Many people consume caffeine to help fuel the day. But for some, the need for caffeine could become an addiction.

On March 14, Dr. Catherine Sarisky, an assistant professor of chemistry at Roanoke College, will discuss the topic, Caffeine and Heroin: The Chemistry of Addiction, as part of Roanoke’s Coffee Shop Talks series. Sarisky will talk about the chemistry behind addiction.

This free public discussion will take place at Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea on Main Street in Salem at 8 p.m.

Check out other March events at Roanoke College by clicking the “Read More” link.

Performing Arts Series: “Mammoth Follies”
Sunday, March 3, 3 p.m., Olin Theater
Tickets available at www.roanoke.edu/tickets or by calling (540) 375-2333.

“Mammoth Follies” explores the wonders of evolution in an old-fashioned revue of original songs, witty jokes and earth-smashing dances performed by giant dinosaur puppets. This program dramatizes historic and scientific facts (as well as some myths) about the great age of the dinosaur. The enormous puppets include the host, Willie Mammoth, Smiley the Saber-Toothed Tiger, Bessie the lovable 27-foot long Apatosaurus and T. Rex.

Rick Steves: A Calling to Travel
Tuesday, March 12, 7:30 p.m., Olin Theater
Free tickets are required and available after Feb.1 at www.roanoke.edu/tickets.

Rick Steves has sold more than 10 million travel guidebooks and hosts the “Rick Steves’ Europe” television show each week on Public Broadcasting Service. He is most known for finding ways for travelers to go beyond famous sights to experience the real people and culture of other countries. With humor and insight, Steves will describe the good life in new places. Steves’ appearance is sponsored by the Benne Center for Religion & Society.

Women’s Forum 2013: Zach Wahls, author of “My Two Moms”
Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m., Colket Center Wortmann Ballroom

What makes a family? Zach Wahls tried to answer that question when he testified before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in 2011. The son of two lesbian mothers, the University of Iowa engineering student had no idea that his heartfelt testimony that day would spread like viral wildfire.

Wahls offers a bold perspective on an always contentious issue–gay marriage. You’ll laugh, you may even cringe, and no matter your thoughts on marriage equality in our country, you’ll walk away with a new perspective.

Women’s Forum 2013: From the Table to the Grave: Using Animal Bones to Uncover Past Human Behavior
Thursday, March 14, 6 p.m., Colket Center Pickle Lounge

Kristen Gardella will address how animal bones are gathered from archaeological sites and how they are interpreted to understand human and animal interactions in the past, highlighting several sites from Latin America. Gardella has spent more than 19 years working on archaeological sites throughout North, Central and South America, and she has conducted dissertation fieldwork on Inka feasting practices at the site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia. She is the project zooarchaeologist for a multidisciplinary investigation studying climate change and early hunter-gatherer societies in the high Peruvian Andes.

Art Exhibition: 2013 Biennial Juried Exhibition
Friday, March 15 – Friday, April 5, Olin & Smoyer Galleries
Opening Reception: Friday, March 15, 6-8 p.m., Smoyer Gallery
Lecture: Margot Norton, exhibition juror, Friday, March 15, 6 p.m., Olin Gallery

This juried exhibition is open to artists within a 150-mile radius of Roanoke College. Fine arts media including painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, textiles, mixed media and photography are accepted. Margot Norton, curatorial associate at the New Museum in New York, is the exhibition juror. She has published and lectured on contemporary art, and she is the former curatorial assistant for the 2010 Whitney Biennial and in the drawings department at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Cash awards will be given to the first, second and third place winners and honorable mention. The first place winner also will have a solo exhibition in Smoyer Gallery during the 2013-2014 season.

Visit www.roanoke.edu/olingallery for entry forms. Contact Talia Logan at (540) 375-2332 or mlogan@roanoke.edu for questions.

Kandinsky Trio: Anniversary Finale
Saturday, March 16, 7:30 p.m., Olin Theater
Tickets available at www.roanoke.edu/tickets or by calling (540) 375-2333.

No commemorative season would be complete without its grand finale. The rescheduling of Mike Reid’s “Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch,” with the composer narrating his take on the Michael Jackson classic, will be performed, along with the Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trio No. 19 in F Major, Hob. XV:6. Also, there will be new commissions by John D’earth, Russell Riepe and Graham Waterhouse.

RC Faculty Jazz and Friends Concert
Sunday, March 17, 4 p.m., Olin Recital Hall

Join Roanoke College music faculty members for an afternoon of jazz tunes. Musicians will include Pattie Clevenger, vocals; Joseph Blaha, piano/trombone; Brian Holt, guitar/bass; and Bill Purcell, drums. Roanoke College grad, Eric Hollandsworth, bass, and RC friend, Don Wimmer, saxes/flute, will join the concert.

Women’s Forum 2013: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Wednesday, March 20, 7:30 p.m., Colket Center Pickle Lounge

Discover the landmark movement that is galvanizing people to fight for the end of oppression of women and girls worldwide.  Hidden in the overlapping problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality is the single most vital opportunity of our time – and women are seizing it. From Somaliland to Cambodia to Afghanistan, women’s oppression is being confronted head on and real, meaningful solutions are being fashioned. Change is happening, and it’s happening now.  Learn more about Roanoke College’s Half the Sky initiatives.

Women’s Forum 2013: Film Screening – “The Education of Shelby Knox”
Thursday, March 21, 7 p.m., Colket Center Pickle Lounge

“The Education of Shelby Knox” is a Sundance award-winning film that chronicles Shelby’s high school activism for comprehensive sex education and the establishment of a Gay Straight Alliance in her conservative hometown. This event is part of Roanoke College’s Women’s Forum. It is sponsored by the College’s Sociology Department, Health Educators Awareness Team and the Office of Community Programs with Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Inc.

Women’s Forum 2013: Hispanic Women in Exile: The Quest for a Voice
Monday, March 25, 7:30 p.m., Colket Center Wortmann Ballroom

This is a poetry performance to acknowledge Hispanic women who had to endure political and cultural exiles from Spain and Latin America. Their poetic voices allude to displacement, social and cultural integration and political denunciation.

Women’s Forum 2013: Phi Beta Kappa Charter Week speaker, Diana Taylor
Wednesday, March 27, 5 p.m., Colket Center Pickle Lounge

Diana Taylor is a professor of performance studies and Spanish at New York University, as well as founding director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. She has edited more than a dozen books, and she is the author of several award-winning books, including “Theatre of Crisis: Drama and Politics in Latin America.” She has two books forthcoming in Spanish. Taylor lectures extensively around the world, and she is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005.

Women’s Forum 2013: Amber Madison, author, dating and relationship expert
Wednesday, March 27, 7:30 p.m., Colket Center Wortmann Ballroom

Amber Madison is a nationally noted dating and relationship expert and coach, and she’s the author of several books, including “Talking Sex with Your Kids.” She appears regularly in the media, and she is the sex and dating advice columnist for “Seventeen,” as well as an award-winning lecturer. She returns to Roanoke College to discuss her latest book, “Are All Guys Assholes?”