World Vision

Rich Stearns ’73, president of World Vision, discusses his journey from Cornell and his views on ending extreme poverty Feb. 27.

Lessons from Mandela

Cornell scholars will discuss South African leader Nelson Mandela in “Lessons from the Life of Nelson Mandela: A Community Conversation,” Feb. 22, 2-3:30 p.m. in the Borg-Warner Community Room at Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St., Ithaca. Free and open to the public.

Africana studies professors N’Dri Assie-Lumumba and Locksley Edmondson will explore Mandela’s impact and legacy, from anti-apartheid activism and imprisonment to serving as the first democratically elected president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Their conversation will be facilitated by Eric Kofi Acree, director of Cornell’s John Henrik Clarke Africana Library.

Art history tours

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is highlighting objects from its permanent collection this semester in “Art History in a Nutshell,” a monthly series beginning Sunday, Feb. 23, 2-3:30 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Museum educator Carol Hockett will lead visitors on a survey of works on display in its newly reinstalled second-floor galleries, dedicated to European art from ancient Greece through 1800. Each tour begins with a brief talk in the museum wing lecture room.

The area of focus at the first event is ancient art. Future tours will explore medieval and Renaissance art March 23 and 
Baroque art April 27.

Taking back the land

Andreas Hernandez, Ph.D. ’08, will present a screening of “Soil, Struggle and Justice,” his documentary about a sustainable agriculture movement in South America, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the History of Art Gallery, Goldwin Smith Hall basement level. Free.

The film follows a Brazilian Landless Movement cooperative that struggled for access to land in southern Brazil and then transitioned to ecological agriculture. With practices that provide thriving livelihoods for farmers, produce high-quality and low-cost food for people of the region, and rehabilitate the earth, the cooperative demonstrates the possibilities of an alternative model of flourishing rural life.

Hernandez is chair of international studies at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. He studied development sociology and community and regional sociology as a graduate student at Cornell.

The screening is sponsored by CUSLAR, the Latin-American Studies Program and Latino Studies Program.

State of health

New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., will discuss his agenda for improving individual patient care, boosting population health and reducing the per capita cost of health care, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1:30-2:30 p.m., in G71 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.

His talk, “Transforming New York’s Health Care System: On the Road to Triple Aim,” is free and open to the public.

With a budget of more than $50 billion, Shah directs one of the nation’s leading public health agencies and administers the state’s public health insurance programs covering 5 million New Yorkers. The health department also regulates hospitals and other health care facilities, conducts biomedical research and supports public health and prevention initiatives.

Shah’s visit is sponsored by the Sloan Program in Health Administration in the College of Human Ecology, the Sloan Student Association and the Johnson Healthcare Biotech Club.

Jewish Film Festival

Cornell Cinema begins its Jewish Film Festival series Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. with “The Last of the Unjust,” a profile of Benjamin Murmelstein, the last president of the Jewish Council in Czechoslovakia. Performing and media arts professor Don Fredericksen will introduce the screening.

As a rabbi in Vienna, Murmelstein helped 121,000 Jews leave Austria after Germany annexed the country in 1938. The film includes interviews with him and new insights into the Jewish Councils, Adolph Eichmann and the genesis of the Final Solution.

The series also includes “Sukkah City,” March 2; “Ilya and Emilia Kavakov: Enter Here,” March 8-9; and “Beautifully Broken: The Life and Work of Rafael Goldchain,” March 16.

Cornell Cinema has added to its schedule the 1927 comedy “It” with Clara Bow, Feb. 25 at 7:15 p.m. Also this week: The 10th annual Elegant Winter Party, with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Champagne,” Feb. 22; Oscar-nominated short films, Feb. 21 and 23; and the Oscar-nominated feature “Twelve Years a Slave” Feb. 27, 28 and March 2.

For the birds

The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology hosts a book reading for K-5 children of “A Place for Birds” by Melissa Stewart, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. in the laboratory’s Adelson Library, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road. The reading for children in grades K-5 is free.

Illustrated by Higgins Bond, the book explores ways people protect birds and bird habitats, and features pointers on how youngsters can help birds in their own neighborhoods. Hands-on activities will follow the reading.

Information: 800-843-2473, cornellbirds@cornell.edu

Ending poverty

World Vision President Rich Stearns ’73 will give his views on eliminating extreme poverty in the annual Beimfohr Lecture, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in B25 Warren Hall. Free and open to the public.

In his talk, “World View, the Meaning of Life, and the End of Poverty,” Stearns will share his journey from Cornell to corporate America and then to the poorest villages in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.

Today, as president of World Vision, one of the largest relief and development organizations on the planet, Stearns believes that the quest to end poverty depends on the values of individuals, which ultimately shape the values of nations. This generation has the resources, the tools and the technology to finish the job, he says; the only thing that hangs in the balance is the will to make it happen.

Stearns’ lecture will be aired live on CornellCast. The annual Beimfohr Lecture is sponsored by Chesterton House, a center for Christian studies affiliated with Cornell United Religious Work. Stearns’ lecture is co-sponsored by the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.