Helen Dennis

The Argento Ensemble

Tickets to Atwood

Free tickets are now available for the reading by Margaret Atwood March 29 at 7:30 p.m., Statler Auditorium. They can be picked up at the Willard Straight Box Office (limit 2 per person).

Atwood is a prolific novelist, poet, literary critic, librettist, nonfiction writer and author of children's literature, best known for such novels as "The Handmaid's Tale" (1985), "Oryx and Crake" (2003) and "The Year of the Flood" (2009). She has won more than 55 awards internationally. Information: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/creative/.

China Now

Cornell Cinema screens two recent films this March depicting emerging aspects of China, the first of which is "Last Train Home," directed by Lixin Fan, a Chinese-born Canadian immigrant who splits his time between Montreal and Beijing. "Last Train Home" depicts one family's struggles during the annual exodus when China's 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year's holiday. It will play in the Willard Straight Theatre, March 3 at 7:15 p.m., March 5 at 9:15 p.m. and March 7 at 9:15 p.m. Tickets: $4 students and children under 12; $5.50 seniors; $7 general.

At the museum

Art-Full Family Day will be held March 6, 1-3 p.m., at the Johnson Museum, featuring Celtic music, works of art by Irish artists and a traditional step-dancing performance and workshop. $5 per family/free for Johnson Museum members.

'Vagina Monologues'

Cornell's latest production of Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" will play March 5 at 7 p.m., Bailey Hall. The show explores human sexuality. Admission: $9 advance, $10 at the door. Information: http://wrc.dos.cornell.edu.

Argento Ensemble

The New York-based group Argento Ensemble will present two concerts in Barnes Hall. The first, March 5 at 8 p.m., will feature Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" and Roberto Sierra's "Cancionero Sefardí," conducted by Michel Galante. Flutist Paula Robison will narrate the Schoenberg piece with Judith Kellock, soprano. The second concert, March 6 at 8 p.m., will comprise works of five doctoral composers: Charles Cacioppo, Amit Gilutz, Takuma Itoh, Yuan Peiying and Jesse Jones. Mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway will be soloist.

Change in plans

A change in scheduling brings Rebecca Colleen and the Chore Lads to the Anabel Taylor Café to perform for WVBR's Bound for Glory, March 6, 8-11 p.m. Colleen is a 16-year-old bluegrass, gospel and country singer; the Chore Lads feature Peter McDonald on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and vocals, and Doug Henrie on vocals and upright bass. Free and open to all; also broadcast live on WVBR and on the Internet. Three live sets at 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Information: http://wvbr.com/bfg.

Socrates' world

Historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes will present "Socrates and the Hemlock Cup," March 7 at 4:30 p.m., Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, based on her new book that re-creates fifth-century B.C. Athens. She will draw on the latest sources -- archaeological, topographical and textual -- to illuminate the streets where Socrates walked and to describe the world as he experienced it. Hughes has written and presented numerous documentaries for the BBC, PBS, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and National Geographic.

'The Legend of Pale Male'

Filmmaker Frederic Lilien will explore how one red-tailed hawk became a symbol of the successful immigrant, a model of fatherhood, an ambassador of the wild, a heart of New York City, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Laboratory of Ornithology, with a showing of his film, "The Legend of Pale Male." The film is a character study that chronicles how one special bird came to embody so much to so many.

Perkins Prize

The 17th annual James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony will be announced March 8 in 407 Willard Straight Hall, with a 4:30 p.m. reception and ceremony at 5 p.m. President David Skorton will speak. All members of the Cornell community are welcome.

Baroque organ

Professors of music Annette Richards and David Yearsley will present an inaugural concert in celebration of Cornell's baroque organ, performing the Magnificat setting of Melchior Schildt and Bach Trio Sonatas, respectively, March 8 at 8 p.m., at the Anabel Taylor Chapel. The celebration will continue through March 13, featuring talks by distinguished musicologists, additional performances by Richards and Yearsley, and guest organists Harald Vogel (North German Organ Academy, Bremen), Jacques van Oortmerssen (Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam) and Jean Ferrard (Brussels Conservatoire). Free and open, but tickets are required, available at 101 Lincoln Hall or by calling 607-255-4907. Conference sessions: http://westfield.org/berlin/program; concerts: http://music.cornell.edu/calendar/concerts.

BOOM 2011 (Bits On Our Minds)

Showcasing student research and creativity in digital technology and applications, BOOM will be held March 9, 4-6 p.m., Duffield Hall. Visitors can participate in demonstrations and vote on their favorite project, and there will be refreshments and door prizes. Free and open.

China and Africa

Marilou Uy, sector director of financial and private sector development, Africa Region, the World Bank, will speak on "China, Africa and the World Bank," March 10 at 2:30 p.m., G08 Uris Hall. Uy previously served as director of financial sector operations and policy as well as chair of the financial sector board. She also has worked on trade policy, investment climate and financial sector issues in various operational departments in Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Health and time at work

Phyllis Moen, the McKnight Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota and founder of Cornell's Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, will present the Fifth Annual Urie Bronfenbrenner Lecture, talking about the expectations, policies and practices around work hours, work days and work weeks that foster worker strain and work-family conflicts, March 10 at 4 p.m., G10 Biotechnology Building. Moen is an expert on careers, gender, families and well-being.

On the Nano

An international symposium on the Nano -- the new, sub-$2,500 automobile designed and produced in India by Tata Motor -- will be held March 10-11. The Nano taps deeply into the modernist trope of speed, individualized mobility and mass production. President David Skorton will introduce opening keynote speaker, Arjun Appadurai, professor of media, culture and communication, New York University, March 10 at 4 p.m., Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. A discussion will follow with Appadurai; Ratan Tata '59, B.Arch. '62, chairman of Tata Sons; and College of Architecture, Art and Planning Dean Kent Kleinman. Panel discussions continue March 11, with a closing keynote at 5 p.m. in 305 Ives by Suketu Mehta, associate professor of journalism, NYU, with discussant Durba Ghosh, Cornell associate professor of history.

East Asia anniversary

The celebration of the 60th anniversary of the East Asia Program continues with a Cornell Store event, March 11 at 3 p.m. with Sherman Cochran, Cornell's Hu Shih Professor of History; Elya Zhang, history, University of Rochester; Peter Lavelle, Cornell Ph.D. candidate; and Philip Cunningham, journalist and visiting scholar in the East Asia Program. The scholars will consider whether modern Chinese history should be approached from the center looking out or from the margins looking in relative to capital-provinces/coast-interior/cultural metropolis-hinterlands/China-borderlands. Copies of their respective works will be discounted 20 percent. The event is free and open to the public.