Around campus

Get your freak on

Buckle up, folks, McGill's myth-busters are leaping into action in the Freaky Fridays lecture series. Each week at the Redpath Museum, a distinguished member of the McGill scientific community will debunk popular scientific misconceptions and urban legends, ranging from the Bermuda triangle to wolves and werewolves.

Each lecture will allow for audience participation and will be followed by a popular sci-fi flick. Even better is that proceeds from the $5 admission will fund the construction of a giant origami Pteranodon that will be suspended at the Redpath Museum.

On Oct. 6, aquatic biologist Anthony Ricciardi will deliver the inaugural lecture, "Sea Monsters Unmasked," in which he will give scientific explanations for sightings of sea serpents and lake monsters. Phony? Say it ain't so, Nessie!

Freaky Fridays; Redpath Museum auditorium, from Oct. 6-Dec. 7, 4 pm. $5 admission, seating is limited. For complete schedule or other information, call Ingrid Birker, 514-398-4086 (ext. 4094) or go to www.mcgill.ca/science/outreach/freakyfridays.

Quirks and CWOQs

If you've ever wanted to experience life in the classroom without the pressure of final exams - or any exams at all - Classes Without Quizzes is just the ticket.

A new and popular addition to the roster of alumni activities during Homecoming Weekend, the Classes Without Quizzes program, or CWOQs, is a series of lectures that are open to the public and cover everything from civil justice to an insider's view of forensic pathology.

Homecoming Weekend this year runs from Thursday, Oct. 19, to Saturday, Oct. 22. The program offers 16 CWOQs on Thursday afternoon at the Faculty Club, and on Saturday afternoon in different locations on the downtown campus. A CWOQs reception caps off both days.

Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis, and participants can sign up for only one class per series. Spaces are filling up quickly, and some classes are already sold out, so check the listing at www.mcgill.ca/alumni/homecoming and register now by calling toll-free at 1-800-567-5175 or emailing homecoming.alumni@mcgill.ca.

For a more nostalgic look at student life, visit the History of Campus Life exhibit at the McLennan-Redpath Library complex at 3459 McTavish. McGill Homecoming 2006, Oct. 19-22, unfolds on both the downtown and Macdonald campuses. For information: www.mcgill.ca/alumni/homecoming. Oct. 23, 4 pm - 6 pm; Thomson House (3650 McTavish), rm 404. 514-962-8705.

Did somebody say "free"?

Photos COURTESY OF McCORD MUSEUM

Do you usually call in sick on Friday the 13th and lie in bed with the covers pulled up over your head? Well, on October 13, the McCord Museum is giving all McGill staff and students an excuse to climb out from under their comforters and take on the day. As part of the museum's 85th anniversary celebration, McGillians with valid IDs will be admitted for free. Come on down and peruse the 1,375,000 objects, images and manuscripts in the collection, including the 18th-century headdress believed to have been worn by the famed Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and a photo of Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull during their 1885 visit to Montreal.

McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke West; Fri., Oct 13 from 10 am-6 pm, free admission for people with McGill IDs. As part of the anniversary celebration, admission free for general public from Oct. 14-15; 10 am-5 pm. For more info; 514-398-7100 or go to www.mccord-museum.qc.ca.

Sam signs off

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In his fourth decade as a poli-sci prof, Sam Noumoff is preparing to retire. The former Senator and faculty rep to the Board of Governors, Noumoff has made a name for himself as a campus activist on university matters. Before he hangs up the professorial gown, however, Noumoff will be giving what just may be his final lecture.

Sponsored by the Refugee Research Project, to which Noumoff is the faculty advisor, "A Retrospective on the Anti-Vietnam War Movement" will be held on Oct. 23.

Oct. 23, 4 pm-6 pm; Thomson House (3650 McTavish), rm 404. For information, call 514-962-8705.

Dawkins to deliver Beatty Lecture

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Ready or not, here he comes. On October 21, eminent ethologist and evolutionary theorist Richard Dawkins will deliver a Beatty Memorial Lecture titled "Queerer than we suppose; The strangeness of science." The current holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Understanding of Science at Oxford University, the outspoken Dawkins has proven to be one of the world's staunchest supporters of the theory of evolution. Never one to shy away from controversy, Dawkins has been called "the world's most prominent atheist" thanks to his vociferous and unrelenting criticism of creationism (He once called it a "preposterous, mind-shrinking falsehood.").

Beatty Memorial Lecture; October 21; 10 am; Centre Mont-Royal (1000 Sherbrooke West); admission free but tickets must be obtained prior to the event at the McGill Bookstore, Special Order Desk, 3420 McTavish St. For more information call 514-398-3218 or email kirsten.martin@mcgill.ca.