Blinded as a child, Mike May lived an extraordinary life as a world record holder in downhill skiing, CIA agent, inventor, and entrepreneur. In 1999, he became one of a handful of people ever to have vision restored after a lifetime of blindness. A noon screening of the BBC documentary “The Man Who Learnt to See” (50 minutes) explores May's story, the stem cell transplant surgery that restored his vision, and scientific research on his visual perception. May will speak at 4 p.m., following a 3:30 p.m. reception. All events are free and open to the public.

http://cvr.brown.edu

Nancy J. Jacobs, associate professor of history at Brown, will discuss how people hear and mimic birds; lists of bird names in African languages; textual representations of bird calls by European observers; and some recording of birds and imitation of birds. Her forthcoming book, Birders of a Feather: Stories of People, Birds, and Other People in Africa, concerns the intimate connectivity between birds and humans. The lecture is held in conjunction with Rachel Berwick’s exhibit Zugunruhe at the David Winton Bell Gallery, and is free and open to the public. It's at 6 p.m. in the List Art Center Auditorium.
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell_Gallery/current_frameset.html

David Wilson, director of the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, will discuss his recent research on the obscure 19th-century philosopher/librarian Fedorov and the relationship between Fedorov’s ideas about space travel and habitation and Tsiolkovsky, the father of cosmonautics and human space flight. The lecture is held in conjunction with Rachel Berwick’s exhibit Zugunruhe at the David Winton Bell Gallery, is free and open to the public, and will be held at 6 p.m. in the List Art Center Auditorium. 
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell_Gallery/current_frameset.html

Come and vote for the best of six Brown professors who will perform ballroom dances with students from the Brown Ballroom Dance Team. Admission is $5 at the post office, $7 at the door for students/faculty/staff, $10 for community members. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Rhode Island Dance Alliance, a dance education and resource organization dedicated to making dancing available and affordable for all Rhode Islanders. Faculty participating include Barbara Tannenbaum, Gerwald Jogl, Jody Rich, John McGeary, Pascal Van Hentendryck and Nancy Luke. The event will be held in Alumnae Hall on Meeting St at 7:30 p.m.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=269214569612

The story of Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood, a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians, “Ajami” (2009) was directed by Arab-Israeli Scandar Copti and Israeli Jew Yaron Shani. In Arabic with Hebrew and English subtitles: 7 p.m. at MacMillan Hall, Room 117 (Starr Auditorium), 167 Thayer St. Free and open to the public; a full festival schedule is online.
http://students.brown.edu/Israeli_Film_Festival/

World-renowned author Sir Salman Rushdie will give a lecture at Brown on “Public Events, Private Lives: Literature and Politics in the Modern World.” Both a pop culture icon and a provocative proponent of free speech, the Satanic Verses author was recently named one of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy. Rushdie will speak, then field audience questions. Sponsored by Brown’s “Year of India initiative,” the Cogut Center for the Humanities and the Watson Institute for International Studies, the event is free and open to the public.
http://blogs.brown.edu/other/india/2010/02/major_public_lecture_by_salman.php

Presented by Brown’s Bear Necessities, this competition will showcase the talents of seven different a cappella groups from six different schools, including the Jabberwocks and Higher Keys from Brown. Tickets ($10 for students, $15 for adults) can be purchased the day of the show, the week leading up to the show in J. Walter Wilson and online (below). Held in Salomon Center's De Ciccio Family Auditorium, the event begins at 8 p.m. and is open to the public with tickets.
http://www.varsityvocals.com