Second City alumna Tara DeFrancisco — who also has performed with ComedySportz, iO, and Annoyance Theatres in Chicago, not to mention being named the funniest person in Chicago — is offering a workshop open to anyone 16 or older interested in the opportunity to learn Chicago-style improv here on the Vineyard.

A guest of Troubled Shores, the Island’s improv company, Ms. DeFrancisco also will work with IMP Camp kids enrolled in session four and the company’s professional troupes.

Wampanoag Language

The Death and Rebirth of the Wampanoag Language is the topic for Professor David J. Silverman, of George Washington University, when he speaks on Wednesday, July 29, at 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

Cultural anthropologist and University of Chicago professor Dr. Richard Shweder will deliver a talk titled Some Hazards of Moral Thinking at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday, July 29 at 5:30 p.m.

Dr. Shweder, the William Claude Reavis Distinguished Service Professor in the department of comparative human development at the University of Chicago, will discuss the implications of a great moral legend from Orissa, India: Is it permissible to kill one person to save 1,200?

Fairy Ballet School

That Fairy Ballet School summer program for ages 4 to 11 will take place in Vineyard Haven from July 27 to August 7, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. Children finish with a performance of The Fairy Ball. For details, call 508-939-0074.

Les Femmes, a painting/collage exhibit by Jeanette Demeestère, is at the Chilmark Public Library from July 25 to August 14, with an opening reception this Saturday, July 25 from 3 to 6 p.m. An artist who lives in Paris, France, Ms.Demeestère has spent every summer in Chilmark for the past 15 years with her family at their home off Middle Road. She is kn own for her portraits and collages, rendered in watercolor, pastel (both oil and dry), charcoal and collage; as well as her soft, muted colors and strong fine lines.

People who merely have heard about Slow Food — the “eco-gastronomic” movement aimed at counteracting the effects of fast food on American diet, farming and lifestyle — might associate it with the rarified, elite world of famous chefs, expensive foods and politically correct eating that tends to be too dear for regular folk.