Things to Do, Feb. 8-15

cast photo
Andrew Gillis
Clockwise from top, Chandler Waggoner '15, Amanda Martin '13 and Angela Lu '13 star in the Schwartz Center production of "A People."

Jubilee duo

The Bluebird Jubilee, the Ithaca duo of singer-songwriter Joe Crookston and guitarist Peter Glanville, will perform on the next live broadcast of WVBR-FM’s “Bound for Glory” Feb. 10. The folk music concert series, hosted at Cornell since 1967 by Phil Shapiro, M.A. ’69, is broadcast Sundays, 8-11 pm. from Anabel Taylor Hall Café. Admission is free for all ages.

Live music sets start at 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Information: http://www.wvbr.com/bfg or http://www.joecrookston.com.

Darwin Days

Darwin Days 2013 will explore “Evolution and Invasive Species” with a series of events and activities Feb. 11-16.

Slugs, starlings and many other invasive animal and plant species not native to New York can cause enormous environmental and economic damage. Speakers and panel discussions will consider what such invasions mean for evolution, and what the study of evolution can tell us that might help mitigate or prevent the damage invasive species cause.

Darwin Days begins with “Invasive Species, Fossils and Evolution,” a keynote address Feb. 11 by Alycia Stigall of Ohio University, and a “Terrestial Invasives” panel Feb. 12, both at 5 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.

Other events: Darwin-themed trivia, Feb. 12, 8-10 p.m., Big Red Barn; an “Aquatic Invasives” panel, Feb. 13, 5 p.m., 142 Goldwin Smith Hall; “Can Cooperation Evolve by Natural Selection?” with senior lecturer of biology Allen MacNeill ’74, M.A. ’77, Feb. 14, 6 p.m., Risley Hall; a panel on “Fossil Invasives/Invasives in Paleo,” Feb. 15, 5 p.m., 142 Goldwin Smith Hall; and “Invasion of the Evolving Invasives!” Family Day activities, Feb. 16, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Cayuga Nature Center.

Darwin Days is presented by The Museum of the Earth. All events are free. Information: http://museumoftheearth.org/darwindays.

Democrats in wartime

Historian Joel Silbey will talk about the Democratic Party’s influence on the course of the Civil War in “Challenging Lincoln,” Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St., Ithaca. Free and open to the public.

After falling from dominance with Lincoln’s election in 1860 and becoming the minority party, the Democrats were tenacious, battling to prevent the adoption of Republican policies. Silbey, Cornell’s President White Professor of History Emeritus, has written more than two dozen books including “A Respectable Minority: The Democratic Party in the Civil War Era, 1860-1868” (1977).

The presentation is part of a Civil War lecture series co-sponsored by the library and the Tompkins County Civil War Sesquicentennial Celebration Commission. For information, contact County Historian Carol Kammen at ckk6@cornell.edu.

Oscar-nominated shorts

Cornell Cinema shows all of the Oscar-nominated short films each year, with programs of animation, documentary and live action during Oscar season. Winners in each category will be announced Feb. 24 at the Academy Awards ceremony.

The subjects of the five nominated documentaries, showing Feb. 12, 7:15 p.m. at the Schwartz Center Film Forum, are Long Island beauticians serving chemotherapy patients; a decade-long profile of five senior citizens; an undocumented immigrant teenager who dreams of being an artist; Rwandan children with heart disease; and New York City “canners,” who survive by collecting redeemable cans and bottles from trash and recycling bins.
 This year’s nominees run between 30 and 45 minutes each.

Animated shorts, showing Feb. 14 at 9:30 p.m. and Feb. 15-16 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre, include “The Longest Daycare” featuring Maggie Simpson, four other nominees (two to 16 minutes in length) and an additional selection of animated shorts. The live action nominees, “Curfew,” “Henry,” “Death of a Shadow,” “Asad” and “Buzkashi Boys,” will screen Feb. 16 at 9:15 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 7:15 p.m.

Cornell Cinema’s Ithakid Film Fest also is showing selected shorts from the New York International Children’s Film Festival, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m.

Information: http://shortsinternational.com, http://cinema.cornell.edu.

Soup and Hope

Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan H. Murphy ’73, Ph.D. ’94, is the next speaker in the sixth annual Soup and Hope Series, Feb. 14 at noon in Sage Chapel.

Soup and Hope presents speakers representing staff, faculty, students and the local community, sharing personal stories of finding hope in difficult situations or describing ways to create compassionate change in the world. The free events last one hour and include a cup of soup with bread.

Reading series

The Barbara and David Zalaznick Reading Series will feature Cornell assistant professor of English Ishion Hutchinson reading from his poetry, Feb. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium (HEC), Goldwin Smith Hall. Free and open to the public.

Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, Hutchinson attended the University of the West Indies at Mona and New York University, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah. His first book of verse, “Far District,” was published in 2010 and won the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award. His poetry and essays have appeared in Attica, Caribbean Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review and The Huffington Post.

Coming up in the series: Fiction writer Dana Spiotta, Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in HEC. The reading series is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English. Information: kek77@cornell.edu, 607-255-7847 or visit http://english.arts.cornell.edu/creative/readings/.

Future of libraries forum

What will the Cornell Library look like in 10 years – a glorified Starbucks, an enhanced Web space, or essentially the same? Will we need miles of books on shelves or should we move books offsite and repurpose the space? Should we raise or slash collections budgets in response to digital access? Do faculty across the disciplines share a common vision? How can Cornell faculty engage in planning the future of the library?

A faculty forum, “The Future of Research Libraries – and What It Means for Cornell,” Feb. 14 from 4:30-6 p.m. in Milstein Hall, will feature keynote presentations, a Q-and-A session moderated by Nerissa Russell, chair of the Faculty Library Advisory Board, and refreshments. All are welcome to attend.

Presenters are Wendy Lougee, university librarian and professor at the University of Minnesota; Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information; and Cornell’s Carl A. Kroch University Librarian, Anne Kenney.

A blog has been set up at http://blogs.cornell.edu/futurelibrary/ to solicit and discuss questions to be addressed at the forum, with links to background materials. Use the password LIB.

Cultural traditions, family ties

Playwright Lauren Feldman ’01 shares what it means to be part of a family and part of a cultural history in “A People,” being staged Feb. 15-23 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Feldman uses love stories, comic vignettes and vivid imagery to delve into the history of the Jewish people and translates it into stories embracing all cultures. The play is directed by Beth Milles, associate professor of acting and directing in the Department of Performing and Media Arts.

“What makes this play special is the way in which Lauren interweaves lyrical story with secular/spiritual thought,” Milles said. “‘A People’ is a boisterous event – joyous and soulful at the same time. It is a celebration and an investigation of personal tradition and cultural preconception.”

Performances are Feb. 15-16 and 22-23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $13, $11 for students and senior citizens, available at the Schwartz Center box office, 430 College Ave., between 12:30 and 4 p.m. weekdays; by calling 607-254-ARTS or online at http://www.schwartztickets.com.

Media Contact

Joe Schwartz