 5:00 p.m. celebrates the very small and the very large with two new exhibitions that run from November 10 to December 17.

In Gallery One is Buffalo-based artist Julian Montague's new project, Secondary Occupants/Collected and Observed, which "investigates the symbiotic relationship between homeowners and the unseen occupants that inhabit their households; namely birds, insects and rodents." Montague's installation "blurs the lines between taxonomy, graphic design and fiction."

Opening in Gallery Two is Nadine Bariteau's Supermarket, a high-definition video performance of the Toronto artist "pushing her enormous water bottles through urban and rural landscapes in a shopping cart." The project "is a wry comment on consumerism, recycling and our growing awareness of water as a precious resource." Heavy stuff.

The gallery, located in East Campus Hall, is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.

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Digital experts hit the Tannery

with material from Karen Kawawada, CPA staff

An event going on tonight at the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener will locally raise the curtain on Congress 2012 of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest multidisciplinary academic gathering in Canada. The conference, which runs from May 26 to June 2, is being co-hosted by Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, along with the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dean of Arts Douglas Peers is co-chair.

Tonight’s event, Canadians at the Crossroads: How technology challenges us to change, begins at 5 and runs until 7 p.m. and features social scientists Darin Barney of McGill University, Barbara Crow of York University, and Kevin Tuer, managing director of the Canadian Digital Media Network. They will be speaking on Canada’s future in the global digital society.

Another big part of tonight’s event is the announcement of the roster of speakers for the Big Thinking lecture series, which are free and open to the public. There are some big names on the list, so watch for a story in tomorrow’s Daily Bulletin.

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Three years of pleasure and pain and other notes

The six-volume "definitive work for the large multidisciplinary field of biotechnology" took "three years (of pleasure and pain)" to complete, according to retired Waterloo chemical engineering professor Murray Moo-Young, who was chosen in 2009 to be editor of the second edition of Comprehensive Biotechnology, a journal published by Elsevier. "Students, instructors, researchers and others should find it a valuable authoritative information reference," says Moo-Young. Be sure to make some room on your shelf before picking it up - the set runs 5,094 pages. The work was guided by an editorial board that included Nobel laureates in medicine, chemistry, and physics. It is available on Amazon and elsewhere.

The Department of Classical Studies is hosting a lecture by Professor Arthur Eckstein of the University of Maryland entitled “Polybius, the Treaty of Philinus, and the History of Roman Accusations Against Carthage.” The lecture begins at 1 p.m. in Physics room 235.

November 10th is the 314th day of the year, and that means it is Pi Day according to the Mathematics Society. MathSoc is celebrating the occasion with, among other things, free pie on the 3rd floor of the Mathematics & Computer Building from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Festivities include a screening of Darren Aronofsky's Pi, and, naturally, a Pi digit memorization contest.

Susan Schultz Huxman, president of Conrad Grebel University College, and Brent Zorgdrager, CEO of the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union are inviting the public to “the announcement of a transformational partnership for peace!” The event is being held in the Toews Atrium at Conrad Grebel at 4:00 p.m. “On the eve of Remembrance Day," the invitation continues, "we will unveil our joint commitment and plans to help make the world a better and more peaceful place.”

On that note, there are a few items about Remembrance Day tomorrow that are worth, well, remembering. First and foremost, a memo released October 24 from provost Geoff McBoyle reads "In 2005, UW initiated the practice of observing a minute’s silence at 11 o’clock on November 11, Remembrance Day. I would therefore ask that, if possible, whether you are alone, with a group, or in front of a class, you take time at 11 o’clock on November 11th to observe a minute’s silence, remembering and honouring the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace." The University of Waterloo Chaplains’ Association is once again holding a service in the Great Hall of the SLC, beginning around 10:45 a.m., with prayers for peace from a variety of faith traditions, as well as the traditional 2-minute silence at 11 a.m. The Engineering Society is also holding a ceremony at POETS in Carl Pollock Hall at 10:30 a.m. that will run until 11:10 a.m.

In addition, the Registrar's Office, the Student Awards and Financial Aid office, and Student Accounts office will be closed on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

The University of Waterloo will be represented today at an education fair at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, which is conveniently located on Waterloo Road. The fair is part of a weeklong recruitment trip that includes high school visits, meetings with exchange partners at the University of the West Indies at Mona, and a reception at the High Commission of Canada to Jamaica. According to Mirjana Radulovic, International Marketing and Recruitment Specialist, "we've had steady application numbers from Jamaica in the past 3 years to a variety of programs" and this year's recruitment trip, which began on Monday, is the first time the central recruitment team will be engaging with this market.

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