Co-Programming with Chicago Studies

In addition to its course offerings, undergraduate research supports, and resources for faculty and course instructors, Chicago Studies regularly co-sponsors para-curricular opportunities to discover, study, and engage with Chicago's diverse communities.  A current list of our collaborative, para-curricular offerings (term-specific) can be found on our Events page (http://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu/events - this page will go live for the new academic year in mid-August).  We also regularly promote Chicago-focused events and opportunities through our eNewsletter - email us at chicagostudies@uchicago.edu if you would like us to share news of your upcoming program with our audience.

Although we are no longer a programming-focused team effective AY2023-2024, we maintain a programming and events budget that we are able to allocate in the form of small event/series grants.  We are especially interested in collaborating with course instructors to create programming that anticipates, advertises, or complements upcoming Chicago-focused classes, but welcome collaborations with other offices, research units, and campus partners.  A programming collaboration grant application for events or series can be found here.

If you are interested in developing a program in collaboration with Chicago Studies and/or would like to discuss funding for a future Chicago-focused event or programming series, email Chris Skrable, Chicago Studies' Executive Director, or set up an appointment.

Tours, Urban Hikes, and Neighborhood Explorations

Chicago Studies regularly sponsors in-person outings across Chicagoland, including our fall and spring South Side History Bike Tours led by former College Dean John Boyer, Professor John Mark Hansen, and other "celebrity" docents.  Our Urban Hikes & Bikes series explores specific aspects of Chicago history, ecology, architecture and more -- a great way for instructors to "tease" an upcoming course theme and connect with potential students, whether on foot, on the CTA, or on bikes!

Chicago Studies will sponsor a number of Hikes & Bikes during O-Week and Welcome Week - if interested in participating, contact Chris Skrable ASAP!

Lectures, Panel Discussions, and Author Events

Chicago Studies co-sponsors panel discussions and lectures on a variety of topics. For example, in 2021-2022, our Urban October Lecture and Winter "Climate and the City" series, co-sponsored with CEGU, focused on climate change to highlight the new Committee's interest in this topic and to help attract students to coursework they would be offering. Such events need not be in series; Chicago Studies regularly co-sponsors other one-time events that engage participants in conversation about the city.

We also regularly co-sponsor author discussions with the authors of Chicago-focused books, usually in collaboration with the Seminary Co-Op bookstore.  Interlocutors have included UChicago faculty, teaching fellows, and staff. When possible, we try to include book signings -- an ideal way to introduce students to a key text and its author for a current or upcoming class.

Artist Events and Pop-Up Galleries

Chicago Studies routinely collaborates with UChicago Arts (especially the Logan Center and Arts + Public Life) to co-sponsor events highlighting Chicago-based or Chicago-focused artists.  For example, in Spring 2023, we complemented our ongoing focus on the Calumet region with a film screening and live music event at the Field Museum showcasing the documentary project Southeast: City within a City (directed by Calumet documentarian Steven Walsh) and Field's ongoing "Calumet Voices" exhibit.

We are also able to host artists and their work in our beautiful Urban Lounge at 1155 E 60th St.  Recent installations and conversations included a gallery of winning images from a Chicago Studies-sponsored photo contest and the "100 Views of Lake Michigan" project.

"Into the Archives" series (Winter 2023)

Research Workshops and Data Events

Chicago Studies is always eager to co-sponsor events that support students' interests in researching the city, especially for independent or course-based projects such as BA theses, capstones, etc.  We are regularly in dialogue with representatives of area archives, collectors/producers of data, and critical consumers of Chicago data, and are excited to share this network with departments, instructors, and research projects that involve undergraduates. 

Chicago Studies also collects and publicizes undergraduate research about the city, notably through our Chicago Studies annual  and yearly Undergraduate Research Prize, and regularly invite student authors of notable research back to campus to reflect on their scholarship with current students.