In the last few months, every day brings news of another newspaper's demise or the announcement of drastic cost-cutting measures. Some of the latest:
"I speak to you today on behalf of relatives on my mother's side-Ashkenazi Jews who fled their homeland of Austria during Hitler's Anschluss. It is for them that we say 'Never again.' I speak to you today on behalf of relatives on my father's side who are not living, but dying, under the occupation of this administration's deadly foray in Iraq."
- Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, testimony at the Congressional Forum on Iraq, April 27, 2006
Six years after the occupation of Iraq, join us for this intimate conversation with Dr. Dahlia Wasfi who will share her reflections on peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East.
This program is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended and can be made online, by email at events@prairie.org, or by calling 312.422.5580.
Join us for a screening and discussion of Encounter Point, a poignant documentary about a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother, and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to confront hatred within their communities. The film explores what drives them and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for grassroots solutions in the face of government inaction. It is a film about the everyday leaders in our midst.
A post-screening discussion will explore a future of coexistence and Arab-Jewish relations in Israel/Palestine as well as here in the U.S.
This discussion will feature:
This presentation describes the photographs of Abraham Lincoln as they appear in the history of photography. Lincoln was the first extensively photographed President, and the first for whom the media helped sway an election. The sixteenth President once described his most frequent photographer, Mathew Brady (1823-96), as "the man who put me in the White House." Through vivid, large-scale projected images, art historian Mark Pohlad - a specialist in photo history - will trace the images of Lincoln and his circle while describing the nature and challenges of photography in the mid-nineteenth century.
***This is a year-long course beginning in September, open only to selected applicants. Applications for next year's class will be available on this website beginning in June 2009.***
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.
Admission is by application only. Refer to syllabus for changes in course schedule.
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.
In the last few months, every day brings news of another newspaper's demise or the announcement of drastic cost-cutting measures. Some of the latest:
In the last few months, every day brings news of another newspaper's demise or the announcement of drastic cost-cutting measures. Some of the latest:
A Road Scholar Program by Brian (Fox) Ellis
Tracing his rise from Prairie State rail-splitter to America's favorite president this blend of history and humor will attempt to disentangle the man from the myth. Told from the perspective of Austin Gollaher, a childhood friend of Lincoln who once saved his life, Brian "Fox" Ellis steps into character to allow audiences to step back in time and meet Lincoln during many facets of life, including his childhood, his career as a lawyer, and his presidency.
The Meaning of Service (MoS) is a reading and discussion program for Americorps volunteers featuring discussions that use short philosophical and literary texts on the nature of justice, service, and related themes. Meaning of Service presents participants with the opportunity to examine, refine, and regenerate the beliefs underlying their work.
In the last few months, every day brings news of another newspaper's demise or the announcement of drastic cost-cutting measures. Some of the latest:
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.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.
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?
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.This segment will air as part of Voices: A Collection of Illinois Stories, a radio series produced in partnership with 98.7WFMT, Chicago's Classical Experienc. This segment can also be heard, as they air, via WFMT's enhanced web streaming and will be archived for on-demand listening at wfmt.com.
Voices is an eight-part radio series that features programs funded and created by the IHC. It is underwritten by the Illinois Humanities Council. The series was produced and reported by Anne Glickman for the WFMT Radio Network, and edited and mixed in the studios of 98.7WFMT.
Elce Redmond of Chicago Jobs with Justice will be speaking at this event.
Labor unions have a long and complicated history in the United States. The first local labor unions of men in the U.S. formed in the late 18th century, and women began organizing in the 1820s. Legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries, labor unions serve to formulate collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their members and on representing their members in conflicts with management.
But some are beginning to feel that the current U.S. labor law mandating how unions are formed is outdated and not in the best interest of workers. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), now pending legislation, seeks to establish what many deem an easier system for employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations.
A Re-Thinking Soup soapbox forum on reproductive choice.
What does Choice really mean? Who gets to choose? How does the language shape and influence our thoughts on reproductive decisions?
Join us for a soapbox forum and discussion on choice as it relates to sex education, how the issue is framed in media, and the predominant public discourse. RSVP required.
This program is in partnership with the Jane Addams Hull-House.
"Words matter. Language matters. We live in and express ourselves with language, and that is how we communicate and move through the world in community. This is only the fourth time in our history that a President has featured a poet at his inaugural. I hope that this portends well for the future of the arts in our everyday and civic life."
-Elizabeth Alexander, December 2008
Join us for a lecture by Elizabeth Alexander, who was selected to compose and deliver a poem at the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the United States Capitol on January 20, 2009. Alexander , one of the most vital poets of her generation, is currently a professor of African-American Studies at Yale University as well as incoming chair of that department.
This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, please RSVP to gwsinfo@uic.edu. For more information, call 312.413.7629.
More about Elizabeth Alexander
Using clips from a variety of motion pictures throughout the twentieth century, Ron Keller demonstrates how the lens of popular culture shapes public perceptions of history. He also shows how that history does and does not mirror the changing perspective of one of America's greatest icons, Abraham Lincoln.
***This is a year-long course beginning in September, open only to selected applicants. Applications for next year's class will be available on this website beginning in June 2009.***
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.
Admission is by application only. Refer to syllabus for changes in course schedule.
Labor unions have a long and complicated history in the United States. The first local labor unions of men in the U.S. formed in the late 18th century, and women began organizing in the 1820s. Legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries, labor unions serve to formulate collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their members and on representing their members in conflicts with management.
But some are beginning to feel that the current U.S. labor law mandating how unions are formed is outdated and not in the best interest of workers. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), now pending legislation, seeks to establish what many deem an easier system for employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations.
