Monday March 22, 2010: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Join Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Michael Makin and Residential College Drama Lecturer Katherine Mendeloff as they examine Chekhov's role in Russian literature and society and as transformer and innovator of Russian drama. U-M acting students will also perform several scenes from Uncle Vanya featuring costume, live music and other scenic elements, setting the stage for a lively discussion of Chekhov's classic play and the challenges set forth for actors and directors in mounting this production.

This event is presented in conjunction with the University Musical Society production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya by the Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg at the Power Center March 25-28. The event is also held in collaboration with the U-M Center for Russian and East European Studies, and the U-M Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Tuesday March 23, 2010: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Later-life depression is defined as depression that occurs after the age of 60. While prevalent, it is not necessarily part of the aging process. To provide greater understanding of depression in older adults, Sara Wright, Ph.D., Clinical Lecturer in the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, and member of the U-M Depression Center, will present a brief overview of the latest research on later-life depression, including strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. This will be followed by questions from the audience and a discussion with expert panelists including Stephen Aronson, MD, Medical Director, Inpatient Psychiatry, St Joseph Mercy Hospital; and Mariko Foulk, MSW, LMSW, Clinical Social Worker, Turner Geriatric Clinic, University of Michigan.

Wednesday March 24, 2010: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). This event will cover current trends and treatments in OCD, and what is being discovered through research. There will be ample time for audience questions. Speakers include Jim Abelson, MD, PhD, Professor, UM Dept. of Psychiatry, Director, UM Dept. of Psychiatry Anxiety Disorders Program, and Co-Director of the Trauma, Stress and Anxiety Research Group, UM; Gregory Lynn Hanna, MD, Assoc. Professor of Psychiatry, UM, and Director, Anxiety and Tic Disorders Program; and Joseph Himle, PhD, Assoc. Professor of Social Work and Assoc. Professor of Psychiatry, UM.

This event is made possible through a Partners In Research Program with the National Institute of Health and is co-sponsored by the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research and the UM Health Sciences Libraries.

Friday March 26, 2010: 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF), the longest running independent film festival in the U.S., will hold its 48th festival on March 23 - 28.At this special event, co-sponsored by the Film Festival, Paramedia-Ecologist Gerry Fialka will discuss how James Joyce's 1939 book/epic collage/meta-narrative film Finnegan's Wake (and Marshall McLuhan's Menippean Satirized translation of it) presaged experimental and political activist cinema. How did Finnegan's Wake influence Hollis Frampton, Owen Land, John Cage & Peter Greenaway? How & why does the Wake tell the history of everything that ever happened and will happen? Learn the answers to these questions, and more.