Harry Potter Night

“A Night at Hogwarts” comes to Risley Dining April 20, with the annual Harry Potter-themed dinner served from 5 to 8 p.m. Costumes are encouraged.

The dining hall is modeled on Christ Church Refectory at Oxford University, England, where the Hogwarts Great Hall scenes for the Harry Potter series were filmed.

The event features wizarding whimsy with Risley Residential College students and staff, and a special menu prepared by Risley chefs – carved roast beef, fish and chips, Yorkshire pudding, cock-a-leekie soup and other specialty offerings. They include: Madame Sprout’s Mandrake Scream, Herbology Salad with Liquid Luck Vinaigrette, Sautéed Gilly Weed, Snape’s Favorite Tartlets, Petunia’s Pudding, Hagrid’s Chocolate Trifle with toffee crunch, Polyjuice Potion and Butterbeer.

The cost, tax included, is $20.90 adults; $10.45 for children; $18.97 with Big Red Bucks; $18.80 on Meal Choice or one meal swipe for Meal Plan students.

The event is cosponsored by Cornell Dining and Student and Campus Life.

Museum celebrates 45 years

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art invites visitors to explore the collection, make their own art and hear live music at its 45th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday, April 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is open to the public and the Cornell community; admission is free.

The museum was dedicated May 23, 1973. The celebration features many of its most-loved works of art and new favorites in the exhibition “Highlights from the Collection: 45 Years at the Johnson,” on display through July 22.

During the special event, visitors can explore the collection through art-making activities, and enjoy vocal and chamber music performances by Hearsay A Cappella and CCO Youth Orchestra members. Cupcakes and other refreshments will be served.

North Korea debate

What kind of diplomacy works with North Korea? What are the best possible outcomes? What are the stakes?

The Einaudi Center for International Studies presents a Lund Critical Debate focusing on North Korea, April 23 at 4:30 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium. It is free and open to the public, and cosponsored by the East Asia Program.

“How Should We Engage with North Korea?” will feature Soo-Hyuck Lee, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and former head of South Korea’s delegation to the Six-Party Talks on North Korea; and Sue Mi Terry, senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has a long career of work on Korean issues and policymaking at agencies including the CIA and National Security Council.

Hirokazu Miyazaki, Einaudi Center director and the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies, will moderate.

Dairy Day, CALS celebration

Find out where your milk comes from at Dairy Day: Grass to Glass, an open house April 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Stocking Hall.

The event, open to the public, is hosted by Cornell University Dairy Science and Cornell Dairy. Come pet a calf, sample dairy products and ask a student/farmer about the industry they love.

Coming up: The CALS Day Celebration, April 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. on the Ag Quad, will showcase the diversity of departments, students, student clubs and programs around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The event begins with remarks by Dean Kathryn J. Boor ’80, and a ribbon-cutting for the new Mann Library Plaza. Highlights include free ice cream and tie-dye T-shirts, the student-run Farmer’s Market with local produce and goods, and the Cornell Raptor Program. Other participants include the School of Integrative Plant Science, Department of Communication, Lab of Ornithology and Cornell Botanic Gardens.

Space is the place

A night of aerospace and astronomy on the Arts Quad, “Our Place in Space,” is Tuesday, April 24 from 8-11 p.m. Part of People’s Climate Week at Cornell, the event is free and open to the public.

Winning artworks from the Luminescent Space Art Contest will be on display. Various organizations and units including the Cornell Astronomical Society and Fuertes Observatory, the Department of Astronomy, Cornell Micro-G and the Cornell Mars Rover team will have displays, demonstrations and activities.

The event is in conjunction with the Arts Quad Camp-Out, with camping under the stars to support local charities and promote an appreciation for the Earth.

Decisions and abolition

Cornell historian Sandra Greene discusses her 2017 book “Slave Owners of West Africa: Decision Making in the Age of Abolition,” April 25 at 4 p.m. in 107 Olin Library. The Chats in the Stacks book talk is free and open to the public.

As an institution, indigenous slavery continues to influence social relations in West Africa, a century after most of the region was colonized by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal.

In her book, Greene, the Stephen ’59 and Madeline ’60 Anbinder Professor of African History in the Department of History, explores the lives of three prominent slave owners and their reactions to the demise of slavery, and their decisions influenced by their personalities and desires to protect economic and social status.

The talk includes refreshments, and books for purchase and signing from Buffalo Street Books. Visit booktalks.library.cornell.edu for featured authors in the series and recordings of previous events.

Trans literature reading

“TRANS*forming Literature,” a reading and conversation with writers Ryka Aoki, MFA ’92; Helen Boyd and Ely Shipley, will be held April 26 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.

The event is free and open to the public as part of the Zalaznick Reading Series, presented by the Department of English Creative Writing Program. A free catered reception and book signing will follow.

Aoki, a poet, novelist and composer, is a professor of English at Santa Monica College. She was honored by the California State Senate for “extraordinary commitment to the visibility and well-being of transgender people” and the American Society of Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors adopted two of her compositions as “songs of peace.”

Boyd is a teacher and the author of “My Husband Betty” and “She’s Not the Man I Married,” books chronicling contemporary cross-dressing culture, relational gender and her own marriage to a trans woman. She maintains a blog, “(en)gender,” and leads gender diversity training for corporate and community groups.

Shipley is a poet and memoirist who teaches at Western Washington University in Bellingham. He is the author of “Some Animal” and “Boy with Flowers,” winner of the Barrow Street Press Book Prize and the Thom Gunn Award. His writing has appeared in Seneca Review, Crazyhorse, Painted Bride Quarterly, Diagram and Gulf Coast.

Music for mortal mathematicians

Music is math – a sophisticated arrangement of harmonies, pitches and rhythms built upon the physical laws of sound. Music can render emotional impact and move us powerfully. Can math do the same?

Renowned pianist Mia Chung will be speaking (and performing) on the topic of “Music, Math and Mortality,” Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Sage Chapel.

The “musically illustrated” talk is the biannual Beimfohr-Neuss Lecture sponsored by Chesterton House and Cornell United Religious Work. It is free and open to the public, and will be live streamed.