Sven Creutzmanm

The Creole Choir of Cuba performs in the Cornell Concert Series Feb. 22.

Martin Meyer

Sound artist Ellen Fullman has a weeklong residency at Cornell Feb. 18-24, with events in Milstein Hall.

Black History Month

The Tompkins County Public Library hosts a community conversation and panel discussion with Cornell speakers, "Black History Month: Is It Still Needed, Where Do We Go From Here?" Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.

The discussion will feature Eric Kofi Acree, director of the John Henrik Clarke Africana Library; professor of history Margaret Washington; and professor of history Robert L. Harris Jr., former vice provost and former director of the Africana Studies and Research Center.

The program will explore the significance of Black History Month in light of the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Panelists will discuss why it is important to commemorate and acknowledge the contributions of people of African descent and the progress blacks have made in achieving freedom, justice and equality.

Free and open to the public. Information: Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty, 607-272-4557, ext. 248 or cwheeler@tcpl.org.

String theory

Sound and performance artist Ellen Fullman will be in residence at Cornell with her Long String Instrument for a series of events Feb. 18-24 in Milstein Hall.

First developed by Fullman in 1981, the Long String Instrument is an installation of dozens of wires, 50 feet or longer, played by fingers coated with rosin to produce organlike overtones. Her work demonstrates the physical and mathematical roots of musical intervals.

Fullman begins the instrument's installation Feb. 14 in the Milstein dome. Her residency is sponsored by the Cornell Council for the Arts in conjunction with the Department of Music, Cornell Avant-Garde Ensemble (CAGE) and Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center.

Events include lectures, workshops, demonstrations, Q-and-A sessions, a Feb. 22 screening of a film on her work, "5 Variations on a Long String," in Milstein Auditorium, and open rehearsals with CAGE. Two concerts are scheduled Feb. 24, at 3 and 8 p.m. with Fullman, CAGE and cellist/vocalist Theresa Wong, a visiting artist in the Department of Music.

For information and a schedule of events, visit http://digital.music.cornell.edu/cage/fullman/.

See the Proclamation

On President's Day, Feb. 18, Cornell Library holds special talks and tours on the last day of display for its original manuscript copy of the Emancipation Proclamation in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Kroch Library Level 2B.

The library is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the proclamation by displaying its copy of the historic document signed by Abraham Lincoln for a week, with a facsimile copy on display for the remainder of the exhibit continuing through March 30. Also displayed are several printed versions of the proclamation, related Civil War-era engravings and issues of Harper's Weekly and Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

Guided tours of the exhibit will be held Feb. 18 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., with curator talks about Cornell's Lincoln collections at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The exhibit is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays, March 2, 9 and 30 from 1-5 p.m.; and closed on Sundays. Information: 607-255-3530 or http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/emancipation.

'The Phantom' lives

Cornell Cinema presents a free screening of the 1925 silent film classic "The Phantom of the Opera" Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Sage Chapel, with Philip Carli providing live musical accompaniment on the chapel organ. Free admission.

Shot in 1923 and shelved for nearly two years, "Phantom" became a success, made Lon Chaney a star and provided a template for Universal horror films of the early 1930s. The film has been meticulously restored to its original specifications, including hand coloring, 218 tinting changes and a Technicolor scene.

The screening launches Cornell Cinema's series "Universal Pictures: Celebrating 100 Years." Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu.

Invitational lecture

Professor of law and English Bernadette Meyler will deliver the Society for the Humanities' Annual Invitational Lecture, "Law/Literature/History: The Love Triangle," Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, followed by a reception at the A.D. White House. Free and open to the public.

The Annual Invitational Lecture is designed to give a Cornell audience a chance to hear distinguished Cornell faculty members who frequently speak on other campuses.

Foreign policy lecture

Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will give a lecture, "After Pax Americana: No One's World," Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m., Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Free and open to the public.

Kupchan is a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. He has written several books including "No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn" (2012) and numerous articles on international and strategic affairs. He worked on the U.S. Department of State's policy planning staff before being named director for European affairs on the National Security Council during President Bill Clinton's first term. Prior to government service, he was an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.

His talk is organized by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series.

Movies of the mind

Sprocket, the Cognitive Science Film Series at Cornell, will present four films this semester in Uris Hall, beginning Feb. 21 with Mamoru Oshii's 1995 animated film "Ghost in the Shell," adapted from the Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow.

Other films in the series are Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" (2008) with Philip Seymour Hoffman, March 7; Marc Caro and Jean-Paul Jeunet's "The City of Lost Children (La Cite des Enfants Perdus)" (1995) with Ron Perlman, March 28; and Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" (2010) with Leonardo DiCaprio, April 11.

All screenings are on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in 202 Uris Hall, with pizza provided and discussion led by Cognitive Science faculty. All films are free and open to the Cornell community.

Creole Choir

The Cornell Concert Series brings the Creole Choir of Cuba to campus for a performance Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall.

With 10 singers from the colonial city of Camagüey, dancing, textured harmonies and Caribbean rhythms, the choir delivers songs telling powerful stories of their Haitian ancestors who worked Cuba's coffee and sugar plantations, heroes who defied colonial masters, survival despite abject poverty, and the desire for freedom.

Tickets are $25-$35 for the general public; $17 for students, all seats reserved. A Cornell discount rate is available online only with a valid netID. Information and ticket orders: http://ConcertSeries.Cornell.edu, http://www.baileytickets.com or 607-255-5144.