Healthy food systems

The Department of Food Science and the Division of Nutritional Sciences will host a free symposium, "Harmonizing Food Systems With Human Health Through Industry-University Partnerships," Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m. in 146 Morrison Hall, with a reception to follow at 4:30 p.m.

The symposium addresses gaps in knowledge that need to be bridged to establish food systems promoting health and well-being. The event features a panel discussion and keynote talks by Harvard University Professor Frank Hu and Dondeena Bradley, PepsiCo vice president of global design and development.

Lost in Space?

Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., will discuss America's human spaceflight program in a public lecture Oct. 28, "Are We Lost in Space?" at 3:30 p.m. in B17 Upson Hall.

Augustine was a member of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and participated in two independent reviews of the space program for the White House. His talk is sponsored by the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Chronicles of Human Ecology

A new exhibition in the Mann Library lobby, "The Chronicles of Human Ecology: Tradition, Transformation, Innovation," celebrates a century of research, outreach and engagement in the College of Human Ecology. A reception will be held Oct. 28 at 4:30 p.m. in 102 Mann Library, with remarks by exhibit curator Gilad Meron '12, a design and environmental analysis major. Free. The exhibition is on display through the fall semester.

Insectapalooza

Find out how bugs think, the tricks male butterflies use to attract mates, the effects of invasive insects on forests and of a healthy native bee population on food crops -- all at the eighth annual Insectapalooza, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Comstock Hall. Admission is $1.

Featuring hundreds of live spiders, insects and other arthropods, the family-friendly event is an interactive, hands-on experience hosted by Cornell's Department of Entomology. This year's "The Good, The Bad, and the Bugly" theme reflects the countless ways that insects interact with people.

Exhibits include a walk-in butterfly house and displays on such topics as the role of native bees in pollinating fruits and vegetables, the "Lost Ladybug" citizen-science project, how insect resistance to pesticides costs U.S. agriculture more than $1.4 billion per year, and how the Asian long-horned beetle and other invasive species are threatening U.S. forests. Information: http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/cals/entomology/news/insectapalooza.cfm.

Music for the museum

Cornell faculty performers and Sqwonk, a bass clarinet duo from San Francisco, will premiere eight works by Cornell composers, reflecting specific artworks and spaces throughout the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, at "Look and Listen," a musical celebration Oct. 30, 3-6 p.m. Free.

Performances will be held at different locations in the museum and its new wing.

The program, produced by the Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players, includes H.K. Gruber's "Frankenstein," performed by the Ithaca College New Music Ensemble and narrator Scott Tucker; and an Ithaca soundscape project and group improvisation in the new wing, 5-6 p.m.

Spooky organ

Students from the Eastman School of Music will perform a holiday program of organ music at "Halloween Spooktacular," Oct. 30 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in Sage Chapel. Free and open to the public.

Audience members are encouraged to come in costume. Presented by the Department of Music.

Avant-garde icon

Cellist Kristen Miller will accompany a program of work by pioneering avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, Nov. 1 at 7:15 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

"Maya Deren Live!" features Miller's original scores for three of Deren's short films: "Meshes of the Afternoon" (1943-59), "At Land" (1944) and "Ritual in Transfigured Time" (1945-46).

From the 1940s until her death in 1961, she was active as a filmmaker, film theorist, choreographer, dancer, writer and photographer. "Meshes of the Afternoon" won the Grand Prix Internationale at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival. Her collaborators on film and dance projects included Marcel Duchamp and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School.

Miller plays an antique cello that she connects to a live digital recorder to produce layers of lush music in a style that Billboard writer Bobby Borg calls "romantically, hauntingly, charmingly brilliant." Miller will play preludes to each film and will answer questions from the audience following the program. Tickets are $9, $7 for students and senior citizens. Advance tickets are available at the box office and the Willard Straight ticket desk.

Next week, the Alloy Orchestra returns to Cornell Cinema Nov. 4-5, performing original scores for three programs of silent films including "Man with a Movie Camera." Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu.

Art and public space

Artist Patrick Killoran, who addresses the effects of consumerism on conceptions of public space, will give a lecture, "Art in the Public Sphere," Nov. 3 at 5:15 p.m. at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Free and open to the public.

Much of Killoran's work explores the inevitable contradictions that arise with the terms "public space" and "public art," specifically addressing consumer behavior and the products of consumer culture. His projects include "Immergence," an installation at Las Cienegas Projects in Los Angeles in 2009 and at Hyde Park Art Center in 2010.