Cornell Library

The first edition of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita," published in Paris in 1955. A March 28 lecture at Cornell Library looks at "Lolita" and other controversial books first published in France.

Material world

Materials enabled revolutionary advances in how we live, work, fight and travel, hence the naming of eras after them – the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.

Stephen L. Sass, emeritus professor of materials science and engineering, will present “The Substance of Civilization: Materials and Human History from the Stone Age to the Age of Silicon,” March 21, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Boyce Thompson Institute Auditorium.

Sass’ lecture puts technology into historical and human context and examines the advances made possible by innovations with materials.

Sponsored by the Cornell Association of Professors Emeriti. Refreshments will be available after 10 a.m. Information: 607-255-6608, car6@cornell.edu.

Five filmmakers

Guest and alumni filmmakers will present new documentary and experimental works at five Ithaca premieres March 26-29 at Cornell Cinema.

Performing and Media Arts visiting scholar J.P. Sniadecki introduces “Foreign Parts,” his film (with Verena Paravel) about a hidden enclave in New York City that falls victim to eminent domain, March 26, 7:15 p.m. in the Schwartz Center Film Forum. Free admission.

Ithaca College professor Cathy Crane’s “Pasolini’s Last Words” explores the brutal murder in 1975 and the final writings of the famed Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini; it screens March 27, 7:15 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

Alumnus Jeff Ruoff’s “Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty,” about the American dance collective founded at Dartmouth College in 1971, screens with alum Jan Krawitz’s “Drive-In Blues,” a celebration of movie-going, March 28, 7:15 p.m.

March 29 brings experimental filmmakers: Michael Robinson at 7 p.m. with “Circle in the Sand” and two short films featured in the 2012 Whitney Biennial; and Josh Bonnetta at 9 p.m. with “Strange Lines and Distances,” a two-channel audiovisual installation with live sound accompaniment, focusing on Marconi’s first transatlantic radio broadcast. Shown with Bonnetta’s 2011 short “American Colour,” his homage to Kodachrome. Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu.

Rural aging

Cornell development sociology faculty members Nina Glasgow, David L. Brown and Douglas T. Gurak will discuss the findings in their new book, “Rural Aging in 21st Century America,” March 27 at 4 p.m. in 160 Mann Library. Free and open to the public.

Co-edited by Glasgow and E. Helen Barry, the book investigates the sociological, demographic and geographic aspects of aging in rural places, where a growing elderly population needs to rely more heavily on family or friends for transportation, and faces complicated issues of access to health care, grocery stores, elder day care centers and other services. Understanding the characteristics of rural elders, including their family status and living conditions, has become an important challenge.

Information: http://mannlib.cornell.edu/events-exhibits.

Forbidden lit

Gerald Cloud, director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, will discuss four controversial and iconic works of literature in “Sold Under the Counter: Anglophone Literature in 20th Century France,” March 28, 4:30 p.m. in 2B48 Kroch Library.

James Joyce’s “Ulysses” (1922), Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer” (1934), Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” (1955) and William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch” (1958) were all first published in France and labeled obscene in the English-speaking world. All four books were successful in France, despite authorities there banning the French translation of “Lolita,” and “Tropic of Cancer” and “Naked Lunch” being issued with warning labels.

Also at the library: “Infrastructural Intelligence” with Shannon Mattern of The New School, March 26, 4:30 p.m. in 106 Olin Library. Presented by the Conversations in Digital Humanities series.

The events are free and open to the public.

Call for artists

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art will host a Student Arts Showcase, celebrating fine and performing arts at Cornell, April 13-21.

The deadline for submissions is April 1. Contact Kari O’Mara at <kao72@cornell.edu> or 607-254-4657 for information, or visit http://museum.cornell.edu/files/all/sas_guidelines_2013.pdf for guidelines.