Things to Do, April 11-18

birds
Provided
Cornell Cinema screens “Leviathan,” a Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab documentary on the fishing industry, April 18 in Willard Straight Theatre.

Rising Nashville star

Singer-songwriter Tiffany Houghton will perform in the annual Lauren Pickard ’90 Emerging Artist Series concert, April 11 at 9 p.m. in the Bear’s Den Pub, Willard Straight Hall. Free and open to the public.

Houghton co-wrote her debut single, “High,” which was released last August. She began writing, singing and performing at an early age; after attending the prestigious Booker T. Washington Arts High School in Dallas, Texas, she moved to Nashville two years ago at age 17 to pursue a music career. She has since built a fan base of more than 150,000 followers across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, has had roles on Broadway and opened for national recording artists, including Joe Nichols.

The Pickard series has presented an annual concert on campus since 2001. Supported by the Lauren Pickard ’90 EAS Endowment, it is organized by the Office of Student Leadership, Engagement and Campus Activities and the Willard Straight Hall Student Union Board.

The Bear’s Den “Back 2 Back” free concert series also features local gypsy rock band Gadje, April 12 at 9 p.m.

Vet School open house

The College of Veterinary Medicine hosts its 48th Annual Open House April 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

This year’s event features an equine treadmill used to study orthopedic and cardiovascular disease in horses, K-9 police dog demonstrations, acupuncture for animals, a tour of the teaching dairy barn and ultrasound demonstrations, as well as a “Teddy Bear ER” repairing stuffed animals that visitors are welcome to bring for treatment.

Virtual veterinary hospital tours will be held at 10:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. in James Law Auditorium, and veterinary college admissions and career information sessions will be held throughout the day.

Thai Festival

The Cornell Thai Association marks the Thai New Year with a cultural celebration April 13, 6-7:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room.

The theme for the event is food and festivities from the streets of Bangkok, with games and activities including a spicy eating contest, costumed photos, traditional Thai dance, Chinese Cymbalo, fortune telling and bottle throwing.

Food offerings include yum woon sen (spicy vermicelli), chicken satay
 kao mun gai, Thai grilled pork on skewers and 
somtum (papaya salad) with sticky rice, Thai iced tea, coconut jelly and custard. T-shirts will be available for purchase.

Sustaining the Humanities’

A panel of Cornell scholars will address sustainability topics in the humanities April 14, 4:30 p.m. in A.D. White House. Free and open to the public.

“Sustaining the Humanities: Climates, Creatures, Geographies” will include Alexander Gordon, anthropology, presenting “Fortuitous Disasters: Pollution and Uncertainty in an Insurance Brokerage Firm on Wall Street”; Catherine Kearns, classics, on “Fragmentary Landscapes and the Archaeology of Sustainability”; Amy Lee Kohout, history, on “Binoculars and Birdsong: Environmental History Outside the Archive”; David Rojas, anthropology, on “Trading Pollution, Modeling Defacement: An Ethnography of Climate Policy Forums”; and Avery Slater, English, on “The Psychogeography of Dust: Muriel Rukeyser and Gauley Bridge, West Virginia.” The moderator is Nick Salvato, professor in the Department of Performing and Media Arts.

The panelists are recipients of Sustainability Research Grants awarded by the Society for the Humanities Initiative on Sustainability via the Humanities and the Arts, and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

A reception will follow the panel.

Undergraduate research in action

The Cornell Undergraduate Research Board (CURB) presents its annual Spring Forum, a poster session showing research by more than 100 students across several fields of study, April 16 from 5-7 p.m. in the Duffield Hall atrium.

The forum is also an opportunity for prospective students visiting the campus to see the realm of research being done at Cornell.

Other opportunities to learn about student research:

• More than 40 talented Cornell seniors will present and discuss their work at the Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholars annual Senior Expo, April 17 from 5-6:30 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology and the adjacent atrium.

• CURB also presents a Humanities Research Showcase, April 23 from 4:45-7 p.m. at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, with students in the humanities giving oral presentations on their work.

CURB is dedicated to fostering, encouraging and supporting undergraduate research at Cornell, and is affiliated with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

All sessions are free and open to the public.

Health care talk

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and political commentator Charles Krauthammer will discuss the future of America’s health care system and how it relates to issues of bioethics and end-of-life questions, April 16 at 6 p.m. in Statler Auditorium.

A question-and-answer session will follow his talk, which is free and open to the public. Tickets are required and available at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office; a limited number of tickets will be available at the door.

Krauthammer is a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics and the Council on Foreign Relations. A former chief resident in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, he later served as a speechwriter for Vice President Walter Mondale before joining The New Republic in 1981.

He also has contributed to The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post and Time magazine. His honors include the 2013 William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence and the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. The event is sponsored by the Cornell Republicans.

Rwanda roundtable

Adama Dieng, United Nations Undersecretary General and special adviser for the prevention of genocide, will be the keynote speaker at “The  Rwanda Genocide and Its Relevance for Current Conflicts,” April 17, 4:30 p.m. in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The event will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide and is free and open to the public.

Panelists in a roundtable discussion are Consolee Nishimwe, survivor of the 1994 Rwanda genocide; Cornell professor of law Muna Ndulo; and professor of government Nicolas Van de Walle. The discussion will be moderated by Kifle Gebremedhin, professor of biological and environmental engineering.

The roundtable and keynote address was organized by the Institute for African Development and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Information: http://einaudi.cornell.edu/node/6826

Dance concert

The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts holds its spring dance concert, the Mini Locally Grown Dance Festival, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Class of '56 Dance Theatre. Tickets are $5, available at the Schwartz box office, 430 College Ave., and from http://schwartztickets.universitytickets.com.

The performance is directed by professor of dance Joyce Morgenroth and showcases the work of Cornell student and faculty choreographers in a variety of styles – from classical to hip-hop and modern dance. The concert features new work created in dance classes and experiments with new forms and musical styles.

Math and magic

Magicians have used mathematical ideas in their tricks for hundreds of years to entertain and mystify. Martin Gardner’s book, “Mathematics, Magic and Mystery,” sparked a renewed interest in using mathematics in the construction of magic tricks, inspiring amateur magicians and professional mathematicians.

Discover some of the math behind the magic April 18, 4:30 p.m. in 253 Malott Hall, when John Maceli of Ithaca College presents “What is Mathematical Magic?”

Maceli’s public lecture will be followed by pizza and conversation in 532 Malott Hall. The event is sponsored by the Cornell Math Club in honor of Math Awareness Month. For more information, visit http://mathaware.org.

Nature and anthropology

Cornell Cinema is featuring documentaries from Harvard University’s Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL) that offer unique anthropological, visual studies and environmental studies perspectives.

“Leviathan” on April 18 looks at the fishing industry through a kaleidoscopic montage of under- and above-water footage and will be presented by SEL founder Lucien Castaing-Taylor. “Manakamana,” showing April 19, depicts pilgrimages to a sacred Hindu temple in the mountains of Nepal.

The screenings are co-sponsored with the Department of Anthropology and follow an April 9 presentation of two films about China by Cornell performing and media arts professor J.P. Sniadecki, who studied at SEL. Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu/series_Spring2014/sensory-ethnograph.html

Media Contact

Joe Schwartz