Author Nino Ricci, a former UWindsor writer-in-residence and recipient of a 2012 honorary doctorate, will deliver a keynote address to open the UWill Discover undergraduate conference, Thursday in the CAW Student Centre.

Ricci’s first novel, Lives of the Saints, won a host of awards, including the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. It formed the first volume of a trilogy that continued with In a Glass House and Where She Has Gone, shortlisted for the Giller Prize. The Lives of the Saints trilogy was adapted as a television miniseries starring Sophia Loren, Jessica Paré, and Kris Kristofferson.

Ricci is also the author of the novels Testament, winner of the Trillium Award, and The Origin of Species, which earned him a second Governor General’s Award. His most recent novel is Sleep, a national bestseller and winner of the Canadian Authors Award for Fiction.

We will deliver an address at 1 p.m. March 22 in Alumni Auditorium, CAW Student Centre.

Deborah Landers, vice president for cognitive, blockchain, and industry solutions at IBM Canada, will make a keynote address at 2 p.m. Friday, March 23, also in Alumni Auditorium. She serves on the board of advisors for the University of Windsor Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre).

Both talks are free and open to the public. Organizers ask that those planning to attend register in advance to ensure sufficient refreshments.

Epic in scope, yet open in heart, University Players concludes its 59th season with the wildly energetic Big Love, written by Charles L. Mee. The show runs March 23 to 25 and continues after Easter weekend April 4 to 8 at the Essex Hall Theatre. Tickets can be ordered online at www.UniversityPlayers.com or by calling 519-253-3000 ext. 2808

Based on one of the oldest texts of the Western world, The Suppliant Women by the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, the play revolves around 50 brides from Greece who flee to Italy to avoid marriage to their 50 grooms.

When the grooms pursue the brides to take their hand in marriage, the resistance leads to a chess match of the sexes. Each group is represented by three actors, and their perspectives provide an insightful look on love as they grapple with the lack the choice they have in how to lead their lives.

The play may be based on a historic text, but this production takes place in the modern day and makes for an exciting retelling for today’s audiences. The addition of wildly physical elements brings a fresh and absurd take on the classic tale.

Director Monica Dottor calls Big Love a story of love, murder, passion, food fights, power struggles, refugees, gender politics, and violence.

“It’s really zany, it’s really wild, it has really important themes that resonate today,” she says. “I think it’ll just be a really enjoyable evening.”

Performances start at 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. On Sunday, March 25, a “Talk Back” discussion with the actors will follow the performance.

A reception Tuesday, March 20, will celebrate the accomplishments of UWindsor researchers — faculty, staff and students.

President Alan Wildeman and K.W. Michael Siu, vice-president, research and innovation, will confer the UWindsor Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity during the event, which begins at 4:30 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Alumni Auditorium.

The awards recognize researchers at successive stages of their careers:

• established scholars Deborah Cook, Hugh MacIsaac, Steven Palmer;
• mid-career scholars Amy Fitzgerald, Nazim Habibov, Jennifer Willet;
• emerging scholars Laszlo Erdodi, Sujith Xavier; and
• graduate student Talysha Bujold-Abu.

A new award recognizing community engagement, knowledge transfer, and knowledge mobilization will go to Heidi Jacobs, Dave Johnston, and Miriam Wright of the “Breaking the Colour Barrier” project; biology student Ingrid Qemo; and law professor Myra Tawfik.

Karen Metcalfe, co-ordinator of the Windsor Cancer Research Group, will receive an outstanding staff award.

In addition, the reception will honour members of the campus community who have received special grants, honours, and patents over the past year.

International Women’s Day may have passed, but it’s not too late to mark the occasion, with a presentation Wednesday, March 21, hosted by the Women’s and Gender Studies program.

“Words and Actions: a night of poetic resistance with El Jones” will give the campus community a chance to hear from Jones — a poet, activist, and professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, where she holds Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies.

The event is set for room 123, Odette Building, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Organizers are collecting donations of non-perishable food items and grocery gift cards to benefit the student food bank.

Jones will read from her poetry and discuss the context of the activism and politics which surrounds her work, focusing on social justice issues such as feminism, prison abolition, anti-racism, and decolonization.

Since 2016, Jones has co-hosted an educational program on the Dalhousie-based radio station CKDU-FM. The show, “Black Power Hour,” is aimed at incarcerated people, providing information on black history and culture. Her 2014 book, Live from the Afrikan Resistance! is a collection of poems about resisting white colonialism.

The Board of Governors of the University of Windsor announced Monday an interim appointment for the position of President and Vice-Chancellor. Douglas Kneale, Provost and Vice-President, Academic at the University, will assume the position on July 1, 2018, and hold the position until the Board concludes the search for a successor to Alan Wildeman, who concludes his term as President and Vice-Chancellor on June 30.

Penny Allen, Chair of the Board of Governors, said, “It is important to the Board, on behalf of the University, that the current direction of the University is maintained while the search continues. We are very grateful that Dr. Kneale, who understands this direction well, has agreed to step in during this interim period.”

Kneale, who joined the University as Provost and Vice-President, Academic in 2015, said, “I want to thank the Board for placing its confidence in me. I look forward to serving the campus community in this capacity, and to providing continuity and leadership through the transition to the next President.”

President and Vice-Chancellor Alan Wildeman said that he will make an announcement about an acting Provost and Vice-President, Academic, in the coming weeks. “I will also do all I can in the coming months to help Douglas prepare for this role he has agreed to take on. I know how committed he is to the success of the University, and I know he will give this interim role a complete and caring effort.”

The Board has requested that the Presidential Search Committee resume its efforts in the coming year, and will make an announcement as soon as a successor is identified.

A class Tuesday, April 10, will train staff and faculty responsible for maintaining UWindsor websites in the basics of the Drupal content management system.

Drupal 7 - Basic Training will focus on teaching site editors how to create pages and events, upload graphics and use menus and blocks, says instructor Rob Aitkens, web development team lead in Public Affairs and Communications.

The class is aimed at employees with little previous experience with the system, for those upgrading their sites from version 6 to 7, or as a refresher. It will run 9:30 a.m. to noon in room G101A, Leddy Library. Registration is required through this online form.