Wednesday, October 29
8 p.m.

Rutgers Student Center
126 College Avenue
New Brunswick

Oliver Sacks will deliver the Mason Welch Gross Lecture as part of the Writers at Rutgers Reading Series. Sacks burst onto the literary scene in 1985 with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales, a collection of case histories from the world of neurological science. Now, with a new book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Sacks will bring his clinical anecdotes to the popular series.

The series continues throughout the semester with an appearance by Caryl Phillips on November 12.

Through a woman’s lens

Now through October 31

Mason Gross School of the Arts Galleries
Civic Square Building
Douglass Campus

“Never Has She Ever …” is a thematic group show by 10 women artists featuring large-scale works by Renee Cox. A contemporary American photographer, Cox celebrates black womanhood while challenging the roles American culture assigns to blacks and women.

This Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Exhibition is a program of the Institute for Women in Art in partnership with the Rutgers University Libraries, the Department of Art History, and the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions and Visual Arts Department, Mason Gross School of the Arts.

An exhibit of Cox’s work also will be on display at the Mabel Smith Douglass Library Galleries through December 8.

The politics of conception

Tuesday, October 28
4:30 p.m.

Ruth Dill Johnson Crockett Building
Ryders Lane
Douglass Campus

It’s been 30 years since Louise Brown became the world’s first so-called “test-tube baby.” Prof. Sarah Franklin of the London School of Economics will explore the aftermath of that experimental In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure in a program titled, “Five Million IVF Babies Later: The Cultural Legacy of IVF.”

The event is part of the Women’s and Gender Studies Lecture Series.

Who’s teeing off under that mask?

Thursday, October 30
12:30 p.m.

Rutgers University Golf Course
777 Hoes Lane
Piscataway

Rutgers’ own on-campus golf course will hold a four-player Halloween golf scramble, open to all faculty and staff members. The event begins with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start; a pasta buffet will follow play. Wear a costume or mask to receive special entry fee discounts. For more information and to register, call the Pro Shop at 732-445-2637 or visit the website at golfcourse.rutgers.edu.

A panoply of Jewish films

Sunday, November 9 through Wednesday, November 19

Regal Cinema
2399 US 1 South
North Brunswick

Follow a mentally challenged young man as he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah (“Praying with Lior”), and meet a 12-year-old who discovers that his father was an Israeli Mossad agent leading a double life in Israel (“The Champagne Spy”). These are the highlights of two of the movies to be screened as part of the ninth annual Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival.

Last year, more than 5,000 fans attended the varied offerings. Sponsored by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, the festival offers prize-winning titles that explore the global Jewish experience. A guest speaker, either the director, a featured actor, or an expert in the field introduces each film and encourages audience discussion.

For a complete listing of this year’s choices, click here.

Envisioning a city reborn

Wednesday, October 29
5:30 p.m.

Center for Law and Justice
123 Washington Street
Newark

What will it take to invigorate a growth economy and new employment opportunities in New York’s largest urban neighbor? Part one of “The New Newark” will focus on “Maintaining Momentum for Renewal in a Slowing Economy.” A panel of academics, business leaders, community organizers, and public officials will look at the lessons Newark’s leaders can learn from the revitalization of New York’s neighborhoods – and vice versa.

Rutgers' School of Public Affairs and Administration in Newark is cosponsoring this two-part series with the Center for New York City Affairs, the New School for Management and Urban Policy, Edison Properties, the Sirus Fund, and the Milano Foundation.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, email spaa@newark.rutgers.edu.

Be spooky, stay safe

Friday, October 24
6 to 9 p.m.

Cook/Douglass Recreation Center
50 Biel Road
New Brunswick

Rutgers and the City of New Brunswick will team up for the fifth annual Halloween Monster Mash, sponsored by the Rutgers Residence Hall Association, the New Brunswick Department of Recreation, and Rutgers Recreation.

Geared to children in the city’s elementary schools, the event offers a costume contest, relay races, and pumpkin painting, among other activities. Student organizations also will set up activities tables for the wee ghosties and goblins, and reward their efforts with treats.

For information, contact Kevin Hill, RHA Cook Douglass Residential Council chair at cookdouglassrha@gmail.com; Steve Desir, coordinator of special programs for residence education at sdesir@rci.rutgers.edu; or Michael Blackwell, director of the New Brunswick Recreation Department, at mblack942@aol.com.