Mid-Autumn Festival

Cornell's Asian and Asian-American student organizations will host the second annual Mid-Autumn Festival, Sept. 17 from 8 p.m. to midnight on the Arts Quad. The festival combines elements of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Vietnamese cultures in a celebration of unity symbolized by the moon, and of the fall harvest and its bounty.

Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the celebration marks several traditions including the Chinese Moon Festival (Zhongqui Jie), the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu) and the Korean Harvest Festival (Chu-sok) with music and dance performances, interactive booths, arts and crafts, and an Asian Night Market serving food and refreshments from East, South and Southeast Asia. Admission is free.

Science stories

The 2011 Atkinson Forum in American Studies will present a series of lectures, seminars and documentary screenings Sept. 18-21 with Randy Olson, a former professor of marine biology now writing and directing feature films about major issues in science.

Olson's lectures include "Don't Be Such a Scientist: Trying to Slay the Beast of Boredom," Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Museum of the Earth; and "Dude, Where's My Climate Movement," Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., 155 Olin Hall, as part of the Sustainable Earth, Energy and Environmental Systems seminar series.

On Sept. 20, Olson speaks at a Department of Natural Resources seminar, 3:30 p.m. in 135 Emerson Hall, and will introduce and lead a discussion of "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy," at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

Olson also introduces screenings of his films "Muffy's War: A General's Daughter Tells the Tales of Bataan and Corregidor," Sept. 19 at 3 p.m. at the History Center of Tompkins County; and "Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus," Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at Cinemapolis, Ithaca.

All events are free. During his visit, Olson will also speak with students from Cornell, Ithaca College and Ithaca and Dryden high schools. The Atkinson Forum is sponsored by David R. and Patricia D. Atkinson. Information: http://www.acsf.cornell.edu/Olson2011.

Harvesting history

Cornell Plantations hosts the Judy's Day Family Learning Festival, Sept. 18, 1-5 p.m. in the F.R. Newman Arboretum. The program of hands-on educational opportunities is free and open to the public.

The theme of Judy's Day 2011 is "Harvesting History," focusing on mid-1800s Tompkins County life as described in the diaries of two young people of the era. Presented in collaboration with the History Center of Tompkins County, activities include chores at the homestead, grinding barley at the mill, quilting, music and old-fashioned games. Parking is in Cornell's B Lot, with free shuttles to the arboretum. The annual event honors Ithaca teacher Judy Abrams (1940-96).

Information: 607-255-2400, or http://cornellplantations.org.

Silent drama

Pianist and film scholar Philip Carli, one of the foremost silent film accompanists in the world, will introduce and accompany pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Michaux's 1920 drama "Within Our Gates," Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

The film's depictions of African-American life and race relations in the early 20th century, in a tale of rape, lynchings and the lives of poor sharecroppers in the integrated South, caused a national controversy. The film had a limited initial release and was believed lost until a single print was discovered in Spain in 1990. Cornell Cinema is showing a Library of Congress restored print. Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu.

Labor and globalization

Historian and activist Aviva Chomsky will speak on "Labor, Environment, and Human Rights in Colombia: The Complexitiesof Solidarity," Sept. 19 at 12:15 p.m. in 153 Uris Hall.

Chomsky is a professor of history and coordinator of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies at Salem State University. She is the author of "A History of the Cuban Revolution" (2010), "Linked Labor Histories: New England, Colombia, and the Making of a Global Working Class" (2008) and other books; and co-author of "The People Behind Colombian Coal: Mining, Multinationals and Human Rights" (2007).

During 1976-77, she worked for the United Farm Workers union, which sparked her interest in migrant workers and immigration, labor history, social movements and labor organizing, multinationals, how global economic forces affect individuals and how people organize for social change.

Egyptian identity

Assistant professor of Near Eastern studies Ziad Fahmy will speak about his new book, "Ordinary Egyptians: Creating the Modern Nation Through Popular Culture," in a Chats in the Stacks faculty book talk, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. in Olin Library's Amit Bhatia '01 Libe Café.

Fahmy's book examines how popular media and culture provided a framework for Egyptians to construct and negotiate a modern national identity from the 1870s until the eve of the 1919 revolution. The book shifts the typical focus of study away from the intellectual elite and introduces the concept of media capitalism. A reception and book signing will follow. Information: 255-3393, http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/booktalks.

Animal attraction

Annetta Alexandridis, assistant professor of classical art and archaeology, will lecture on ancient Greek myths of bestiality, Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Kroch Library 2B48. "Bestiality in Ancient Greece: Divine or Monstrous Love?" is presented in conjunction with the exhibition "Animal Legends: From the Trojan Horse to Godzilla," on display through Sept. 30 in Hirshland Gallery. The exhibit is drawn from Cornell Library's collection of rare books, manuscripts, photographs and artifacts. Information: http://www.library.cornell.edu.

Reading history

Ron Hansen, an American novelist, essayist, editor, professor and ordained Catholic deacon, will read from his work Sept. 22 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Free. The Eamon McEneaney '77 Memorial Reading is the first event in the Fall 2011 Creative Writing Series.

Hansen, who was a visiting professor at Cornell in the mid-1980s, often focuses on historical events in his work, including "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (1983), the National Book Award finalist "Atticus" (1996) and his most recent novel, "A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion," which reimagines a 1927 murder case. Information: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/.

Literary Luncheon

Novelist Téa Obreht, M.F.A. '09, will discuss and read from her work at a Literary Luncheon, Sept. 28 at the Cayuga Heights residence of Professor Robin Davisson and President David Skorton.

The New Yorker cited Obreht as one of the 20 best American fiction writers under 40. She later made the best-seller lists and received wide critical acclaim for her debut novel, "The Tiger's Wife," based on her M.F.A. thesis and published by Random House in March 2010.

A light lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., with Obreht's reading at noon. The event is free and open to the first 25 people who respond by Sept. 21 to special-events@cornell.edu.