Lost dreams

Philipp Meyer '99 kicks off a national tour when he reads from his debut novel, "American Rust," Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. at Bookery II, 215 N. Cayuga St. in Ithaca. The book has received praise from The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and the Library Journal. The novel tells the story of friends in a fading Pennsylvania steel town and a murder that forces them to question their assumptions about each other and those around them. Information: 607-273-5055, Bookery2@hotmail.com.

Strings of fire

The Shanghai String Quartet performs works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Mozart and Debussy Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The group, formed at the Shanghai Conservatory in 1983, includes Weigang Li and Yi-Wen Jiang (violin), Honggang Li (viola) and Nicholas Tzavaras (cello). The quartet will hold a master class at the Cornell Department of Music earlier in the day. The program: Mozart's String Quartet in D minor, K. 421; Penderecki's String Quartet No. 3 -- "Leaves From an Unwritten Diary" and Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10.

Afternoon 'nachtmusik'

Director Chris Younghoon Kim presents a concert in Bailey Hall March 1 at 3 p.m. featuring multiple solo artists. The Cornell Chamber Orchestra presents the first half of the concert, opening with Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik." Assistant professor Joseph Lin will lead the piece and play violin. Pianist Xak Bjerken then joins Kim to perform Alfred Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and Strings. The Cornell Symphony Orchestra program begins with Alberto Ginastera's "Pampeana No. 2," featuring cellist Adrianne Ngam, winner of the Fifth annual Cornell Concerto Competition. The concert closes with Richard Strauss' "Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24."

Home Econ to Hum Ec

Gwen Kay, associate professor of history at SUNY Oswego, speaks on "A Growing College, Redux: When Home Economics Became Human Ecology," March 4 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 160 Mann Library. In 1969, after five years of deliberation and planning, Cornell's College of Home Economics became the College of Human Ecology. Kay, a 2008 recipient of the college's fellowship in the history of home economics, will examine how and why the new name came into being. A companion exhibition, "This Revolution Has Got to Be for Everybody: The 1969 Cornell Conference on Women," is being hosted by Mann Library in celebration of Women's History Month.

Democracy and Obama

Thomas Carothers, vice president and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, lectures on the future of U.S. democracy under President Barack Obama March 5 at 4:30 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology. Carothers has worked on democracy assistance projects for many public and private organizations and carried out extensive field research on democracy-building programs in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Free and open to the public. Information: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu.

Dancing in the streets

"Glory and Rue: Street Dances," promising a glimpse into urban design, relationships, movement and dance, will play at the Schwartz Center's Kiplinger Theatre March 5-7 at 7:30 p.m. and March 8 at 2 p.m. The dance concert features a video by Robert Oshchorn of six alumni dancers at work in Paris and Hong Kong. Lena Rose Polzonetti '01 and Jacob Slominski '07 will perform with 14 student dancers and three community members. Tickets: 607-254-ARTS.

Taiko to koto

Bonten, an elite taiko (Japanese drum) team, plays Bailey Hall March 6 at 7 p.m. The group blends taiko with synthesizers, the Japanese flute and koto. Founded in 1999 by composer Masataka Kobayashi, Bonten features seven drummers including Cornell Taiko director Eva Kestner '09, who makes her professional concert debut as a taiko drummer. Tickets: http://www.BaileyTickets.com.

Parched

A forum on "Water Sharing and Culture in the Mediterranean" will be held March 6-8 on campus with Mediterranean and local water experts, students and fellows from the Society for the Humanities. Maude Barlow, author and adviser to the United Nations on water issues, gives the keynote address March 7 at 8 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall. Sessions to be held in A.D. White House include "The Gray Nile: Who gets the post-colonial lion's share?" "What role can the humanities play? Towards an ecology of water" and "Greece: scarcity, pollution and governance." Schedule: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/Europe/about/waterculturesharing.asp.