Provided

"Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest" is a multimedia event May 7 in McGraw Hall, with ballads, dance tunes, children's and gospel songs collected a century ago, plus archival photos and diary entries by British song collectors in America.

Post-earthquake Nepal

Nepal’s ambassador to the United States, Arjun Kumar Karki, will discuss international development and disaster management challenges in Nepal in a public lecture, “Nepal’s Resilience: Development Challenges and Opportunities after the Gorkha Earthquake,” May 6 at 4:30 p.m. in 401 Warren Hall.

At a workshop May 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in 301 Warren, graduate students involved in the Cornell-Nepal Earthquake Recovery Partnership will present research on topics including income generation, education, health infrastructure, water and sanitation, and housing in Nepal. The workshop features Master of Regional Planning and Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA) students, and comments from Karki, former U.S. ambassador to Nepal Scott DeLisi and Donovan Russell, former country director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal.

All events are free and open to the public, and are co-sponsored by CIPA, the Department of Anthropology and the South Asia Program. For more information, contact CIPA at 607-255-8018.

Relief for Ecuador

Cornell students are holding fundraising events on campus for victims of a 7.8 magnitude April 16 earthquake along the coast of Ecuador that killed more than 700 people and injured thousands more.

Students will be tabling Friday, May 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mann Library, collecting donations of cash as well as tents, sleeping bags, batteries, flashlights and other needed items to be sent to earthquake victims by the Ecuadorian Consulate in New York. Cash donations will benefit victims through the Ecuadorian Red Cross and national and international nongovernmental organizations.

A Salsa dance fundraiser, May 6 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Big Red Barn, will also have a table for donations and information on other relief resources. Admission is $9 general, $8 for students. A portion of door proceeds will go to the relief efforts and additional donations are welcome. Pizza is provided. Sponsored by SalsaSon and the Latin American Studies Program

The relief effort is organized by graduate students including members of the Latin@ Graduate Student Coalition and Cornell Latin America Student Society.

Saving art treasures

“Francofonia,” screening at Cornell Cinema this week, depicts the secret and unlikely alliance that was the driving force behind the preservation of museum treasures in France during WWII.

Alexander Sokurov (“Russian Ark”) directs the story of enemies turned collaborators, Louvre museum director Jacques Jaujard and Count Franziskus Wolff-Metternich, a Nazi occupation officer in Paris. The 2015 film explores the relationship between art and power, the Louvre as a living example of civilization, and what art tells us about ourselves.

The screenings, May 6, 7 and 10 at 7:15 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre, are cosponsored by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Science and nature

The Museum of the Earth and Cayuga Nature Center will hold a joint Community Day celebration Saturday, May 7, with free admission for all ages. Hours for the event are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the nature center.

The museum and the Cornell-affiliated Paleontological Research Institution also host a presentation by paleoartist Terry Chase, “Science By Candlelight,” May 12 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for students and senior citizens, $5 for members.

Chase will detail his sculpture techniques in building one-of-a-kind dioramas, the exhibition work of his mentor Henri Marchand, and some of his own recent work. Chase Studios has designed and built displays for more than 250 museums and nature centers, including three dioramas featured in “Vanished Worlds,” a temporary exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution at Museum of the Earth. For information, call 607-273-6623.

MFAs reading

Graduate student writers will share work from their theses and works-in-progress at the 2016 MFA Graduation Reading, Saturday, May 7, at 3 p.m. in Klarman Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall. Presented by the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English.

Participants include fiction writers Lena Nguyen, Kirsten Saracini, Christine Vines and Tess Wheelwright; and poets Vincent Hiscock, Samson Jardine, Aurora Masum-Javed and Korey Williams.

A reception will follow in the English Department Lounge, 258 Goldwin Smith Hall. The events are free and open to the public.

Folk journey

British traditional musician Brian Peters (guitar, squeezebox) and American old-time player Jeff Davis (fiddle, banjo) will perform “Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest” May 7 at 8 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall.

Presented by the Cornell Folk Song Society, the duo's multimedia show traces the evolution of English folk music on both sides of the Atlantic. The program features rare historic photos, diary excerpts and a wide range of music, preserved in a massive 1,600-song archive gathered from 1916-18 by British song collectors Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles in the southern Appalachian mountains.

Tickets are $5 for Cornell students, and $15 in advance, $17 at the door general admission; with a $3 rebate for seniors and teens. Children under age 13 are admitted free. Information: www.cornellfolksong.org/ or 607-351-1845.