Things to Do, May 12-19, 2017

Youth in the ’80s

The Department of Performing and Media Arts presents a student production of Kenneth Lonergan’s “This is Our Youth,” set amid the materialistic society of the early 1980s, May 12-13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts’ Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $3.

“This Is Our Youth” follows 24 hours in the lives of three very lost young souls in New York City in 1982. The play premiered off-Broadway in 1996 and opened on Broadway in 2014. Lonergan is a dramatist, screenwriter and director whose film work includes “Manchester by the Sea,” “You Can Count on Me,” “Analyze This” and “Gangs of New York.”

‘Moonlight’ and more

Cornell Cinema has a handful of films remaining on its May schedule in Willard Straight Theatre, including 2016 Best Picture Oscar winner “Moonlight,” May 12 at 7 p.m. and May 13 at 9:15 p.m.

The schedule through May 20 also includes two screenings (May 12 and 16, advance tickets on sale) of Cornell Cinema’s first 3-D feature, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” on a new Dolby digital 3-D system. An extensive series of 3-D films will be offered in the fall.

Hiyao Miyazaki’s 1993 animated fantasy “My Neighbor Totoro” screens May 13 with dialogue dubbed in English, and May 14 in its original Japanese language version. Both screenings are at 7:15 p.m.

Also showing: James Mangold’s “X-Men” sequel “Logan,” with Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, May 17, 18 and 20; and “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” May 18-19. Finally, “Get Out,” the horror-thriller directorial debut of comedian Jordan Peele (Key and Peele), is tentatively scheduled for May 19-20; check online for updates after May 15. 

MFA writers read

MFA students in the Department of English Creative Writing Program will share their work Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall. The 2017 MFA Graduation Reading is free and open to the public.

The event will feature thesis work and other works-in-progress by fiction writers Rocio Anica, Christopher Berardino, Mario Giannone, Shane Kowalski and Leo Rios; and by poets Annie Goold, Jasmine Jay, Cary Marcous and Michael Prior.

A reception in the English Department Lounge, 258 Goldwin Smith Hall, will follow the reading. 

Studying, stress-busting

Cornell University Library will host a variety of stress-busting events for students studying for exams.

Hungry scholars in Olin and Uris libraries can enjoy free late night pizza (while it lasts) Tuesday, May 16, at 11:59 p.m. in Olin’s Libe Café.

Other events, all at Mann Library, include:

• Sunday, May 14, a Finals Relaxation Station will offer coffee and free treats for students from 3 to 5:30 p.m.

• May 14 and 21, Cornell Companions will bring some four-footed furry friends to the library from 6 to 8 p.m.

• Manndible Café will serve Snacks in the Stacks, May 15, 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. (also May 17 at 9 p.m.) in the Mann Lobby.

MannYOUfacture Makerspace will present a competitive video game station and button making May 16, time TBD.

Building better genes

Science Cabaret will tackle synthetic biology and a new gene-editing technique in “The CRISPR Revolution: Building a Better Life Using Synthetic Biology,” May 16 at 7 p.m. at Coltivare, 235 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca.

The free program is open to the general public. Speakers present science in lay terms, in a casual setting with lively audience conversation. Food and drink are available.

Cornell biophysicist Guillaume Lambert will explore synthetic biology and its potential to revolutionize the way we diagnose, treat and cure diseases. An assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, he leads the Lambert Lab and his honors include Princeton University’s Joseph Henry Prize.

The program is co-sponsored by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance.

Art and networking

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art hosts “Happy Hour at the Museum,” May 18 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the museum wing overlooking the Morgan Japanese Garden.

The social event is open to local professionals and features a cash bar and appetizers, networking activities and a raffle, with opportunities to browse current exhibitions in the galleries.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursdays until 7:30 p.m.

Time for ‘Anarchy’

Anarchy in the Archives,” the inaugural exhibition of Cornell University Library’s Punk Collections, will close Friday, May 19 after five months on display in the Hirshland Exhibition Gallery, Carl A. Kroch Library Level 2B. Admission is free and open to the public, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.


University Photography
Tom McEnaney, assistant professor of comparative literature, with a vintage T-shirt from Cornell University Library's Punk Collection. The collection is featured in "Anarchy in the Archives," ending May 19 in Kroch Library's Hirschland Gallery.

The exhibition explores punk’s 1950s-1970s antecedents and its global impact on politics, fashion and culture from the mid-1970s to the present day. Artifacts on display include rare photographs, posters and vinyl records representing work by Patti Smith, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren, Green Day and many others. It opened Nov. 4 amid five days of events with such punk luminaries as John Doe and Exene Cervenka of X, Pussy Riot, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Victoria Ruiz of Downtown Boys, and “England’s Dreaming” author and collector Jon Savage.

The Punk Collections, part of the Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, contain hundreds of fliers and posters and more than 1,500 fanzines, as well as sound recordings, clothing, photographs and original art, documenting punk’s regional interpretations and influences.

Clothing and shoe drive

The Cornell Institute for Public Affairs has partnered with the Cornell Farmworker Program and five other campus organizations for Friends in the Field, a clothing and shoe drive for immigrant farmworkers and their families.

Donations of winter jackets, boots and sneakers are a priority of the drive, which has collection boxes across campus. All donations will be collected by May 26.

Locations accepting donations include the CIPA Lounge in Caldwell Hall; Mann Library; Martha’s Cafe in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall; the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives; Warren Hall study areas; McGraw Hall; Latino Studies Program, 434 Rockefeller Hall; the Big Red Barn; Catherwood Library; Olin Library front desk; Sage Hall atrium; Willard Straight Hall; Dickson Hall; and the Myron Taylor Hall atrium and foyer.

Media Contact

Lindsey Knewstub