Things to Do, April 14-21, 2017

Classic films

Cornell Cinema concludes its Recently Restored Classics series with three films this week and next in Willard Straight Theatre.

A new digital restoration of “The Last Waltz,” Martin Scorsese’s 1978 concert documentary of The Band’s star-studded swan song in San Francisco, screens April 14 and 16.

Louis Hyman, associate professor of labor relations, law, and history, introduces Whit Stillman’s 1990 debut “Metropolitan” (a narrative feature set in New York City’s class-conscious debutante scene) April 18; it also screens April 15. Julie Dash’s 1991 “Daughters of the Dust” shows April 20, 22 and 23; and will be introduced April 20 by Samantha Sheppard, assistant professor of performing and media arts. Visit the link above for showtimes and more information.

Bhangra Olympics

Cornell Bhangra presents “Pao Bhangra XVI: The Bhangra Olympics,” Saturday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in Barton Hall. Advance tickets ($10 to $20) are available at the Willard Straight Hall Ticket Desk, from Cornell Bhangra members and online.

With original 21st-century choreography and handmade costumes, Pao Bhangra is one of the largest student-run shows on campus each year, and the largest exhibition of South Asian dance in North America. In 2014, the Cornell Bhangra team was an “America’s Got Talent” quarterfinalist.

Cornell Bhangra acts including mixed and alumni groups will perform, along with four visiting teams – Carnegie Mellon University Bhangra and First Class Bhangra from Pittsburgh; the University of Maryland’s TerraPind Bhangra, and Shaan Mutiyaaran Di Bhangra Club from New York City. Four Cornell groups are exhibition acts: Sabor Latino Dance Ensemble, Yamatai, African Dance Repertoire and The Men of Last Call.

Governing the Arctic

The Arctic region, long a reliable barometer for scientists studying climate change and global warming, is also a gauge for geopolitical change.

Dawn Alexandrea Berry gives a Chats in the Stacks book talk on “Governing the North American Arctic: Sovereignty, Security and Institutions,” April 18 at 4:30 p.m. in 107 Olin Library. The talk is free and open to the public.

She will discuss the present-day challenges of governance in the Arctic and highlight Cornell’s historic role in early Arctic exploration and the security of the region. Berry is a visiting scholar in the Department of History and a former postdoctoral fellow in foreign policy, security studies and diplomatic history at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

The 2016 book, co-edited by Berry, Nigel Bowles and Halbert Jones, features contributions by Canada’s former national defense minister and minister of foreign affairs, international scholars and prominent Arctic leaders, and official statements from diplomatic representatives of Canada, the United States and Greenland.

'Success and Luck'

Economist Robert Frank will give the annual Phi Beta Kappa Distinguished Faculty Lecture at Cornell, April 19 at 4:30 p.m. in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. It is free and open to the public.

His lecture is titled after his 2016 book, “Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy.” Frank is the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and Professor of Economics in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. For more information, contact egc55@cornell.edu.

Inclusion, equality in sports

Sports journalists Sarah Spain ’02 and Kate Fagan of ESPN will speak about inclusion in professional sports, gender equality in athletics and female representation in the media, April 19 at 7 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, and sponsored by the Cornell chapter of Athlete Ally, an organization promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusion and acceptance in sports, and by Cornell Athletics.

Spain is well known on the Chicago sports beat from ESPNChicago.com and has appeared on national ESPN Radio, espnW.com, “SportsCenter,” “Outside the Lines” and “His & Hers.” Fagan is a columnist and feature writer for ESPNW, ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine, and a regular panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” who can also be seen on “First Take” and “His & Hers.”

Email Nicholle Aston at nma3@cornell.edu for more information about the event.

Let’s talk 'making'

Cornell University Library staff will discuss “Makerspaces and Maker Literacy in the Digital Humanities,” April 20 at 4:30 p.m. in 703 Olin Library as part of the Conversations in Digital Humanities series, open to the public.

Makerspaces have been defined as “creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent and learn.” Camille Andrews, Devin Sanera, Jeremy Cusker, Tobi Hines and Sara E. Wright will discuss 3-D modeling and printing, programming, arts and crafts, and other library “making” activities in the humanities, and their place in inquiry-based, interdisciplinary and collaborative processes. They also will show some of the equipment and facilities available through the library.

Celebrating Indonesian arts

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art hosts a series of upcoming events in conjunction with the exhibition “Identity Crisis: Reflections on Public and Private Life in Contemporary Javanese Photography.” All events, in the Wing Lecture Room, are free and open to the public.

Java display
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art/Provided
The Johnson Museum will host a conference, performances and other events in conjunction with the exhibition “Identity Crisis: Reflections on Public and Private Life in Contemporary Javanese Photography.”

Alia Swastika, curator and director of the Ark Gallery in Central Java, will introduce a screening of Indonesian video art Thursday, April 20, at 5:15 p.m. (The museum is open Thursdays until 7:30 p.m.)

As part of the Third Cornell Modern Indonesia Project Conference April 21-23, “‘Still in the Game’: The State of Indonesian Art History in the 21st Century,” the museum has a special installation of Indonesian dance masks and shadow puppets from its collection in the fifth-floor gallery for Southeast Asian art. And on April 23, there will be conference panels (on “The Wayang World” at 9 a.m. and photography and new media at 11 a.m.) and a Wayang shadow puppet performance, accompanied by the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble, from 2-4 p.m.

With 18 scholars from Indonesia, Australia, Europe and the U.S., the conference honors the 50th anniversary of Cornell art historian Claire Holt’s 1967 magnum opus, “Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change.”

Indonesian artist Arahmaiani also discusses her work and performances, April 26 at 2:30 p.m. The “Identity Crisis” exhibition in the Bartels Gallery and Wing Lecture Room continues through June 17.

'Life' drama

The Department of Performing and Media Arts presents the drama “Life Sentence (Inhibited),” April 20-22 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Written and directed by Gloria Majule ’17, the play is set in Tanzania, and explores themes of societal expectations of women, adultery, marriage, arts education and homophobia. It begins when a man decides to marry off his eldest daughter to a wealthy lawyer in a scheme to avoid jail time for tax evasion.

Majule cites “A Raisin in the Sun” and the works of Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard among the play’s influences, and PMA associate professor “Sara Warner, for telling me to write the play in the first place.”

“I wanted to see more people that looked like me in TV, film and theater who weren’t slaves or maids,” she said. “I started writing ‘Life Sentence’ my sophomore year; at first it was simply meant to protest the lack of opportunities for people of color in theater at Cornell, but gradually it evolved to more than that.”

Performances are April 20 at 7:30 p.m., April 21 at 5 p.m. and April 22 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $5 at schwartztickets.com or the box office, open Tuesday-Saturday, 2:30-8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center, 430 College Ave., Ithaca. 

Earth Day Film Fest

Mann Library will screen four acclaimed environmental documentaries at the Earth Day Film Fest, Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Stern Seminar Room. Screenings are free and open to the public, with free popcorn.

The “transformative Earth-minded cinematic experience” features contemporary films recently added to the library’s collection – “A Plastic Ocean,” 10-11 a.m.; “Saving Jamaica Bay,” 11:50 a.m.-1 p.m.; “Sustainable,” 1:10-2:45 p.m. and “Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction,” 2:50-4 p.m. Viewers are welcome to drop in any time during the screenings.

Media Contact

Daryl Lovell