Vic Strecher Dr. Vic Strecher, winner of the 2010 University of Michigan Distinguished Innovator of the Year award, will be reprising his talk regarding the impact of social media on modern healthcare this Wednesday, Novemember 17th from 4:00-5:00 pm at the Ford Auditorium.

“The Future of Patient Engagement in the Information Age” draws on Dr. Strecher's experience and expertise on the internet as it affects patients and health care consumers. Dr. Strecher's work has contributed to the creation of the Health Media Research Lab at U of M, in addition to the founding of Health Media Inc. here in Ann Arbor. The public is encouraged to attend this free and highly insightful talk!

Don't forget to check out the AADL's great resources on healtch care issues!

826logoHungry yet? Oatmeal may be the perfect, comforting breakfast as we enter another Michigan winter, but I’d like to entice you to brave the chill on Monday, November 22 for the “Scifi Fantasy RomCom Epic Adventure” of a lifetime. Five Bowls of Oatmeal is a festival of one-act plays that are written by 8- to 12-year-old playwrights from 826Michigan, performed by U of M performing arts students, and yes, they all involve oatmeal. Five Bowls starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Mendelssohn Theater at University of Michigan. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased in advance from brownpapertickets.com.

Are we incarcerating too many people? How are we actually treating them? These are a few of the many tough questions surrounding American prisons. U-M faculty member Buzz Alexander has a new book, "Is William Martinez Not Our Brother?: Twenty Years of the Prison Creative Arts Project," in which he describes U-M's Prison Creative Arts Project. The project provides university courses, a nonprofit organization, and a national network for incarcerated youth and adults in Michigan juvenile facilities and prisons. Alexander will speak about his book Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in U-M Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, followed by a book sale and signing.

Interested in news and journalism? Anthony Collings, one time reporter for CNN, will be speaking about his new book "Capturing the News" at the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library on November 11th, from 7:00pm-8:30pm. The book recounts Collings' experiences over 34 years as a print and broadcast reporter in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Washington. Collings is now a faculty member in the University of Michigan's Department of Communication Studies. A book sale and signing will follow the talk, which is free and open to the public!

Homecoming Queen Christine Anderson

We’ve come across many “firsts” in our work with the Ann Arbor News archives and just in time for the University of Michigan’s Homecoming on October 16th, we found an article on the U’s first Homecoming Queen, Christine Anderson. Considering that Wolverine football started in 1879, we were surprised to learn that they waited until 1966 to crown the first queen. Michigan trounced the Golden Gophers that year, 49-0. However, it was not a perfect Homecoming as vandals set fire to the parade floats.

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The University of Michigan will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps with a variety of events during the month of October, including an exhibit at the Hatcher Library (running through November). Travel writer, Paul Theroux, will speak on October 13 at 7:00 p.m. and Tom Hayden, past editor of the Michigan Daily and founding member of the Students for a Democratic Society, will be speaking on October 14 at 8:30.

Also, the Downtown Historical Street Exhibit Program will unveil a new exhibit about the Michigan Union and the Peace Corps across the street from the Michigan Union. Get a sneak peek right here!

Here's a good book to take along if you're touring Michigan and might enjoy witnessing some of our state history: Michigan's County Courthouses, by John Fedynsky. The author -- a Ferndale lawyer and Michigan assistant attorney general -- wrote about 83 courthouses, plus the Michigan Hall of Justice. On Oct. 5 (Tuesday) from 7-8:30pm, he appears at U-M Hatcher Library, in the University of Michigan Press Author Series.

The University of Michigan Museum of Art is now hosting an exhibit on the life and works of renowned artist James McNeill Whistler. "On Beauty and the Everyday: The Prints of James McNeill Whistler" runs through November 28th. The exhibit features more than 100 works of art from the museum's rare and important Whistler collection. From the UMMA event announcement: "The exhibition explores Whistler's illustrious life and career; his artistic themes and concerns, including portraiture and his well-known series from England, Italy, and France; the interests and legacy of early-20th-century Whistler collector Margaret Watson Parker; and the tools and techniques that Whistler employed as a printmaker." For more information on the exhibit, click here. Don't forget to check out the AADL's great holdings on the artist and his work!

A conversation about Long for this World: The Strange Science of Immortality -- with author Jonathan Weiner and Liz Barry, managing director of the U-M Life Sciences Institute -- is coming up 5:30-7 pm Wednesday (Sept. 22) at U-M Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery. The discussion will touch on questions including, "Can you imagine the troubles that would come along with eternal life?" A book sale and signing will follow, courtesy of Nicola’s Books. The event is sponsored by The Author's Forum, a collaboration of the U-M Institute for the Humanities, University Library, Great Lakes Literary Arts Center, and the Ann Arbor Book Festival.

Many of us who have lived in Michigan for a while know the old saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will change." But do we know how it all happens, Michigan weather? I know I don't, which is why I'm intrigued by the author event coming up 7:30-9 p.m. Sept. 14 (Tuesday) at U-M Hatcher Library. Paul Gross, author of Extreme Michigan Weather: The Wild World of the Great Lakes State will explain our oppressive heat, harsh snowstorms, and fickle tornadoes. Gross is meteorologist and executive producer of weather at the NBC affiliate WDIV-TV in Detroit, and also consults with Michigan lawyers as a meteorology expert. His book was published by University of Michigan Press.