Dana Tai Shoon Burgess and Company will be performing on Friday at the American Art Museum. The performance will be followed by a discussion between the dancers and video artist Nam June Paik’s nephew. Photo credit: Steve Vaccariello.

DCist’s guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

There are a number of really interesting lectures this week, including three focused on food (tomatoes, tortillas and even an Indian buffet!), as well as a good variety of visual and performing arts lectures, book talks, and more.

Monday:
>> Tickets still seem to be available for tonight’s Corcoran event with Maus creator Art Spiegelman. It costs $25, starts at 7 p.m., and will feature “Spiegelman [taking] his audience on a chronological tour of the evolution of comics, all the while explaining the value of this medium and why it should not be ignored.”

>> Also at 7 p.m. tonight is Wildtube – Using Electronic Surveillance to Solve Nature’s Mysteries at the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center Auditorium in Front Royal. Smithsonian researcher Roland Kays will share the traditional techniques and new technologies he uses to examine “ecological and evolutionary questions about mammals … with a focus on carnivores.” Free.

Tuesday:
>> If you’re like me and you can’t wait for the farmers markets to start selling their delectable tomatoes, the S. Dillon Ripley Center has just what you need. At From Garden to Table: Eccentric Tomatoes and Heirloom Seeds at 6:45 p.m., author and heirloom vegetable grower Amy Goldman, along with the WaPo’s gardening editor Adrian Higgins, will discuss “the glorious diversity of tomatoes and the growth of the heirloom seed preservation movement.” It costs $25, and unfortunately no complimentary tomatoes are promised.

>> The Anacostia Community Museum is hosting an “East of the River Community Forum” at 7 p.m., titled The Role of Religious Institutions in the East of the River Community. A panel of religious community leaders “will discuss the history of their institutions, core concerns, and current issues.” Email ACMRSVP [at]si.edu for more info.

>> The K Street Busboys has an author event tonight at 6:30 p.m. with Susan Galleymore and her book Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak About War and Terror.

>> At 7 p.m., Politics and Prose hosts journalist and Come Home, America author William Greider, who claims that America’s “preeminent strength is steadily deteriorating, as is its ability to dominate other nations” while at home, “democracy is broken and most Americans seem to know it.”