"Poetics of Color," a retrospective exhibit featuring the works of printer-painter and Smith College alumnus Ann Walker, is currently on display at Smith's Neilson Library. Walker, who studied at l'Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Montparnasse, France, has exhibited worldwide and boasts over 330 works to her credit. The present exhibition features more than 30 "painted books" wherein Walker sets the poetry of such authors as Emily Dickinson and Henry David Thoreau to her abstract painting. (Exhibition open through Feb. 28, Neilson Library, Smith College. No admission charge.)

One of America's most fervid critics of educational inequality and award-winning author of "The Shame of the Nation: the Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America," Jonathan Kozol will speak on the apparent resegregation of American Public Schools, which he calls a "national horror hidden in plain view." A former Boston Public School teacher turned activist, Kozol has fought against social injustice and on the behalf of disadvantaged children for over 40 years. (Mon., 8 p.m., Johnson Chapel. No admission charge.)

Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" debuted in 1996 in a New York City café. A decade later, an ensemble of more than 50 Amherst women is set to perform the College's ninth annual rendition of the ground-breaking work, which features both staple skits of the original as well as new material based on the experiences of present-day Amherst women. In addition to the performance, prizes including massages, sex toys, gift certificates and CDs will be awarded by raffle. All proceeds of the event will benefit the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition, which lends support to victims of rape and domestic violence. (Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat. 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall. Tickets $5 for students.)

Editors' DVD Pick of the Week

Based on the book of the same name by Andre Dubus III, "The House of Sand and Fog" tells the story of Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), a recovering alcoholic whose fiscal carelessness results in her house being repossessed. A bitter struggle ensues between Kathy and Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley, in a devastating performance), a poor Iranian immigrant to whom the property is subsequently sold. To a downtrodden Nicolo, the Iranian is cruelly opportunistic, having knowingly robbed her of her sole possession; Behrani, on the other hand, looks on the purchase as a means of providing for his family. Ultimately, neither Nicolo nor Behrani act but with good intentions, yet the sum of their actions unfolds a crushing tragedy. A deftly equivocal film, "Sand and Fog" moves to a rhythm at once desperate and elegant. Its underlying story is the stuff of classical tragedy, set against modern themes of immigration and pursuit of the American Dream.