Campus News

Future of Chicago

Civic and political leaders will speak on campus this semester for the department of political science “Future of Chicago” lecture series, which focuses on the social, economic and political conditions of the Chicago area.

All lectures are free and open to the public. They are held from noon to 12:50 p.m. in 230 Science and Engineering South.

Scheduled lectures include:

• today: “The Chicago City Council and the Future of Chicago,” 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke
• Sept. 30: “Homelessness in Chicago,” Hannah Willage, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
• Oct. 9: “Corruption in Chicago,” Joe Ferguson, City of Chicago inspector general
• Oct. 18: “Reform of Cook County Government,” Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president
• Oct. 21: “Planning the Future of the Metropolitan Region,” Randy Blankenhorn, executive director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
• Oct. 23: “Corruption in Chicago,” James Laski, former Chicago city clerk and alderman
• Nov. 4: “First Son,” Keith Koeneman, author of First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley
• Nov. 6: “The Future of Illinois,” former Illinois governor Jim Edgar
• Nov. 13: “Public Space in Chicago,” Erma Tranter, executive director, Friends of the Parks

For more information, call 312-413-3780.

 

Need a job?

U of I students and alumni can meet representatives from more than 100 employers Thursday at the Fall Diversity Career Fair.

The event, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion, is free and open to all UIC, UIS and UIUC students and alumni. Participants should dress professionally and bring résumés.

 

Looking back

Former Illinois Senate president Emil Jones Jr. reflects on his 40 years of public service during a campus lecture Oct. 16 for the Civic Engagement and Democracy Lecture Series sponsored by the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement.

Jones retired from the Illinois General Assembly in 2009 after 36 years. He is president and CEO of the Strategic International Group and chairman of the Illinois Sports Facility Authority.

He will speak from 2 to 3 p.m. in 302 Student Center East. A reception follows.

 

Peace in Middle East

The Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East, an environmental peacemaking organization, will be on campus Oct. 8 to discuss a faith-based initiative to engage Muslims, Jews and Christians in efforts to restore the Jordan River, currently at 3 percent of its historical flow.

Featured speakers Gidon Bromberg (Israeli director), Nader Khateeb (Palestinian director) and Munqeth Mehyar (Jordanian director) will address fairness in resource distribution and collective conservation efforts as a path to peace and the role of religious traditions in ecological peacemaking.

The talk takes place at 4 p.m. in the Institute for the Humanities, lower level, Stevenson Hall.

 

Working for the world

The Center for Global Health hosts a benefit event Oct. 10.

“Working for the World” includes a cocktail reception, silent auction, global trivia and door prizes. Tickets, which are tax deductible, cost $100.

Proceeds benefit students working on international service projects through the Global Medical Educational program.

 

Pope’s influence

A lecture Tuesday examines whether Pope Pius XII could have done more to denounce Hitler or to slow the Holocaust.

Harvard University professor Kevin Madigan addresses the topic in his talk, “Pope Pius XII and Nazi Persecution of the Jews: the Influence of the Diplomatic Years.”

The lecture, sponsored by the programs in Catholic studies and Jewish studies, is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Student Center East’s Cardinal Room. A reception with refreshments follows the talk.

 

Reading together

UIC’s WoRD book club will discuss its latest selection at a meeting Oct. 10.

The group meets from noon to 1 p.m. in 507 Disability Health and Social Policy Building to talk about Temple Grandin’s Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism.

 

LGBTQ career conference

UIC hosts the ninth annual National LGBTQ & Ally College Student Career Conference Friday through Sunday.

The event, which focuses on workplace equality and inclusion for LGBTQ students and job seekers, takes place in Student Center East.

Mona Noriega, UIC alumna and chair of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, will deliver the keynote address Saturday.

The event brings people from college campuses, organizations and corporations around the country for a variety of job-related programs, including workshops, networking meetings and a career fair.

The conference will conclude with the PRIDE Career Fair, featuring 30 companies from various industries promoting career and internship opportunities.

The conference is presented by OUT for Work, a nonprofit organization serving LGBTQ students and allies entering the workplace, and co-organized by the UIC Gender and Sexuality Center and UIC Office of Career Services.

 

Research methods

UIC Survey Research Laboratory is hosting six free seminars on methodology this semester.

All seminars are held from noon to 1 p.m. in 139 College of Nursing. Registration is required.

Topics include: ethics in survey research, Thursday; cognitive testing, Oct. 3; survey nonresponse, Oct. 10; survey design considerations, Oct. 17; field interviewing, Oct. 24; and sampling hard-to-reach populations, Nov. 7

 

Looking into the past

A lecture Thursday complements an exhibit on display at the African American Cultural Center highlighting historical accounts of black Americans’ feelings and experiences related to Chicago’s Worlds Fair.

“The Reason Why: a Lecture and Discussion on Why African Americans Were Not Included in the World’s Colombian Exposition of 1893,” takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place.

Speakers include Christopher Reed, Roosevelt University; Robert Rudell, Montana State University; Temple Tsenes-Hills, Benedictine University; and Alaka Wali, Field Museum.

The event, part of the fourth annual lecture and event series, presented by Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, is organized with support from the Illinois Humanities Council. The exhibit, “The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition,” is on display through Dec. 20.

For more information, call 312-996-9549.

 

Welcome home

The UIC Black Alumni Advisory Council celebrates its past, present and future at a homecoming reception Oct. 5.

The event takes place from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Illinois Rooms, Student Center East.

RSVP at www.uicbaac.org

 

Job analysis update

An update on the process of converting academic professional jobs to civil service positions will be sponsored by the Academic Professional Advisory Committee Thursday.

The presentation will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Molecular Biology Research Building’s Herman Auditorium.

Speakers will include Maureen Park, executive director and associate vice president of human resources, Robert Crouch, associate vice president for human resources, and Ron Puskarits, director of compensation in human resources.

Presenters will address questions submitted through the registration form and a Q&A session following the presentation.

 

Humanities talks

UIC’s Institute for the Humanities hosts four upcoming lectures.

All talks take place in the Institute for the Humanities, lower level, Stevenson Hall.

• Thursday, 4 p.m.: “Visual Cultural Studies,” Clark Hulse, professor emeritus of English and art history, and Peter Erickson, theater and African American studies, Northwestern University.

• Oct. 7, noon: “The Materiality of the Brand:  Form, Function, and the Pharmaceutical Trademark,” Jeremy Greene, medicine, Johns Hopkins University.

• Oct. 8, 4 p.m.: “Reviving the Jordan River:  Islam, Judaism, Ecology, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” directors of the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Friends of the Earth Middle East.

For more information, email lvavra@uic.edu

 

Engaging the community

Applications are due Sept. 30 for Civic Engagement Discourse Fund grants.

Funding from the Institute for Policy and Civil Engagement will support events that facilitate public discourse on policy issues or the policy implications of university research. Eligible events include public forums, dialogues, town hall meetings and small conferences or workshops.

Grants of up to $4,000 are available for events hosted through May 31.

For more information, call 312-355-0095.

 

Fall forum

UIC United’s annual fall forum focuses on “Illinois Politics and the Public University.”

Panelists include U of I President Bob Easter; Christopher Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and political science professor Dick Simpson.

The event takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Michele Thompson Rooms, Student Center West.

Registration is required.

 

What’s for dinner?

The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum’s “Re-Thinking Soup” series has moved to dinnertime.

The event, which includes a free bowl of soup and discussion, will be held the third Tuesday of the month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Residents’ Dining Hall. Upcoming dates include Oct. 15 and Nov. 19.

For more information, call 312-413-5353.

 

Continents apart

A seminar Oct. 3 highlights new research on menopause in sub-Saharan African women.

“Menopause, Continents Apart: Similarities and Differences in the Menopause Experience in African and American Women,” is scheduled from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Moss Auditorium, College of Medicine Research Building. Speaker is Nicole Jaff, menopause counselor at the Wendy Appelbaum Institute for Women’s Health in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Research on Women and Gender and National Center of Excellence in Women.

To register, email kzimme3@uic.edu

 

Need help?

Not sure how to use computer software? Ask Lynda.

Lynda.com, a collection of online tutorial programs available free to UIC students and employees, offers more than 1,000 video tutorials on software topics such as Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft products; web publishing; video and audio editing; operating systems and more.

 

Humanitarian food aid

Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, will speak Oct. 11 on “Delivering Food Assistance in a Shrinking Humanitarian Space.”

The UIC alumna will talk at 2 p.m. in 302 Student Center East.

Cousin was executive vice president and COO of Feeding America (then called America’s Second Harvest) and led its response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She was head of government communications and community affairs at Albertson’s Foods and president of Albertson’s Foundation.

The lecture is part of the 2013-2014 Chancellor’s Initiative in the Humanities on food studies at UIC.

 

Tech-assisted learning

The TechTeach@UIC Conference, set for Oct. 9, will showcase successes, challenges and opportunities in technology-assisted teaching and learning.

Curious about using iPads in classrooms? About setting up an online or blended course? About MOOCs?

Register by Oct. 1 to receive lunch and a printed nametag.

 

UIC Open House

UIC will welcome prospective students, families, friends, alumni and community members at UIC Open House, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 5.

Visitors will drop in at various venues to learn about undergraduate majors and programs, explore student life and housing, find out about financial aid and tour the campus.