Events

Brutalism & the Public University Past, Present and Future

Modern twentieth century architecture has always inspired a variety of passionate responses, especially the "brutalist" buildings at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and Amherst. To explore their architectural heritage and its preservation, the two campuses will hold a two-day symposium, Brutalism + the Public University: Past, Present, and Future on October 22 and 23. The symposium, part of the UMassBrut collaborative, will provide a unique platform that brings together a team of distinguished scholars, industry professionals, artists, and passionate citizens with an interest in the preservation of mid to late twentieth-century architecture. The symposium's goal is to create a dynamic, cross-disciplinary conversation among all participants on how to provide stewardship of these buildings for the future. Each day will feature professional workshops, scholarly lectures, guided campus tours, public art exhibitions, and creative activities (including video projections on the architectural facades). Participants will discuss Brutalist architecture (history and design) and explore the issues of preservation and adaption unique to these modernist concrete structures. Both campuses contain extensive examples of mid-century Brutalist concrete architecture by world-renowned modernist architects including Paul Rudolph, Marcel Breuer, Kevin Roche, Hugh Stubbins, and Edward Durell Stone. These landmark structures will be accessible in Dartmouth on Friday, October 22, and in Amherst on Saturday, October 23. Keynote presentations on both days will include Chandler McCoy and Ana Paula Arato Gonalves of the Getty Conservation Institute's Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative. Speakers include faculty from UMass and visiting faculty from Brown, Harvard, Roger Williams, Rutgers, Columbia and the University of South Carolina. Other speakers include distinguished professionals from the fields of architecture, historic preservation, engineering, construction, lighting, graphic, interior design, and professional staff from UMass and the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. The UMassBrut group, organizers of the symposium, consists of UMass Dartmouth and UMass Amherst faculty, staff, students, and interested parties dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and reimagining mid-century Brutalist public architecture. The group will continue to organize events and engage others in the UMass system and the public at large. Location: UMass Amherst Contact: Allison Cywin at acywin@umassd.edu.

AMANDA MEANS: LIGHT YEARS

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is delighted to host a career survey of the work of renowned U.S. artist Amanda Means at the University Art Gallery in Star Store Campus, Downtown New Bedford. For over forty years, Amanda Means has created a body of work that has pushed the boundaries of the photographic medium with her celebrated Leaf, Flower, Water Glass, and Light Bulb series of images. Means has been a darkroom innovator throughout her career: adapting a 19th century camera for use as an enlarger, photographing objects without the use of negatives, working with a large-format Polaroid camera, and creating a series of remarkable abstracts working only with light and photographic materials. The artist's darkroom alchemy was cited by the Guggenheim Foundation in awarding Means their prestigious Fellowship in 2017 for her contribution to contemporary photography. Our survey exhibition, Means' first retrospective, includes examples of work from all phases of her career. Alongside key pieces from her color Polaroid Light Bulb and silver gelatin Water Glass works, we are excited to be showing some of the artist's early prints and works on paper, as well as important examples of her black and white Flower and Light Bulb works. This affords a unique opportunity to view Means' most celebrated images in the broader context of her overall practice. Amanda Means is a graduate of Cornell University and SUNY Buffalo, and is a 2017 Guggenheim Fellow, awarded for her contribution to contemporary photography. She has exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad, and her work is included in numerous collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; the MIT List Visual Arts Center; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.; and the Nicola Erni Collection, Switzerland. The artist is represented by JHB Gallery, New York, and lives and works in Beacon, New York. University Art Gallery UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts Star Store Campus 715 Purchase Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Facebook and Instagram: @UMassDartmouthGalleries www.umassd.edu/cvpa/universityartgallery Contact: Viera Levitt, Gallery Director gallery@umassd.edu (508) 999-8555 Gallery Hours: Mon-Fri 9 am 6 pm. Free and open to the public

Spaces of Rest Conversations, Spruce classroom 130

Spaces of Rest will be weekly collaborative practices of resting and reflecting. These spaces will be for students to come together to share space through engaging with meditation, media, and conversations. Conversations will be once a week and it will be as space for having open conversation with no predetermined topic. *Enter Spruce Hall through the main entrance facing Parking Lot 8. Please remember to keep your face covering on at all times you are inside a building. For more info - https://spacesofrest.weebly.com or email Clareese Hill, Artist in Residence at chill5@umasss.edu Clareese Hill is the 2021-2022 Umass Dartmouth CVPA Artist in Residence. She is a practice-based researcher. She explores the validity of the word "identity" through her perspective as an Afro-Caribbean American woman and her societal role projected on her to perform as a Black feminist academic. She has performed lectures at Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths University of London, University of Sussex, CUNY Graduate Center, The Chicago Art Department, and Smack Mellon in Brooklyn. She has exhibited her research internationally in Chicago, New York, California, London, France, and cyberspace. Clareese was a 2020 Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future fellow (Phase One). Clareese has published academic essays in THEOREM Journal, Architecture and Culture Journal, and has an upcoming article in Antennae, The Journal of Nature and Culture. Clareese holds an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Spring Registration Prep for the Carlton College of Business

First and Second Year Students! Are you prepared for Selecting courses for Spring Semester 2022? Carlton College of Business majors are invited to meet with an academic advisor from your college for a group advising session designed to help you be ready for registration and to learn how to use COIN effectively. WHERE? Spruce Hall classroom 128 For Questions please contact Michelle Black at mblack2@umassd.edu, at 508-999-9296, or contact your academic advising office in your college. *Enter Spruce Hall through the main entrance facing Parking Lot 8. Please remember to keep your face covering on at all times you are inside a building.

MONDAY NIGHT CLASS - Meditation Discussion

Are you a meditator or curious about meditation? Have questions or experiences to discuss? Want to hear about other people's experiences? MONDAY NIGHT CLASS may be for you! ALL FORMS of yoga, meditation, mindfulness and contemplative practice can provide serious health benefits. Regular practice is needed but can be difficult without a support group. MONDAY NIGHT CLASS is a WEEKLY ONLINE SALON-style meeting for discussion of contemplative practice. It's free and open to all. The "SALON" concept refers to people gathering for lively informal conversation, often on literary and philosophical topics. BEGINNING September 27, we'll meet ONLINE every Monday, from 7:00-8:30pm For info contact Jerry Solfvin, PhD, at JSOLFVIN@UMASSD.EDU FREE & OPEN TO ALL. Register in advance at: https://umassd.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpc-muqTsiHdHYkvFounmHQy86Xtxpsykk

Fall Into Your Major Instagram Takeover!

Are you a new freshman or a sophomore thinking about possibly declaring or changing your major? Or, are you super happy with you major but you want to add on a minor or a double major. Students are taking over @umassd Instagram account to discuss their majors between Oct 25th and Oct 29th. Learn about majors and minors, and university support systems to help you explore your options. Visit the Fall Into Your Major website found at: https://www.umassd.edu/studentsuccess/major/ When there view different students representing their majors and fill out an interest form to get more information.

Catholic Mass

Campus Center Second Floor Reflection Room Every Tuesday

Empowering Women in Science & Engineering

Empowering Women in Science & Engineering Presented in collaboration with UMassD Alumni Relations, College of Engineering, and Women in Defense-Greater Boston Chapter Tuesday, October 26 5:00-8:00 p.m. UMassD alumnae and industry professionals will share their experiences building careers in the STEM and engineering fields. Students will have an opportunity to make connections during a speed networking session, then hear professionals speak on engineering-based work, technologies, and career opportunities in the defense industry. Speakers include women from: General Dynamics Mission Systems, Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility, Applied Research Solutions, System Technology Research, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Beacon Interactive, and Raytheon. Register This event is free for students, with dinner served.

Graduate School Fair

Come connect with representatives from a variety of graduate schools to learn about their programs, their admission requirements, and what you can do to become a more competitive candidate when you apply to their programs. This is a great event for ALL students (not just seniors) to attend!

Spring Registration Prep for the College of Visual and Performing Arts

First and Second Year Students! Are you prepared for Selecting courses for Spring Semester 2022? Visual and Performing Arts majors are invited to meet with an academic advisor from your college for a group advising session designed to help you be ready for registration and to learn how to use COIN effectively. WHERE? CVPA 153 For Questions please contact Michelle Black at mblack2@umassd.edu, at 508-999-9296, or contact your academic advising office in your college. * Please remember to keep your face covering on at all times you are inside a building.

Women In Engineering Hovercraft Workshop & Competition

Participants in the halls are invited to create a hovercraft with a team over the course of the Fall Semester with the Women In Engineering Peer Mentor for 2021-2022, McKenzie Ferarri, on scheduled Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in room 130 of Spruce Hall. See posters on how to scan and sign up. For more information contact McKenzie Ferarri at mferrari@umassd.edu *Enter Spruce Hall through the main entrance facing Parking Lot 8. Please remember to keep your face covering on at all times you are inside a building. Wednesdays 7-9 PM Oct 27th Nov 10th Dec 1st Dec 8th

ECE Master of Science Thesis Defense By: Abigail Rachel Keith

Topic: Analysis and Implementation of INFOTAXIS as a Practical Strategy to Maximize Target-Search Efficiency Location: Dion 114 Zoom Teleconference: https://umassd.zoom.us/j/94433745094 Please contact Dr. John R. Buck via email at jbuck@umassd.edu for Meeting ID and Passcode. Abstract: Traditionally, search strategies are categorized into one of two types: explorative and exploitative. Explorative search strategies search by exploring an area without using gathered information to guide their search; this strategy type functions best when there is high clutter, which makes detections untrustworthy. Exploitative search strategies search by trusting available information and using it to guide their search; this strategy type functions best when there is low clutter, which makes detections, and thus, available information, more trustworthy. Infotaxis melds the two types of search strategies together by using explorative tactics in high clutter density and exploitative tactics in low clutter density to detect targets faster than established search strategies. It achieves this by maximizing information gain through maximizing entropy reduction. Infotaxis selects which grid cells it measures each iteration by calculating which cell will reduce the amount of entropy or uncertainty the most. Previously, infotaxis has been used to search for a target based on passive odor sensing. This thesis tests a version of infotaxis that instead uses active sensing to capitalize on available information and in turn, speed up the search process. This thesis demonstrates that infotaxis is faster than traditional search strategies and can be implemented into a searching robot using ultrasonic sensors. Through constructing a MATLAB search strategy simulation, the speed of infotaxis is compared to three other search strategies: Maximum A Posteriori (MAP), cycling in order and random searching. Infotaxis is found to be faster than cycling in order and random searching under all tested conditions, and it is slightly faster than MAP when the probability of detection, PD, decreases. Infotaxis is implemented into a real search for a single target by programming an iRobot Create 2 to search a linear row of ten cells with the infotaxis method using an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor to make detections. With PD = 0.7 and a probability of false alarm, PD = 0.1, the robot finds the target with infotaxis 100% faster than MAP. By implementing infotaxis using a robot and ultrasonic sensor, this thesis demonstrates that infotaxis can be used as a search strategy in the real world, outside of simulations. Note: All ECE Graduate Students are ENCOURAGED to attend. All interested parties are invited to attend. Open to the public. Advisor: Dr. John R. Buck Committee Members: Dr. Paul J. Gendron, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, UMASS Dartmouth; Dr. Karen Payton, Professor Emerita, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, UMASS Dartmouth; Dr. Amir Habboosh, Engineering Fellow, Raytheon Technologies; Dr. Wu-Jung Lee, Senior Oceanographer, Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington *For further information, please contact Dr. John R. Buck via email at jbuck@umassd.edu.