Spring 2023 Programming

As warmer weather returns to Chicago this Spring, Chicago Studies offers lots of ways to explore the city, both in person and intellectually! Looking to get out and about? Join us for the continuation of our Urban Hikes & Bikes series, including our Olmsted on Campus Urban Hike and our Southeast Side History Bike Tour with Dean Boyer and Professor John Mark Hansen, or for co-sponsored community and cultural events at the Field Museum and the Washington Park Arts Center.

Rather do your learning indoors? Check out our many CHST cross-listed classes (including a special course bundle on immigration).  Writing about Chicago this Spring, or finalizing a capstone/BA project?  Drop by our sunny Urban Lounge for Writing Wednesdays at 1155 E 50th Street for weekly writing time (complete with fresh cookies, coffee/tea, and staff on-hand to answer your Chicago research questions), co-sponsored with CEGU.  Doing studio work this term?  Check out Open Studio each Wednesday evening in MADD for collaborative design & build time, skills workshops, and programming focused on the built environment (including a great panel discussion to close out the Frederick Law Olmsted Bicentennial on April 26), co-sponsored with the studio architecture program. 

Finally, if you're a 4th year, don't forget to submit your Chicago-focused BA/Capstone for consideration for this year's Undergraduate Research Prize (submissions will be accepted starting on April 1 -- all submitters get a free "I Studied Chicago..." tote!) and our annual Chicago Research Colloquium, to be held during Week 9 and featuring outstanding examples of student scholarship about the city.  We look forward to seeing you all Spring for programming and events that expand your knowledge of Chicago - and help you engage it firsthand.

Note:  Chicago Studies' amazing programming AD, Tess Conway, has accepted another job with our friends at CEGU effective Spring 2023.  Forgive a few weeks of "down time" at the beginning of the Quarter while we staff back up!

Spring Quarter 2023

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    Join Chicago Studies and Facilities Services for a walking exhibit of Frederick Law Olmsted's influence on UChicago's campus, as part of the Olmsted200 celebration. Recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) revolutionized our nation’s civic realm. His work on the Midway Plaisance, Washington Park and Jackson Park, as well as the work of his two sons at the University of Chicago, are local expressions of Olmsted's legacy. In this walking exhibition, we explore various sites on campus that showcase the Olmsted Brothers’ work and demonstrate how Frederick Law Olmsted’s influence continues to shape our campus. The tour is free and open to students, faculty, staff. Learn more and register.

    Urban Hike: Olmsted on Campus | Friday, April 14th, 1:30pm CDT at Harper Quad

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    April 26, 2023 marks the end of a national year-long celebration of the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of some of Chicago's most beloved parks and the father of American landscape architecture.  In addition to creating transcendently beautiful spaces, Olmsted was also a social progressive who designed his parks with the goal of advancing social and interracial equality.  How does the field he helped found continue to advance those goals today?

    Join Chicago Studies, Open Studio, the office of Facilities Services, and the Library in closing out our "year of Olmsted" with a panel discussion exploring the power of landscapes (and places, more generally) to effect social change and promote equity and inclusion.  The conversation will be facilitated by Brian McCammack of Lake Forest College, author of Landscapes of Hope: Nature and the Great Migration in Chicago, and will feature Chicago Parks historian (and recent UChicago lecturer) Julia Bachrach, Elena Madison from Project for Public Spaces (an international leader in social placemaking), and Ernie Wong from Site Design (a social impact design firm here in Chicago).

    This session of Open Studio will be held in CWAC 157 (adjacent to the Smart Museum) from 5:30 PM-6:30 PM with refreshments and informal discussion to follow. Learn more and register.

     

    Join Chicago Studies and the Field Museum for a screening of the documentary film SOUTHEAST: A City Within a City. 

    The Southeast side is an overlooked, negatively stigmatized neighborhood of Chicago. This is a documentary about the aftermath of a place long abandoned, pushed to the side after it was no longer of use, and a story of heroes who lost sight of what they were fighting for. We will explore the anthropology of the area, learning how the various cultures and ethnicities bonded, clashed, and assimilated throughout time...and how this history played an effect on the relationships of those peoples moving forward. We will dive into the Vietnam War and government politics. We’ll learn about street gang evolution and, of course, we will uncover the story of the steel mills.

    "SOUTHEAST: a city within a city" is a documentary that unfolds this story, showcasing the rise and demise of this empire of a place. This event is co-sponsored by the Field Museum in collaboration with the Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibit. Learn more and register.

    Transportation: Students are encouraged to take the Metra Electric line from 55th-56th-57th Street Station to Museum Campus/11th Street Station, just a short walk from the Field Museum. Please arrive in time to meet Chicago Studies staff on the platform and catch the 12:11pm train heading north. All students can now claim a FREE digital 10-ride Metra pass through Campus & Student Life at my.uchicago.edu. Further instructions are available on the CSL website. If you've already used your 10 Free Metra rides this year, Chicago Studies staff also have a limited supply of paper tickets to share.

    SOUTHEAST Film Screening | April 29th, 1:00-3:30 PM CDT at the Field Museum | Register Here!

    The College is now welcoming student submissions and faculty/departmental nominations for this year's Chicago Studies Undergraduate Research Prize, which will be awarded for the outstanding BA thesis or capstone project from academic year 2022-2023 that takes an aspect of the city of Chicago as a primary subject of inquiry or that considers Chicago in comparison to one or more other urban areas. The Chicago Studies Undergraduate Research Prize recognizes the breadth of high-quality, original research that undergraduates produce each year in BA thesis colloquia and seminars.

    Learn more and submit your BA! Student submissions are due May 1st at 11:59PM. Students who submit Chicago-focused BAs will also receive this year's "I Studied Chicago..." tote bag. 

    Student BA Submissions Due | May 1st, 11:59 PM CDT

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    In spaces where people gather to dance, listen to live music, connect with friends and shake off their cares, a sense of community flourishes. From the 1920-60s, in the music venues that dotted the landscape of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods “Black and Tan” cabarets lit up the stages and “all-colored girls” revues danced nightly. In Washington Park and Bronzeville in particular, swing and jazz bands performed to packed houses, building South Side community with every show. 

    As neighborhoods evolve – venues close, policies change, people migrate, cities get “planned”  – the fabric of community is altered and often disrupted. Body & Soul explores the culturally significant social spaces that thrived along Garfield Blvd in decades past. Through community story shares, live performance and a neighborhood walking tour, we invite you to trace the cultural lineage of Black music and dance presented at juke joints, cafes, halls, inns and clubs no longer standing but remembered by the individuals who frequented these Black cultural hotspots or inherited their stories.

    Spend the afternoon with us. Swap stories, meet elder musicians, cultural historians, family members, photographers, archivists and current cultural workers and space makers continuing to celebrate the tradition of the neighborhood's rich nightlife. This event is presented by Arts + Public Life, in partnership with Chicago Studies and Honey Pot Performance. Learn more and register.

    Body & Soul: Recovering Community Stories from South Side Music Venues | May 6th, 1:00-4:00PM CDT @ The Green Line Performing Arts Center

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and CEGU, is a dedicated writing block created to provide students weekly structured time to work on writing their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every Wednesday in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research from 2-4PM. Importantly, Writing Wednesdays will also include free coffee and cookies! Writing Wednesdays are recommended for those participating in the Century on 55th Research Project.

    Writing Wednesdays | Wednesdays 2:00-4:00PM CDT at 1155 E. 60th Street 

    For over 20 years, UChicago students, staff, and community members have been learning the history of UChicago's neighboring communities on their bicycles, guided by notoriously avid bikers College Dean John Boyer, author of The University of Chicago: A History, and Professor John Mark Hansen, author of The City in a Garden: A Guide to the History of Hyde Park and Kenwood. Our 20-mile Spring tour takes participants on deep dives into the stories of key figures and significant places across the Southeast Side. The tour is free and open to students, faculty, staff. Learn more and register.

    Southeast Side History Bike Tour | May 13th, 9:00 AM CDT at the Regenstein Library

    Between 1920 and 2020, 55th Street in Hyde Park, Chicago saw enormous changes. Some of these were driven by national movements; some by citywide trends; some by actions taken by our University, as it embarked upon a then-groundbreaking experiment in social engineering it labeled “urban renewal.” How did these changes play out on a thoroughfare that many of us use every day? What was gained? What (and who) was lost along the way?

    A Century on 55th Street (1920-2020) is an ongoing undergraduate research project sponsored by Chicago Studies. The project's goal is to gain granular insight into ten decades of changes in the Hyde Park and Washington Park neighborhoods, including those due to the Great Migration, redlining, White flight, urban renewal, and civic (dis)investment. Our research will contribute to an open-access resource and digital archive that will serve as a stepping-off point for future classes, public programming, and further investigation, as well as more thematic and/or creative projects and exhibitions. 

    Join us for a guided tour and walk down 55th Street with the team of student researchers. We will meet outside Campus North Residential Commons at 5500 South University Ave. Learn more and register.

    Urban Hike: A Century on 55th Street | May 15th, 5:30-7:30PM CDT at Campus North Residential Commons

     

    Open Studio is organizing a bonfire and celebration of studio 4th years on Wednesday, May 17th from 5:00-8:00pm on the grass lawn just east of the Smart Museum/CWAC. Join us for music, local Chicago storytellers, and food from Quesabirria Jalisco. Contact Nicole Helou at nicolehelou@uchicago.edu or Luke Joyner at lukejoy@uchicago.edu with questions. 

    Open Studio Celebratory Bonfire | May 17th, 5:00-8:00PM CDT at the Smart Museum/CWAC

    The Chicago Research Colloquium is an annual event that highlights exceptional undergraduate scholarship that focuses on Chicago and Chicagoland issues. Presentations are made by student finalists for the annual Chicago Studies Undergraduate Research Prize, which is awarded at the conclusion of the Colloquium. After the Colloquium, the presenters and their guests are welcome to join Chicago Studies for our annual City in a Garden Party, to be held in the courtyard outside 1155 E. 60th (weather permitting). Learn more and register.

    Chicago Research Colloquium | May 18th, 2:30-5:00PM CDT in the Mansueto Lounge

Header image by Theresa McGee from Pixabay