Join us for an afternoon of poetry, conversation, and sunshine as some of the most prolific and profound poets in Chicago come together. Each of the poets will perform their work and participate in a post-performance conversation, moderated by spoken word artist Kevin Coval about the power of words.

This intergenerational and intercultural event will include Quraysh Ali Lansana, director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University and author of They Shall Run-Harriet Tubman Poems and southside rain; Adrian Matejka, author of Mixology; Angela Jackson, acclaimed poet, playwright, and fictionist; and FM Supreme, Louder Than A Bomb poetry slam champion. The event will be emceed by Kevin Coval and music will be provided by DJ Seanile from Tomorrow Kings.

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.

Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.

Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.

This exhibition runs from July 19- August 30, 2009.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most preeminent scholars of African-American history and director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was arrested at his Cambridge home in mid-July after returning from a trip to China. Police were called to the scene after neighbors saw him force his way through the front door because it was jammed. Upon their arrival, Gates showed the arresting police two forms of identification: his driver's license and his Harvard ID; however, Gates was still arrested on the spot. This arrest and the aftermath are sparking conversations about racial profiling and the politics of class in society.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said ''We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white. It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.'' President Obama weighed in as well, saying the police officers responded stupidly to the incident, which angered many who believe the police were simply doing their job.

Using equipment loaned by the U of C Center for the Study of Languages, students work in groups of two or three to create short documentaries on a subject of their choosing.

This will be the second year that Ms. Yang has offered the course. Last year's students produced videos dealing with a subjects including the impact of studying the humanities, a grass-roots effort to save a local community center, and the artistic process.

This year CAN-TV will air these films, and the Illinois Humanities Council welcomes them as entries in this year's "Looking for Democracy" film contest.

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of great change and growth in the state of Illinois. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period. Award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo uses historic narratives, contemporary folk music, and period folk songs Lincoln may well have known and sung to bring Illinois' favorite son and his times to life.

Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.

Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.

This exhibition runs from July 19 - August 30, 2009.

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of great change and growth in the state of Illinois. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period. Award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo uses historic narratives, contemporary folk music, and period folk songs Lincoln may well have known and sung to bring Illinois' favorite son and his times to life.

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.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most preeminent scholars of African-American history and director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was arrested at his Cambridge home in mid-July after returning from a trip to China. Police were called to the scene after neighbors saw him force his way through the front door because it was jammed. Upon their arrival, Gates showed the arresting police two forms of identification: his driver's license and his Harvard ID; however, Gates was still arrested on the spot. This arrest and the aftermath are sparking conversations about racial profiling and the politics of class in society.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said ''We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white. It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.'' President Obama weighed in as well, saying the police officers responded stupidly to the incident, which angered many who believe the police were simply doing their job.

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of great change and growth in the state of Illinois. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period. Award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo uses historic narratives, contemporary folk music, and period folk songs Lincoln may well have known and sung to bring Illinois' favorite son and his times to life.

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.

A Road Scholar Program by Chris Vallillo

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of great change and growth in the state of Illinois. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period. Award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo uses historic narratives, contemporary folk music, and period folk songs Lincoln may well have known and sung to bring Illinois' favorite son and his times to life.

Using equipment loaned by the U of C Center for the Study of Languages, students work in groups of two or three to create short documentaries on a subject of their choosing.

This will be the second year that Ms. Yang has offered the course. Last year's students produced videos dealing with a subjects including the impact of studying the humanities, a grass-roots effort to save a local community center, and the artistic process.

This year CAN-TV will air these films, and the Illinois Humanities Council welcomes them as entries in this year's "Looking for Democracy" film contest.

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of great change and growth in the state of Illinois. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period. Award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo uses historic narratives, contemporary folk music, and period folk songs Lincoln may well have known and sung to bring Illinois' favorite son and his times to life.

Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.

Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.

This exhibition runs from July 19 - August 30, 2009.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most preeminent scholars of African-American history and director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was arrested at his Cambridge home in mid-July after returning from a trip to China. Police were called to the scene after neighbors saw him force his way through the front door because it was jammed. Upon their arrival, Gates showed the arresting police two forms of identification: his driver's license and his Harvard ID; however, Gates was still arrested on the spot. This arrest and the aftermath are sparking conversations about racial profiling and the politics of class in society.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said ''We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white. It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.'' President Obama weighed in as well, saying the police officers responded stupidly to the incident, which angered many who believe the police were simply doing their job.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most preeminent scholars of African-American history and director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was arrested at his Cambridge home in mid-July after returning from a trip to China. Police were called to the scene after neighbors saw him force his way through the front door because it was jammed. Upon their arrival, Gates showed the arresting police two forms of identification: his driver's license and his Harvard ID; however, Gates was still arrested on the spot. This arrest and the aftermath are sparking conversations about racial profiling and the politics of class in society.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said ''We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white. It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.'' President Obama weighed in as well, saying the police officers responded stupidly to the incident, which angered many who believe the police were simply doing their job.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most preeminent scholars of African-American history and director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was arrested at his Cambridge home in mid-July after returning from a trip to China. Police were called to the scene after neighbors saw him force his way through the front door because it was jammed. Upon their arrival, Gates showed the arresting police two forms of identification: his driver's license and his Harvard ID; however, Gates was still arrested on the spot. This arrest and the aftermath are sparking conversations about racial profiling and the politics of class in society.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said ''We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white. It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.'' President Obama weighed in as well, saying the police officers responded stupidly to the incident, which angered many who believe the police were simply doing their job.