TORONTO.- On Friday, March 6, 2009, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) welcomes all to the 30th Annual ROM Research Colloquium and Vaughan Lecture, a thought-provoking one-day event highlighting the ROM’s ongoing research and recent discoveries. Fifteen-minute presentations delivered by ROM curatorial staff feature a wide array of topics, including sea spiders, Russian and Japanese warships, Chinese teapots, and scorpion fossils found in Ontario. This free program begins at 9:15 am in the ROM’s Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre. Attendees should enter though the Loblaws Entrance on the south side of the building. Museum admission is not included.

Christian Dior: History & Modernity, featured as this year’s annual Vaughan Lecture, takes place at 5:30 pm. Delivered by Dr. Alexandra Palmer, the Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Curator of the ROM’s Department of World Cultures, the lecture delves into the fascinating history of Christian Dior and his impact on modern fashion.