Literary Luncheon series

Cornell President David Skorton and Professor Robin Davisson will host Cornell writers at a new series of free Literary Luncheons at their home in Cayuga Heights.

The first event is Sept. 17 at 11:30 a.m. with Katherine Reagan, the Ernest L. Stern '56 Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts in Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, and a lecturer in Cornell's Adult University.

The luncheon is open to the first 25 people who reserve a place by e-mailing special-events@cornell.edu by Sept. 14.

Poet and fiction writer Alice Fulton, the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English, will be featured at a luncheon Oct. 14, and a guest writer on Dec. 2 will be named later.

Art all around

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art celebrates its early fall exhibitions -- including "A Room of Their Own: The Bloomsbury Artists in American Collections," "The Art of China's Cultural Revolution," ceramics, etchings and contemporary video -- with a public reception Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. featuring live jazz, refreshments and activities. Ceramics collector Herbert Shatzman gives a gallery talk at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

On Sept. 17 at 5:15 p.m., art historian Janice Coco will present the Findlay Family Lecture, "Dialogues with the Self: Reconsidering Marsden Hartley's Self-Portraits." Hartley is one of the first American modernists to explore abstraction.

The museum also hosts information sessions for student volunteers Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. and for docents Sept. 15 at 10 a.m.

Islam and democracy

Cornell Law School hosts a public lecture, "Islam, Liberalism and Democracy," by Mohammaed Fadel of the University of Toronto, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. in G85 Myron Taylor Hall. David Patel and David Powers, Near Eastern studies, will provide commentary.

Fadel's lecture precedes a Sept. 12 conference on Law and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. The Law School is hosting Middle East scholars from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Cornell community. Information: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/international/clarke-initiative/Events.cfm.

Comedy on wheels

Carlo Goldoni's comedy "The Servant of Two Masters" -- a commedia dell'arte extravaganza full of mistaken identities, acrobatic pratfalls, romantic pursuit and other silliness -- will open the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts' 2009-10 season Sept. 17. Commedia dell'arte actors typically improvise and perform physical comedy acts. Cornell's production features such wheeled gimmicks as roller skates and unicycles.

Performances are Sept. 17-19 and 24-26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. Actors and designers will have a post-show discussion with the audience Sept. 24. Tickets are $10, $8 for students and senior citizens, available at the Schwartz Center, 430 College Ave.; by calling 607-254-ARTS, or online at http://www.schwartztickets.com. Season passes are also available.

'Evolution of Intelligent Design'

Cornell University Library will screen a collection of 16mm school films made by the Moody Institute of Science, which planted the seeds of the notion of intelligent design in the minds of children in the 1950s, Sept. 15 from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Kroch Library Lecture Room (Kroch level 2B, Room 48).

The screening, presented by archivist Skip Elsheimer, is open to the public and held in conjunction with the Carl A. Kroch Library exhibition "Charles Darwin: After the Origin." Information: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/darwin/.

Collective action

Elinor Ostrom, a political scientist from Indiana University, will give a University Lecture on "Collective Action and the Commons: What Have We Learned?" Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall.

Ostrom will look at a variety of research into why some groups self-organize and others do not, and the relevance of the theory of collective action to the governance and management of natural resources.

Africa and WWII

An international group of historians will participate in "Re-evaluating Africa and World War II," a conference Sept. 17-18 at Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center.

In both African history and World War II studies, little attention has been paid to Africa's role in the war and the impact on African communities, and few studies have addressed the cultural and social history of the war. Scholars will present papers on the distinctive social, economic and political changes the war generated on the continent, broaden the discussion of racial policies during the war and highlight African responses. Information: http://asrc.cornell.edu/AWWII/Conference.html.

Changing the world

Can a movie change the world? Cornell Cinema will explore a range of documentaries chronicling current issues, personal stories, art and culture in its "Hot Docs" series this fall.

Kirby Dick's "Outrage," Sept. 11 at 9:30 p.m., looks at closeted politicians at odds with the LGBT community. The series also includes "CUT: Teens and Self-Injury," Sept. 17, with a panel discussion; "Died Young, Stayed Pretty," Sept. 22, a candid look at indie-rock poster designers, with guest filmmaker Eileen Yaghoobian; "Food, Inc.," Sept. 24-29; Richard P. Rogers' highly personal "The Windmill Movie" and "Quarry," Sept. 24-27; "At the Top of My Voice," Oct. 1, and "Soul Power," Oct. 2-9, a concert film starring James Brown and other music greats in 1974.

Anne Hills in concert

The Cornell Folk Song Society presents singer-songwriter Anne Hills, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall. Hills is a leading contemporary folk singer, making her first solo appearance at Cornell in more than a decade.

Upcoming CFSS concerts include: Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz, southern mountain music, Sept. 26; Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen, traditional Irish and Scandinavian music, Oct. 24; and Tracy Grammer, Nov. 7. Information: http://www.cornellfolk.org.

Financial crisis debate

The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts a public debate, "The Great Financial Crisis: What Caused It? What Is Next?" Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. in Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

The 2009 Lund Critical Debate Series features Robert Kuttner, author of "Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency"; author, economist and political scientist Barry Eichengreen of the University of California-Berkeley; and Eswar Prasad, Cornell professor of trade policy. http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu.