Winter games teach-in

Akwe:kon hosts a Haudenosaunee Winter Games Teach-In over hot cocoa, Feb. 21, 7-9:30 p.m. in the Akwe:kon Community Room. The event is part of a free series of February Fridays at Akwe:kon on North Campus.

Established in 1991, Akwe:kon was the nation’s first university residence hall established to celebrate Native American culture and heritage.

The teach-in, with Jordan Buffalo and Ansley Jemison, is in preparation for a trip to the 17th annual Ganondagan Native American Winter Games on Feb. 22, leaving from Akwe:kon at 9:30 a.m. and returning at 3:30 p.m. RSVP online for either event; seating is limited.

Onscreen: Cats and the environment

Cornell Cinema shows two recent environmentally themed films this week in Willard Straight Theatre: Todd Haynes’ “Dark Waters,” Feb. 26 and 29 at 6:45 p.m.; and the documentary “The Biggest Little Farm,” Feb. 27 at 6:45 p.m. and March 1 at 4:30 p.m.

“Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, follows a legal case against chemical giant DuPont over toxic waste. It is being shown in conjunction with associate professor of anthropology Stacey Langwick’s course, Medicine, Culture & Society.

“The Biggest Little Farm” is an acclaimed look at a couple’s successful effort to establish a farm outside of Los Angeles, discovering a biodiverse design for living in the process. It is screening in conjunction with professor of natural resources Joseph Yavitt’s Environmental Conservation course and horticulture sciences professor Marvin Pritts’ course, Hands-On Horticulture for Gardeners.

Also showing: CatVideoFest 2020, Feb. 22-23, a touring program with scads of cat videos and pre-show activities, led both days by Leah Shafer ’94, M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’08, associate professor of media and society at Hobart & William Smith Colleges.

Showtimes are Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. as part of the IthaKid Film Fest ($5 adults, $4 ages 12 and under) and Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m. ($7 general, $5.50 students). No All-Access Passes accepted. Advance tickets (recommended) are available at CornellCinemaTickets.com; 10% of proceeds from the screening will be donated to the Tompkins County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Art in motion

Tong Yang-Tze, one of Taiwan’s foremost calligraphers, is the focus of an exhibition, dance performances and other events at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Tong is the 2020 Wong Chai Lok Calligraphy Fellow at Cornell. An exhibition of her work, “Immortal at the River,” opened Feb. 1 at the Johnson Museum and is on display through June 7.

Students from the Department of Performing and Media Arts will perform an original dance work inspired by “Immortal at the River” and choreographed by senior lecturer Jumay Chu, Feb. 27, 6:30-7 p.m. in the museum’s Appel Lobby. The performance is free and open to the public.

Chu’s dancers also will perform one of Tong’s crossover video works as part of Locally Grown Dance2020, March 5-7 in the Schwartz Center’s Kiplinger Theatre.

Tong will give an artist’s talk, speaking via Skype from her home in Taiwan and answering audience questions, March 8 in the museum’s Wing Lecture Room. The talk is in lieu of a previously planned visit to Ithaca. Attendees can gather in the Hirsch Lecture Lobby at 9:30 a.m. for pastries, coffee and tea. A short video about the artist’s work will screen in the lecture room at 10 a.m., followed by the talk.

The Johnson Museum exhibition was curated by An-yi Pan, associate professor of the history of art and visual studies, and Ellen Avril, chief curator and curator of Asian art at the museum, with support from the Republic of China’s Ministry of Culture and an endowed gift in memory of Elizabeth Miller Francis ’47.

Chamber music masters

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s wind and piano ensemble performs in the Cornell Concert Series, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Tickets are $25, $28 and $30 for adults; $19 for students, from cornellconcertseries.com or University Tickets.

The concert program features Mozart’s Quintet for Winds and Piano, a wind quintet by Anton Reicha, and three 20th-century works: “Summer Music” by Barber; “Six Bagatelles” by Ligeti; and “L’Heure duBerger,” sketches of Parisian café life by Françaix.

The wind quintet musicians will lead 90-minute instrument master classes, open to the public, Feb. 26-28 on campus with students from Cornell and the Ithaca College School of Music. The schedule:

• bassoon with Peter Kolkay, Feb. 26, 4:45 p.m. in Barnes Hall;
• oboe with Stephen Taylor, Feb. 27, 11 a.m. in B21 Lincoln Hall;
• horn with Radovan Vlatkovic, Feb. 27, 11:30 a.m. in Barnes Hall;
• flute with Tara Helen O’Connor, Feb. 27, 11:30 a.m. in 140 Lincoln Hall; and
• clarinet with Sebastian Manz, Feb. 28, 10 a.m. in 124 Lincoln Hall.

Emily DiAngelo, visiting lecturer in oboe in the Department of Music, said Taylor was her chamber coach at Manhattan School of Music. “He was a huge influence on my playing and musical career,” DiAngelo said. “Steve has played practically everything in the woodwind chamber repertoire, so he is an incredible wealth of knowledge.”

For more information, email info@cornellconcertseries.com or call 607-255-4263.

Fair housing and legal imbalance

Eduardo M. Peñalver ’94, professor of law and the Allan R. Tessler Dean of Cornell Law School, will give a lecture, “The Fair Housing Act’s Original Sin,” Feb. 28, 12:20 p.m. in Milstein Auditorium, Milstein Hall.

Peñalver will discuss the fundamental imbalance in the dual statutory missions of the Fair Housing Act since its enactment as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Barring discrimination in housing generally, it also targeted lending, brokerage activities and other then-problematic aspects of the housing market.

The act’s pro-integration mandate was a federal intervention meant to combat residential segregation and poverty concentrated by race and ethnicity. However, the act’s statutory language has been inconsistently applied by discretionary agencies, and through political priorities that shift from administration to administration.

Courts also have interpreted the act’s language to apply not only to acts of discrimination, but also to actions or policies that perpetuate segregation.

Peñalver’s scholarship focuses on property and land use, law and religion, and the way the law mediates the interests of individuals and communities. His books include “Property Outlaws” (2010, with Sonia Katyal) and “An Introduction to Property Theory” (2011, with Gregory Alexander).

Celebrating Robert Moog

Cornell honors the work and legacy of synthesizer inventor Robert Moog, Ph.D. ’65, during “When Machines Rock: A Celebration of Robert Moog and Electronic Music,” coming up March 5-7. The celebration includes guest artists, workshops, panels, performances on and off campus and the opening of a Cornell University Library exhibition featuring Moog’s archive.

All on-campus events are free and open to the public; the full event schedule is online. Featured artists include synth-pop star Gary Numan (March 6) and electronic music innovator Suzanne Ciani (March 7).

“When Machines Rock” also welcomes Moog specialists and colleagues, and representatives from Moog Music Inc. and the Bob Moog Foundation. Trevor Pinch, author of “Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer,” an electronic musician and the Goldwin Smith Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell, will moderate panels and lead a synth-building workshop March 7 with local musician Jordan Aceto.

The exhibition “Electrifying Music: The Life and Legacy of Robert Moog,” March 6 through Oct. 16 in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Carl A. Kroch Library, showcases items from Moog’s archive, donated to Cornell in 2013. The opening reception is March 6 at 5:30 p.m. in Hirshland Gallery.