University flags on the Eastman Quadrangle and near the entrance of Strong Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department, and the flags atop the Eastman Theatre at the corner of Gibbs and Main Streets, will be lowered on Thursday, January 8, for Alvin Ureles, a professor emeritus of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, who died on December 14. Ureles joined the University faculty in 1967.

Kirsi Järvinen-Seppo, the Founders’ Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Allergy, offers information for parents on which allergies kids most often outgrow—and why.

The makers of Harmonize, a built-in tool for Blackboard and available to all Blackboard courses, present the following workshops. Explore Zoom links, more information, and registration details.

• Transition your Discussions to Harmonize on Monday, January 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Harmonize Peer Review on Thursday, January 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Eating competence is an approach that moves away from counting calories, tracking nutrients, or focusing on weight and exercise. Join UR Medicine EAP and Well-U on Tuesday, January 13, at noon for a webinar to learn more about building eating competence in your own life. Register here.

Learn how to (re)design non-test assignments to get on-target work and to support the learning of all students. In this Teaching Center program, fellows will learn transparent assignment design principles, transition their assignments, and workshop their assignments with peers. They will meet four times for 90 minutes in person on the River Campus during the spring 2026 semester and receive a $500 non-salary stipend to cover expenses related to their teaching and research. The application deadline is January 12.

Cozy up at the Memorial Art Gallery with a night of art, shopping, and relaxing on Friday, January 9. Museum admission is free to University students, faculty, staff, and retirees with an active University ID. Plan your visit.

iThenticate is a plagiarism-prevention and similarity-checking tool that helps the research community identify overlapping text and potential attribution issues in manuscripts, grant applications, and other scholarly work before submission. The new version includes enhanced similarity checking, improved collaboration tools, and optional AI writing detection. If you are a current user, activate your account using the “Welcome to iThenticate” email from noreply@turnitin.com. Individuals interested in becoming new users should review the information here and contact ORISE@rochester.edu to request an account. The Office of Research Integrity, Stewardship, and Ethics is also available to answer questions or provide information.

This is a free workshop for health researchers and trainees seeking a foundation in dissemination and implementation science, with a focus on practical guidance for research and career development. Learn more and register to attend on Thursday, January 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Eastman School of Music and the Beal Institute of Film Music and Contemporary Media present “Visual Music 8.0,” a unique departmental recital, on January 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. The program will feature current Beal Institute students in a live-to-picture staging of their original compositions. Each composer will conduct their work, performed by the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra.

Could augmented or virtual reality be the key to debugging robotic systems for medical procedures? Can AR/VR help improve classroom engagement and interaction? Can it be used to teach piano? Last semester, dozens of URochester students set out to answer these questions—and many more—as part of the Introduction to Augmented and Virtual Reality class taught by Daniel Nikolov, an adjunct professor and research engineer at the Institute of Optics.