Campus News: heavy reading

Heavy reading

Buy “Books by the Pound” through Friday at the UIC Bookstore.

Hardcover books are $2.99 per pound and paperbacks are available for 99 cents. All buyers receive a free UIC Bookstore reusable tote bag.

The UIC Bookstore, on the first floor of Student Center East, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.

For more information, call 312-413-5500.

 

Making progress?

Criminal law expert Charles Ogletree Jr. will present a March 12 lecture on progress since the 1964 campaign to register black voters in the Deep South.

Ogletree, professor of law at Harvard University, presents ”Looking Back on Freedom Summer: Reflections on Race, Politics and Civil Rights Activism” at 3 p.m. in 302 Student Center East.

His talk is the annual Phillip J. Bowman Lecture, sponsored by UIC’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy. The talk is part of the UIC Chancellor’s Lecture and Event Series and co-sponsored by the UIC Social Justice Initiative.

 

Metro strategies

Through its Real Time Chicago lecture series, the Great Cities Institute urges metro Chicago residents to think regionally.

All discussions are free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, lectures are at 2 p.m. at the Great Cities Institute, Suite 400, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

Upcoming talks include:

• March 14: “Affordable Housing in Affluent Communities”

• April 4: “Confronting Homelessness in the Suburbs”

• April 18: “I-90 Expansion Project”

• May 7: “Regional Economic Development Roundtable” (3 p.m., location to be determined).

 

Real life into fiction

Leonardo Padura, one of Cuba’s best-known contemporary writers, will present a workshop Friday at the Latino Cultural Center.

Padura will talk about his latest work, Heretics, which focuses on the S.S. St. Louis, a German ship with 937 Jewish refugees that arrived in the Havana harbor in 1939, but was never allowed to disembark. He explains how he turned the historic event into a work of fiction.

The brown bag presentation takes place from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Lecture Center B2.

The event is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino Studies program, Latino Cultural Center, Social Justice Initiative and Hispanic and Italian studies department.

For more information, call 312-996-3095.

 

Promotion, tenure

The Office of Faculty Affairs will host the Promotion and Tenure Seminar series this spring.

The seminars are focused on pre-tenure faculty, but open to all members of the UIC community. They will explain the review process, policies and other professional development information.

Seminars include:

• “Junior Faculty,” 1 to 2:30 p.m. April 11, 603 Student Center East

• “Promotion and Tenure Seminar for Underrepresented Faculty,” 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. April 18, 603 Student Center East

• “Promotion and Tenure Seminar for Post Mid-Probation Pre-Tenure Faculty,” noon to 1 p.m. May 2, 401 University Hall.

For more information, email fabid2@uic.edu or call 312-996-2706.

 

Civic cinema

UIC will host two preview screenings next week of documentaries at the third annual One Earth Film Festival.

The Latino Cultural Center hosts a screening of “The New Environmentalists” March 5. Rosa Cabrera, director of the Latino Cultural Center, leads a discussion after the film on environmental activism.

The screening takes place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Lecture Center B2.

“Trashed” will screen at 5:45 p.m. March 5 at Gallery 400, Art & Design Hall.

The One Earth Film Festival will be held March 7 through 9.

 

Savings plan

Save money and earn prizes through the University of Illinois Saves Competition.

Students and employees can set savings goals and monitor them through the competition, sponsored by the Student Money Management Center and University of Illinois Extension offices. The contest runs through April 10.

The campus with the highest percentage of students and employees who set savings goals will be named the winning campus. Participants from the winning campus will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

 

Student scholarships

Nominations are being accepted for three student scholarships for outstanding volunteerism: the Chancellor’s Student Service and Leadership Awards and the Eugertha Bates Memorial Award.

Nominations must be submitted by 5 p.m. March 10.

Award winners will be honored at the 42nd annual Chancellor’s Student Service and Leadership Awards program April 10 in the Illinois Room, Student Center East.

 

Networking night

Meet U of I alumni at the Alumni Connections After Five networking event Thursday.

The event takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Orange and Blue room, Illini Center, 200 S. Wacker Drive.

Cost for alumni is $20 at the door, $30 others.

 

Lecture celebrates Lithuanian studies

UIC will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its endowed chair in Lithuanian studies Monday with a reception and talk by Leonidas Donskis, a Lithuanian philosopher, political theorist and member of European Parliament.

The event begins at 3 p.m. in the Illinois Room, Student Center East.

Donskis will speak on “A Truly European Story: Lithuania in the 21st Century World.”

He has written and edited more than 30 books exploring political theory, the history of ideas, and the philosophy of culture and literature. In 2004, the European Commission named him ambassador for tolerance and diversity in Lithuania.

The endowed chair in Lithuanian studies was UIC’s first externally funded chair.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information or to RSVP, contact Heather Cohen at cohenh@uic.edu or 312-413-4927.

Co-sponsors include the offices of International Affairs and Public and Government Affairs, the department of Slavic and Baltic languages and literatures, the UIC Fund for Polish-Jewish studies, the Sandi Port Errant Language and Culture Learning Center and the Institute for the Humanities.

 

Need a job?

More than 40 employers will be in attendance at the Education Job Fair March 5.

The event is set for 3 to 7 p.m. in the Illinois Room, Student Center East.

The job fair is free for UIC students and alumni; $10 for others.

 

Eliminating disparities

The sixth annual Minority Health in the Midwest Conference Friday brings together scholars, students and professionals to work toward eliminating health disparities in underserved communities.

The event takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Student Center West.

 

Faculty senate nominations

The Faculty Advisory Committee seeks nominations to fill five seats.

The committee, which includes nine tenured faculty members elected for three-year terms, is selected by tenured and tenure-track faculty through ballot election.

The committee communicates faculty concerns to the administration, hears and makes recommendations on faculty grievances, and holds hearings and makes recommendations on cases involving severe sanctions short of dismissal. Eligible faculty cannot hold an administrative position and must have at least a 75 percent appointment.

Nominating forms, due March 21, are available at  or in the Office of the Senate, 513 Student Center East.

For more information, call 312-996-2926.

 

Humanities grants

Tenure and tenure-track faculty members in the humanities can apply for up to $20,000 in funding for innovative research projects.

Funding for projects is provided by the Humanities Without Walls Consortium, a group funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The UIC Institute for the Humanities is participating in the 15-member consortium, which aims to create new pathways for collaborative research, teaching and scholarship in the humanities.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will match the first year of funding.

Projects should explore the Midwest as a key site in shaping global economies, cultures and public policies.

Applications should be submitted to huminst@uic.edu by March 31.

 

Science and religion

The Institute for the Humanities and UIC Jewish-Muslim Initiative will host a conference March 10 exploring the role of science in religion.

“Science in Judaism and Islam” takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Institute for the Humanities, lower level, Stevenson Hall.