02 / 11
Start: 12:30 pm
End: 1:30 pm
What started on the Harvard University campus by a student "who grew impatient with the creation of an official universal Harvard facebook" has become a global social media revolution. Its claim to notoriety, of course, is its ability to connect friends with friends. On its February 4th birthday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his blog: "Facebook was founded in 2004 to give people the tools to engage and understand the world around them. We are glad and humbled that so many people are using Facebook in this way." Yes, millions of people are using Facebook. Some would say they're using it to push the boundaries of friend far beyond the logical-and practical-notion of friendship (millions of users have thousands of friends). They're using it to network for work and school- posting news links and event notices and sending invitations to every kind of party, rally, conference, and meeting you can imagine. At least once a day, 15 million users update their status. In a month, 850 million photos are uploaded to the site and shared with friends. Start: 1:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Bucky Halker Illinois has rich and diverse folk music traditions that are little known outside a small circle of scholars. From the beginning of the 19th century through the folk revival of the 1950s, the many peoples who made Illinois their home produced a huge body of folk music, including historical ballads, labor anthems, early country songs, and dance tunes as well as a large body of music from ethnic communities in the state. Bucky Halker recently produced the Illinois Humanities Council's Folksongs of Illinois CD series. In this program, Bucky shares his knowledge of prairie-state folk music through performance and commentary, as well as a sampling from recordings he located while doing research for the CD series. Start: 7:00 pm
End: 9:00 pm
Create non-realistic visual art freeing you from the pressure to create accurate work and instead connecting you to the feelings or meaning of an event. Use shapes, colors, and textures to express internal thoughts and ideas, some just discovered. Led by Christine Krumsee, visual artist and art as therapy instructor, North Chicago VA Hospital
Start: 8:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Mark Pohlad
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02 / 12
Start: 6:00 pm
End: 8:00 pm
The Odyssey Project is a college-level course in philosophy, literature, art history, and history for men and women living below 150% of the poverty level. Its anchor program is the first-year course, which is offered in partnership with Bard College and for which students may receive six units of college credit. Faculty members are largely from first-rate universities such as University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and DePaul University. Tuition is free, and the Illinois Humanities Council provides free childcare, free books, and transportation. The six units of credit are fully transferable to other colleges and universities. This course meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Start: 6:30 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Simon Cordery The saying, "a hog can travel non-stop from coast to coast, but a person must change in Chicago," confirms the Windy City's status as the hub of the American railroad system. But Chicago is only one facet of the fascinating history of Illinois railroads. Simon Cordery, railway historian and historical advisor to the National Railroad Hall of Fame, explains the expansion of the railroad industry in the Land of Lincoln, demonstrates how the Prairie State fits into the pattern of national railroad development, and explores the national political significance of the history of railroads in Illinois. All aboard! Start: 7:00 pm
End: 8:00 pm
What started on the Harvard University campus by a student "who grew impatient with the creation of an official universal Harvard facebook" has become a global social media revolution. Its claim to notoriety, of course, is its ability to connect friends with friends. On its February 4th birthday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his blog: "Facebook was founded in 2004 to give people the tools to engage and understand the world around them. We are glad and humbled that so many people are using Facebook in this way." Yes, millions of people are using Facebook. Some would say they're using it to push the boundaries of friend far beyond the logical-and practical-notion of friendship (millions of users have thousands of friends). They're using it to network for work and school- posting news links and event notices and sending invitations to every kind of party, rally, conference, and meeting you can imagine. At least once a day, 15 million users update their status. In a month, 850 million photos are uploaded to the site and shared with friends. Start: 7:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Jennifer Shook This multimedia presentation examines contemporary appearances of the beloved stovepipe-hatted president in unlikely places: musicals, Pulitzer Award-winning plays about card hustlers by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, episodes of The Simpson's, and in ads for sleep medications. Just how does Lincoln's legacy play out for artists and audiences now? What is the relationship between recent historical findings and new representations of Abraham Lincoln? And, how do these representations shape our perceptions of Lincoln's legacy? | ||
02 / 13
Start: 9:00 am
End: 5:00 pm
 We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences. Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.
This exhibit runs from January 17, 2009 - March 1, 2009 Start: 12:00 pm
End: 1:30 pm
Berman, a documentary photographer with a primary interest in the American political and social landscape, is the recipient of 2 World Press awards, a 2006 fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a 2005 grant from the Open Society Institute Documentary Photography Fund. Berman will be interviewed by, Teri Boyd, photo editor of the CITY 2000 project. This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made online, by email at events@prairie.org, or by calling 312.422.5580.More about Nina Berman and Teri Boyd Start: 3:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Jennifer Shook
This multimedia presentation examines contemporary appearances of the beloved stovepipe-hatted president in unlikely places: musicals, Pulitzer Award-winning plays about card hustlers by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, episodes of The Simpson's, and in ads for sleep medications. Just how does Lincoln's legacy play out for artists and audiences now? What is the relationship between recent historical findings and new representations of Abraham Lincoln? Start: 5:00 pm
End: 6:00 pm
What started on the Harvard University campus by a student "who grew impatient with the creation of an official universal Harvard facebook" has become a global social media revolution. Its claim to notoriety, of course, is its ability to connect friends with friends. On its February 4th birthday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his blog: "Facebook was founded in 2004 to give people the tools to engage and understand the world around them. We are glad and humbled that so many people are using Facebook in this way." Yes, millions of people are using Facebook. Some would say they're using it to push the boundaries of friend far beyond the logical-and practical-notion of friendship (millions of users have thousands of friends). They're using it to network for work and school- posting news links and event notices and sending invitations to every kind of party, rally, conference, and meeting you can imagine. At least once a day, 15 million users update their status. In a month, 850 million photos are uploaded to the site and shared with friends. Start: 7:00 pm
End: 10:00 pm
A discussion of how combat veterans are leading us to a stronger awareness and consciousness of the pervasive connections that unite our community on issues such as conflict, love, honor, violence, and more-a program on the eve of the first anniversary of the NIU shootings.
Led by Ilona Meagher, author of Moving a Nation to Care: PTSD and America's Returning Troops, and recipient of NIU's 2008 Illinois Journalist of the Year Student Scholarship Award with NIU Veterans Club members. | ||
02 / 14
Start: 11:00 am
End: 3:00 pm
Explore archetypes and myths, examining how these ancient symbols still resonate through our culture and society.
Choose an archetype or myth and reshape it to tell your own story through writing and/or drawing. Led by Margaret Lewis, award-winning playwright Start: 4:00 pm
End: 6:00 pm
Sharing images of the development of situational and culturally appropriate art therapy for children living in a war zone in the Phillipines. Discussing the challenges of bringing art therapy into a war zone, and how art can be used to support children growing up there.
Led by Johanna (Hans) Buwalda, MEd, MA, LCPC | ||
02 / 15
Start: 12:00 pm
End: 3:00 pm
Led by John Zemler, visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Marquette University and Lin Daley, MEP, BSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Wisconsin, with Nancy Ronquillo, mother, wife, daughter, and granddaughter of soldiers.
Start: 1:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Elizabeth Carlson This was originally presented as a series of four weekly classes but can be produced as a single session. Elizabeth Carlson has researched cooking techniques, period appropriate ingredients, and recipes for four eras in American Homemaking history. She will present each session in costume. Recipes and ingredients reflect the time period, season of the year, and economic climate of the time. Changes in food preparation techniques, the enactment of food laws, and scientific discoveries regarding food safety are discussed. Participants make and consume the food for each session. Cookbooks are provided as take-away. Elizabeth "Ellie" Carlson is the Curator of Costumes for the Winnetka Historical Society, has a background in the theatre, and is a student of nineteenth century Domestic Arts. She holds a Masters of Historical Administration and Museum Studies from the University of Kansas, and has worked in local museums for 25 years. Ellie believes that properly costumed living history is the closest we can come to a time machine experience. Theatre and history combine to show what the past might really have looked, felt, smelled, and sounded like in Ellie's presentations. Start: 2:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Lee Murdock Lee Murdock has uncovered a boundless body of music and stories in the Great Lakes region (16 CDs and 2 books so far). There is an amazing timelessness in this music. Great Lakes songs are made of hard work, hard-living, ships that go down, and ships that come in. The music is grounded in the work-song tradition from the rugged days of lumberjacks and wooded sailing schooners. Murdock comes alongside with ballads of contemporary commerce and revelry in the grand folk style. Making folk music for the modern era, Murdock's work is a documentary and an anthem to the people who live, work, learn, and play along the freshwater highways of North America. Since 1979, Lee Murdock has been a full time touring historian, scholar, and musician. He has released 16 CDs and performs between 125 -200 shows a year. His interests include Great Lakes maritime history, regional history of Illinois and the Midwest, and traditional music of America, Canada, and the British Isles. | ||
02 / 16
Start: 9:00 am
End: 9:00 pm
We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences. Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.
This exhibit runs from January 17, 2009 - March 1, 2009 Start: 1:15 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Xiaosi Yang How fast is China rising into a world superpower? With a non-democratic political leadership, 1.3 billion people requiring three meals a day, and a centrally-planned economic system that is among the hardest to reform in the world, how can China make it? To put it another way, how and why is China still rising and not collapsing? This presentation will address these questions by enumerating the economic, geo-political, cultural, and historical significance of China's rise. Learn why the potential of the Chinese has been constantly underestimated. Start: 7:30 pm
End: 8:30 pm
 Nadya Suleman, the California mother who gave birth to eight babies on January 26, now has a total of fourteen children under the age of 8, and she is only 33 years old. Since the birth of her octupulets made headlines across the globe, Suleman's life has come under the public microscope.
An ethical debate swirls around Suleman's decision to have eight more children. Suleman, almost universally referred to now as "Octo-Mom" is single and unemployed. Her mother, Angela, said her daughter's obsession with children "can't go on any longer." She told the New York Daily News: "Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way." Suleman, who calls her childhood "dysfunctional," revealed in an interview with NBC's Ann Curry that she tried to get pregnant for seven years through artificial insemination and fertility drugs before she turned to in vitro fertilization. The octuplets, six boys and two girls born nine weeks premature, will remain in the hospital four weeks longer, the Los Angeles Times reported. | ||
02 / 17
Start: 6:00 pm
End: 8:00 pm
The Odyssey Project is a college-level course in philosophy, literature, art history, and history for men and women living below 150% of the poverty level. Its anchor program is the first-year course, which is offered in partnership with Bard College and for which students may receive six units of college credit. Faculty members are largely from first-rate universities such as University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and DePaul University. Tuition is free, and the Illinois Humanities Council provides free childcare, free books, and transportation. The six units of credit are fully transferable to other colleges and universities. This course meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Start: 7:00 pm
End: 8:30 pm
Ethanol shows promise as a replacement for fossil fuels, yet requires significant water and land resources to produce. What is the promise of ethanol and what are its limitations? How does producing ethanol influence the supply and demand for water? Crosscurrents will examine the environmental and ethical questions involved in increased ethanol production. Panelists: Start: 7:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Ron Keller
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02 / 18
Start: 12:30 pm
End: 1:30 pm
Nadya Suleman, the California mother who gave birth to eight babies on January 26, now has a total of fourteen children under the age of 8, and she is only 33 years old. Since the birth of her octupulets made headlines across the globe, Suleman's life has come under the public microscope.
An ethical debate swirls around Suleman's decision to have eight more children. Suleman, almost universally referred to now as "Octo-Mom" is single and unemployed. Her mother, Angela, said her daughter's obsession with children "can't go on any longer." She told the New York Daily News: "Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way." Suleman, who calls her childhood "dysfunctional," revealed in an interview with NBC's Ann Curry that she tried to get pregnant for seven years through artificial insemination and fertility drugs before she turned to in vitro fertilization. The octuplets, six boys and two girls born nine weeks premature, will remain in the hospital four weeks longer, the Los Angeles Times reported. Start: 6:00 pm
Discussion of "A Farewell to Arms," by Ernest Hemingway
Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Healthcare is a discussion-based program that brings hospital staff together monthly to reflect on the larger mission of medicine through facilitated conversations about literature. Start: 7:00 pm
A Road Scholar Program by Dennis Stroughmatt
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