Things to Do, Oct. 7-14, 2016

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters – winter squash, maize and climbing beans – are the main crops of various Native American groups, particularly the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). Indigenous farmers in the northeast have been growing these crops together for hundreds of years, as a unique and efficient form of agriculture.

Cornell Plantations’ Cultures and Cuisine series presents “Cooking with the Three Sisters,” Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Brian C. Nevin Center. Advance registration is required; register online.The fee is $45 ($40 for Plantations members), with a 15 percent discount for currently enrolled Cornell students (enter the promo code CUSTUDENT).

The program, a lecture and discussion with cooking demonstration, features tasty and filling corn, bean and squash dishes; a tour of the Pounder Vegetable Garden, where these plants grow in a traditional manner; and a lunch provided by Cornell Catering. The instructors are Jane Mt. Pleasant, associate professor and interim director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program; Cornell Catering chef Timothy Oltz; and Cornell Plantations gardener Emily Detrick.

Political Americana exhibit

Memorabilia from American presidential campaigns is on display in the rotunda of Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC).

Presidential americana
Provided
See items from past presidential campaigns in Cornell's political Americana collection, on display in the rotunda by Kroch Library.

The items, spanning several decades, were drawn from RMC’s Susan H. Douglas Collection of Political Americana as well as a new collection recently donated by Robert D. Schultz ’77, MBA ’78. Items from Schultz’s collection include campaign fare, such as buttons, as well as more unusual paraphernalia, such as a Richard Nixon belt and Dwight D. Eisenhower pantyhose.

The exhibition on Level 2B of Kroch Library is free and open to the public and will be on display through the end of October. For those who can’t make it in person, an online gallery with images of thousands of items from RMC’s Political Americana collection is available.

Celebrating indigenous cultures

Native American Students at Cornell (NASAC) has announced a week of events on campus, Oct. 11-15, to celebrate indigenous cultures in connection with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 10.

The events culminate in an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration, Saturday, Oct. 15, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room. The celebration features performances, food, vendors and activities, with the involvement of several student organizations and members of nearby communities.

“Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Week of Celebration” also features a Foods of the Americas Dinner, Oct. 11, 5-8 p.m. at William Keeton House; Indigenous Game Night with NASAC and Hawaii Club, Oct. 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Risley Hall’s Tammany Room; and a traditional Ottawa Beading Workshop with Tracy Naganashe, Oct. 14, 3-5 p.m. in the Akwe:kon Community Room.

Other events include “Mother Tongues: Indigenous Language Justice in Urban California,” a talk by Odilia Romero, Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in 400 Caldwell Hall, the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program library; and the Latina/o Studies Program’s 24th annual Latino Unity Dinner, Oct. 14.

Vampire in Sage Chapel

Cornell Cinema presents F.W. Murnau’s 1922 horror classic “Nosferatu,” Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Sage Chapel, with an original score performed live by The Invincible Czars. Tickets are $10 general, $8 for students and senior citizens, available in advance from CornellCinemaTickets.com.

The first cinematic adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” “Nosferatu” stars Max Shreck as the count and is still considered one of the most powerful films ever made.

The Invincible Czars are based in Austin, Texas, where they began composing new soundtracks for silent films at the original Alamo Drafthouse. They create custom artwork and wardrobe for their shows, as well. Their “Nosferatu” score – for electric guitar, bass, violin, keyboard, music box, synthesizer, bass clarinet, flute, glockenspiel and percussion – incorporates parts of Bela Bartok’s “Six Romanian Dances” and features looping, samples and singer Leila Lovise’s voice enhanced by effects.

The event is cosponsored with the Cornell Council for the Arts, the Department of German Studies and the Wharton Studio Museum as part of Silent Movie Month in Ithaca. 

Preserving history in stone

Lynn Hall, a modernist mid-1930s roadside inn outside of Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the site for the annual spring Work Weekend for 30 students in the Historic Preservation Planning (HPP) and Master’s in Regional Planning graduate programs.

The site, and their experience, is explored in “Work in Progress: The Restoration of Lynn Hall,” through Oct. 21 in Bibliowicz Family Gallery, Milstein Hall, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The exhibition, in conjunction with HPP’s 40th anniversary celebration, will have a public gallery reception Friday, Oct. 14 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

With historic and contemporary photographs, original drawings and building elements such as patterned glass, the display tells the story of Lynn Hall and its ongoing restoration, and celebrates the idiosyncratic genius of builder Walter Hall and his son, architect Raymond Viner Hall.

The elder Hall built the landmark at essentially the same time he was the contractor for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in southwestern Pennsylvania; Fallingwater’s stone was quarried on the Lynn Hall property. Wright’s influence can be seen in the younger Hall’s work, which includes several buildings in Ithaca. Walter Hall’s work was also an influence on Wright.

Reading series: David Madden

The Department of English Program in Creative Writing hosts a reading by fiction and nonfiction writer David Madden, Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Part of the Fall 2016 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series, the event is free and open to the public.

Madden is the author of several novels including “Bijou,” “Sharpshooter” and “London Bridge in Plague and Fire.” His collections of short fiction include “The Last Bizarre Tale” and a forthcoming volume of novellas. He recently completed a memoir, “My Intellectual Life in the Army.”

The Robert Penn Warren Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing Emeritus at Louisiana State University, his honors include a National Council on the Arts Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for “The Suicide’s Wife.”

Tabla, sitar masters

The 114th season of the Cornell Concert Series continues Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. with Zakir Hussain and Niladri Kumar performing on tabla and sitar in Bailey Hall. Reserved seating is $28-$38 general, $26-$36 for Cornell employees, and $15-$17 for students; tickets are available online.

Making his return to the concert series, Hussain is a tabla legend, a composer and percussionist whose intuition and improvisational talent have made him a national treasure in India and garnered him worldwide fame. Young sitar virtuoso Kumar, an Indian classical and fusion player, is the son of Pandit Kartick Kumar, a leading disciple of Ravi Shankar.

For more information or special accommodations, email questions@baileytickets.com or call 607-254-3374.

Media Contact

Daryl Lovell