Cornell Cinema hosts a free advance screening of “Justice League” for students, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.

Things to Do, Nov. 10-17, 2017

A rescue, heroes and destruction

Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic “Dunkirk” comes to Cornell Cinema for three screenings in Willard Straight Theatre, Nov. 10 at 7 and 9:30 p.m., and Nov. 11 at 9:25 p.m.

Shot in the IMAX 70mm format and presented in widescreen, the film is set during the evacuation of 330,000 Allied soldiers who were trapped on the beach at Dunkirk by the German army in 1940.

A free advance screening of “Justice League” for Cornell students only is Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. Free passes are available at the Willard Straight Hall Resource Center, the box office and Cornell Cinema office. Starring Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, the superhero film is in theaters Friday, Nov. 17.

Also showing: “The Destruction of Memory” with filmmaker Tim Slade, Nov. 15 at 7:15 p.m. Based on the book “The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War,” the film examines the rise of cultural destruction over the last century – attempts to erase collective history and identity through the intentional annihilation of irreplaceable artworks, artifacts, and historical sites and their stewards.

Hamlet: a satire

The Department of Performing and Media Arts presents “Hamlet Wakes Up Late,” a Shakespearian political satire by Syrian poet and playwright Mamduh Adwan, Nov. 10-11 and 16-17 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 18 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts’ Flex Theatre.

Featuring original music, dancing, fencing and humor, the play is making its English-language premiere at Cornell, adapted and directed by assistant professor of performance Rebekah Maggor. All evening performances (except Nov. 17) include a post-show discussion with Maggor and Cornell faculty members and guest scholars.

Tickets are $15 general, $8 for senior citizens and the Cornell community, available at Schwartztickets.com and the box office, open Monday to Saturday, 1 to 8 p.m. at 403 College Ave., Ithaca

Vietnam perspectives

The History Center in Tompkins County hosts “Vietnam War Perspectives” Nov. 11 at 2 p.m., a discussion of the war’s impact on the personal lives of local panelists and audience members, and how the war changed the United States politically, socially and culturally. It is free and open to the public, at 401 East State St., Ithaca.

The panelists are U.S. Marine Corps veteran and novelist Harvey Baker of Groton; U.S. Navy veteran Robert Jan Mrazek ’67, a retired five-term Congressman and local author; first-generation Vietnamese-American Ducson Nguyen of Ithaca; and Cornell professor of Sino-Vietnamese cultural studies Keith Taylor, a U.S. Army veteran of the war and scholar of Vietnamese history and literature.

“CUP Talks” at the History Center will feature local and regional history in collaboration with Cornell University Press – publisher of Mrazek’s new book, the Vietnam-era novel “And the Sparrow Fell.”

“We wanted to kick CUP Talks off with an important topic that connects local experiences with global events,” said Rod Howe, History Center executive director. “With all the recent attention on the Vietnam War as a result of the Ken Burns documentary, it made perfect sense to bring in Bob Mrazek. Bob’s book is fiction but it is historically accurate and reflects what Ithaca was like during the Vietnam War.”

For more information, see thehistorycenter.net or call 607- 273-8284.

United for hockey

Proceeds from the Cornell women’s ice hockey home game against the University of Wisconsin, Saturday, Nov. 11, will benefit the United Way. Faceoff is at 3 p.m. in Lynah Rink.

Tickets are $6 general, $4 for Cornell staff, children age 12 and under and senior citizens, available online. For information, call 607-255-4247 or email athletictickets@cornell.edu.

The undefeated Wisconsin team is making its first visit to Cornell; the two teams also play Nov. 10 at 3 p.m.

A United Way information table at the game will have a prize wheel and limited-edition T-shirts. The 2017 Cornell United Way campaign ends Nov. 30.

A Sharp world premiere

The Cornell Symphony Orchestra premieres a new work by guest composer Barry Sharp, “Farther from the Truth,” and continues its season-long Tchaikovsky and jazz performance series in a concert program Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The concert is free and open to the public and will be live streamed on CornellCast.

The evening also features a Schumann piano concerto with pianist Miri Yampolsky; the second and third movements of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (the work will be performed in its entirety over the season); and “Three Black Kings (Les trois rois noirs)” by Duke Ellington and Maurice Press, with faculty soloist James Spinazzola on tenor and soprano saxophones.

The Department of Music presents free public performances on campus throughout the year.

International learning

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) hosts a Global Fellows Program Showcase focused on international learning, Nov. 15 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology.

CALS students will share posters and presentations of their experiences and contributions to global communities and organizations. The 22 student presenters from a variety of majors interned as Global Fellows in business, research, advocacy and development sectors in Australia, Botswana, New Zealand, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Zambia.

Students are invited to attend and learn more about the college’s internationalization initiative and share conversation and hors d’oeuvres with CALS leadership, faculty, staff and students. The Global Fellows Program is entering its third year and applications are open to all qualified CALS students.

Seeing electricity

Physics graduate students at Cornell explore the world of electricity in “Electrify!” Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Coltivare, 235 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca. Admission to the Science Cabaret program is free, and open to all ages.

Josue San Emeterio, a doctoral student in the field of applied and engineering physics, will lead the program with demonstrations of Tesla coils (Nikola Tesla’s 1891 invention wirelessly transmits electricity that can be seen), cathode ray tubes, electromagnets and more. A passionate science outreach advocate, San Emeterio will be joined by graduate students Jai Kwan Bae, Derek Cranshaw, William Li, James Maniscalco, Eve Vavagiakis ’14 and Howie Joress, M.S. ’16.

The program is presented in collaboration with the Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences and Education and the Center for Bright Beams.

Investing in social impact

Canadian filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza brings an advance screening of “The Invisible Heart,” her documentary on social impact bonds, to Cornell Friday, Nov. 17.

Nadine Pequeneza

Social impact bonds are a funding mechanism designed to raise private capital for social programs. Investor return is tied to a social program’s success, and governments pay investors a profit if the programs decrease public expenditures by improving social outcomes, e.g. lowering the number of unemployed or prisoners.

University of Hamburg researcher Lisa Knoll, an expert on carbon markets and social impact investment, gives a related lecture, “Social Impact Bonds and the Moralization of ‘The Market’,” at 12:20 p.m. in Milstein Auditorium, followed by a reception in the Bibliowicz Family Gallery.

The documentary screens at 2:30 p.m. in the auditorium, followed by a talkback with the director. The events are free and open to the public.

City and regional planning professor Mildred Warner is among the experts interviewed in the film, which was commissioned by TVO, Ontario's public broadcaster. The events are cosponsored by the Cornell Institute for European Studies.

Media Contact

Lindsey Knewstub