Things to Do, Jan. 20-27, 2017

Goddess of Pantura
Arum Tresnaningtyas Dayaputri/Provided
An image from Arum Tresnaningtyas Dayaputri's 2011 "Goddess of Pantura" series is featured in the contemporary Javanese photography exhibit "Identity Crisis" at the Johnson Museum.

Spring exhibitions open

“Identity Crisis: Reflections on Public and Private Life in Contemporary Javanese Photography,” the first exhibition in the United States to focus on contemporary photography in Java, Indonesia, as an art form, is among the new spring exhibitions opening Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Photographer and “Identity Crisis” guest curator Brian Arnold will give a gallery talk Thursday, Feb. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

A museum-wide opening public reception for the new exhibits is Feb. 2 from 5-7 p.m. Admission is free.

Artist Matthew “Levee” Chavez leads a continuation of his “Subway Therapy” sticky-note installation at the reception, in conjunction with “Empathy Academy: Social Practice and the Problem of Objects.” The exhibition, through May 28, is a laboratory for students to explore meaningful critical and collecting practices and emergent social forms of contemporary art, and a follow-up to the 2016 Cornell Council for the Arts Biennial, “Abject/Object Empathies.”

Also on display: art and propaganda in “The War to End All Wars: Artists and World War I,” through June 11; and flights of fantasy in “Escaping the Ordinary: Artistic Imagination in Early Modern Prints,” through May 28.

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours Thursdays until 7:30 p.m. from Feb. 2 to May 25.

Teaching strategies

The 7th Annual Celebration of Teaching Excellence at Cornell, “Learning from Your Colleagues: Teaching Strategies You Can Use,” is Jan. 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in 423 ILR Conference Center, King-Shaw Hall. Register online.

Open to faculty and graduate students, the event is sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence. Faculty members will facilitate seminars focusing on tools for empowering students’ classroom communication, innovative strategies for student engagement, using active learning in larger classes and using case studies in the classroom. A lunch session will focus on “Small Changes to Improve your Classes.”

The facilitators include Rebekah Maggor, assistant professor of performing and media arts; Ileen DeVault, professor of labor history; Tomás Arias, professor of physics, co-presenting with professor of neurobiology and behavior Ron Harris-Warrick; and Chekitan Dev, associate professor of services marketing.

Free films, unfair reporting

Cornell Cinema begins the semester with free admission for all Cornell students Friday, Jan. 27, to the animated “Kubo and the Two Strings” at 7:15 p.m. and “Arrival” starring Amy Adams at 9 p.m., both in Willard Straight Theatre.

“Kubo” also kicks off the seven-film Ithakid Film Festival, Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. ($5 adults, $4 ages 12 and under), also showing Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. (all tickets $5). For older audiences, multiple Independent Spirit Award nominee “American Honey” returns Jan. 28-30.

Coming up: The Ithaca premiere of “All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I.F. Stone,” Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. The documentary features footage from the last six decades and independent media stars including Amy Goodman, Michael Moore and Matt Taibbi making a case against the mainstream media with the help of The Washington Post’s Carl Bernstein, Noam Chomsky, and Ralph Nader, and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting founder Jeff Cohen. A media critic and director of Ithaca College’s Park Center for Independent Media, Cohen will introduce the film and lead a post-screening Q&A. 

Animal Health Hackathon

Students from across Cornell and participants from select veterinary colleges will explore trends and new market opportunities in animal health enabled by advances in technology, at the first ever Animal Health Hackathon, Jan. 27-29 at eHub in Collegetown.

Cohosted by the College of Veterinary Medicine and Entrepreneurship at Cornell, the experiential weekend includes a Friday conference of innovators and leaders from clinics, startups and academia presenting on emerging trends and the future of animal health and health care services. Hackathon team formation and a design-thinking workshop will follow on Friday evening.

During the Saturday hackathon, teams of students from veterinary medicine, business, engineering, design and other fields will ideate and create novel solutions in animal health, with mentors providing feedback and guidance. Teams will present final demos at a Sunday project showcase, with a panel of judges awarding $5,000 in cash and prizes for the winners.

Hackathon participation Jan. 28 is limited to 125 students, freshmen to Ph.D./DVM, and registration is free. Conference-only tickets also are available online.

Logo contest

The Women of Color Coalition is sponsoring a logo contest for its 2017 conference, to be held March 18.

The conference, with the theme “A Movement Without Borders: Decolonizing Feminism, Practicing Global Sisterhood,” has a mission to unite, celebrate and empower women of color on campus and in the greater Ithaca community.

The winning logo will be used on all conference materials. The contest is open to all women of color enrolled in a degree program at Cornell. Complete contest rules are online. The deadline for entries is Feb. 5 and contestants will be notified Feb. 12.

Media Contact

Rebecca Valli