‘Memory’ and culture

Cornell’s Society for the Humanities and East China Normal University (ECNU)’s Center for Comparative Humanities are hosting a conference, “Memory: Comparative Approaches to Culture,” Feb. 1-2 at the A.D. White House.

Five sessions will feature scholars from Cornell and ECNU, with presentations ranging from “Internet Catchphrases and Social Memory in Contemporary China” to “The Comfort Station in History and Colonial Legacies.”

Sessions and Cornell participants include “Postcolonial Legacies” with Naoki Sakai, Asian studies and comparative literature, and Elizabeth Anker, English; “Memorial Responsibilities”; “Future Memory” with Patricia Keller, Romance studies, and Society for the Humanities Director Timothy Murray; “Social Memory”; “Televisual Time” with Nick Salvato and Amy Villarejo of performing and media arts; and “Memory and Reason.”

Information: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/shc_events.html.

Ai Weiwei on film

Cornell Cinema’s “Art Docs” series continues Feb. 1 at Cinemapolis in downtown Ithaca with “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” a portrait of the iconoclastic Chinese artist. Ellen Avril, curator of Asian art at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, will introduce the 9:15 p.m. screening. Admission is $8. The film also screens Feb. 5 at 7:15 p.m. in the Schwartz Center Film Forum. $5. Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu/Spring2013/ai_weiwei_never_sorry.html.

The documentary “Side by Side: The Science, Art and Impact of Digital Cinema,” Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre, will be accompanied by a panel discussion with filmmaker and retired Cornell film instructor Marilyn Rivchin, Cinemapolis Executive Director Scott Bliss and Ithaca College television and radio professor Patrick Winters.

Filmmaker Christopher Kenneally looks at the shift from film’s grainy past to its pixelated future, with actor Keanu Reeves posing questions about the future of the moving image to directors James Cameron, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Lars von Trier, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan and others. Information: <http://sidebysidethemovie.com&gt;.

Piano trios

The Department of Music presents faculty pianist Xak Bjerken with guest cellist Julia Lichten and Juilliard String Quartet violinist Ronald Copes, Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. in Barnes Hall. Free and open to the public.

The concert will feature piano trios by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, and duos by Leos Janacek and Igor Stravinsky.

All three musicians have taught and performed at the summer Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. Bjerken and Copes were also neighbors growing up in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Politics and psychoanalysis

Professor of Romance studies Bruno Bosteels gives a talk about his new book, “Marx and Freud in Latin America: Politics, Psychoanalysis and Religion in Times of Terror,” Feb. 6 at 4:30 p.m. in Olin Library’s Amit Bhatia ’01 Libe Café. Free and open.

Published by Verso in 2012, the book assesses the relevance of Marx and Freud, who inspired beleaguered Latin American activists, intellectuals, writers and artists during times of political and cultural oppression. Bosteels presents case studies arguing that art and literature, more than any militant tract or theoretical essay, can give us a glimpse into Marxism and psychoanalysis.

Bosteels also is the author of “Badiou and Politics” (2011) and “The Actuality of Communism” (2011). He has translated several books by Alain Badiou, including “Theory of the Subject,” “Can Politics Be Thought?” and “What Is Antiphilosophy?”

Refreshments will be available after the talk, and books available for purchase and signing. Information: http://booktalks.library.cornell.edu.

Blood drive

The Big Red men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, the Dream Factory of Central New York and the American Red Cross are sponsoring their eighth annual blood drive Feb. 7, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in G10 Biotech.

Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred. Double red cell donations are an option at this drive (for types O-, O+, A-, B-).

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Suzanne at 607-255-1269 or e-mail centralnewyork@dreamfactoryinc.org.

Homemade cookies will be available, donated by the Groton Girl Scouts Troop 40390.

The Dream Factory (http://www.dreamfactoryinc.org) is a volunteer organization that grants the wishes of critically and chronically ill children.

Generations roundtable

The Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI) hosts a research roundtable and lunch discussion, “Planning Across Generations,” Feb. 11 from noon-2 p.m. in G10 Biotech.

The roundtable will focus on the possibilities and limitations of planning across generations, with a focus on helping communities meet the needs of the very young and the very old. Panelists are Mildred Warner, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’97, Cornell professor of city and regional planning; Dana Friedman of the Early Years Institute; and Ruth Finkelstein of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Warner will be presented with CaRDI’s Community and Economic Vitality Award at the event for her years of innovative research on issues affecting families, communities and regions.

Lunch will be provided. RSVP by Feb. 6 to Susan Barry Smith, CaRDI program coordinator, at <st237@cornell.edu>.