As rising gasoline prices drive changes in lifestyles, we have yet to come to terms with the world's limited supply of oil. We are just starting to grapple with the riddle of water. A billion people in the world may live close to water, yet still lack access to safe drinking water. Droughts are hitting the American south and west, but rivers are flooding our heartland. What common or unique questions do both of these essential resources raise at a global, regional, and personal level? The Illinois Humanities Council presents All-Consuming: Conversations on Oil and Water, a year-long statewide series of free public programs that examine the key issues related to oil and water.
Join us as we use the humanities to ask how access to, control, and consumption of oil and water play out in the past, current, and future geopolitical environment; in Illinois and local communities; and in our individual lives.
Upcoming programs include:
- H2Oil: Mixing Oil and Water
- Crosscurrents: Ethanol, Oil, and Water
- It All Flows Downstream: Oil and Water Consumption and Consequences
- Checking the Gauge: The Legacy and Future of Oil and Water Policy
- Yours, Mine, Ours, or Theirs? Ownership and Control of Oil and Water
- No Silver Bullets: Unintended Consequences of Oil and Water Solutions
- Rainmakers and Oilmen: Oil and Water in Popular Culture
Other Oil and Water resources:
- Keep Learning about Oil and Water with our online resource guide
- Keep Talking about Oil and Water on our online discussion forum
- Attend Additional Oil and Water Events sponsored by the IHC All-Consuming series partners
Lead sponsorship for All-Consuming is provided by the Motorola Foundation and The Boeing Company, with additional support provided by Illinois American Water.
Chicago Public Radio and Illinois Channel are the media sponsors.
Series partners are Archeworks, Blacks in Green, Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago Global Donors Network, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance, Environmental Law and Policy Center, The Field Museum, Foresight Design Initiative, Illinois Environmental Council, Metropolitan Planning Council, Openlands, The Oriental Institute, and Institute for Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Special thanks to Chicago Press Corporation for their support towards All-Consuming publicity costs.
