Today, Cook County and the University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement (OCE) released a third collection of free educational videos in their joint Open Lectures for Residents series. Launched soon after the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold, Open Lectures for Residents aims to advance digital equity by providing engaging educational content taught by UChicago faculty or curated by OCE free to all Cook County residents. The series’ latest installment, “Voices in Action,” is led by local civic leaders and UChicago graduate students and focuses on Chicago’s built environment and related topics.
“As a former teacher, I believe it is important to listen to the next generation of scholars as well as the current generation of civic leaders, who are working to improve Chicago and Cook County. The Voices in Action series is important because it features these new voices,” said Cook County Board President and University of Chicago alum Toni Preckwinkle.
There are ten videos in the Voices in Action series by environmental activists, public health executives, UChicago graduate students, educational advocates, and other civic leaders that will be released one per week for ten weeks.
Civic leaders, all of whom are graduates of the University of Chicago Center for Effective Government's Civic Leadership Academy, and graduate students include:
· Jeff Deutsch, Director of Seminary Coop Bookstore, who advocates for the necessity of independent bookstores for building communities.
· Daniella Periera, Vice President of Community Conservation, Openlands, Neighborhood, who advocates for trees as a civic tool to address climate change.
· Hilary Naa-Afi Tackie, doctoral candidate, Comparative Human Development, UChicago, who ponders what teachers and their students should and should not be discussing in the classroom.
· Angela Hurlock, Executive Director at Claretian Associates, Inc., who talks about how individuals can have a voice in building a vibrant 6-block neighborhood around their home.
· Meredith Muir, master of Public Policy 2021, Harris School of Public Policy, who explores the connections between community organizing, collective impact, and how to build power to create equitable change in Chicago.
· Carmen Vergara, Chief Operating Officer, Esperanza Health Centers, who discusses how to make decisions to improve health equity.
· Julius Jones, PhD candidate in History, University of Chicago; assistant curator, Chicago History Museum, who discusses the importance of making historical information accessible to all citizens.
· Emily Dupree, Teaching Fellow in the Department of Philosophy and the College at the University of Chicago, who explains how philosophy can help us assess controversial policy decisions in the city we call 'home.'
· Nick Shields, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Cook County, who introduces Project Rainbow, a COVID recovery initiative to inform, inspire and impact Cook County’s children and families while also addressing learning loss brought on by the pandemic.
· Joanie Friedman, Executive Director of Civic Leadership in UChicago’s Office of Civic Engagement, who introduces the concept of “civic trust currency” and the role of a community alchemist.
Content will be organized around four built environment themes: Sustainability and Community, Housing, Policy in Action, and COVID-19 and the Human Response.
“We are proud to partner with President Preckwinkle to once again extend this unique educational content to Cook County residents,” said Derek Douglas, UChicago’s vice president for Civic Engagement and External Affairs. “These topics are at the center of critical conversations for a lot of Chicago residents and this partnership and platform allows us to amplify and learn from emerging voices on these issues.”
While new content will be published each week, Cook County residents can access the lectures and interviews at their own pace.
Would you like to learn more about additional UChicago opportunities like this series? Click here to sign up.
Click on a title to select a piece of content
Phase 3 Content
June 15
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series — Nick Shields, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Cook County
June 8
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Joanie Friedman, Executive Director of Civic Leadership in UChicago’s Office of Civic Engagement
June 1
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series — Emily Dupree, Teaching Fellow in the Department of Philosophy and the College at the University of Chicago
May 25
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Julius Jones, PhD candidate in History at University of Chicago; assistant curator at Chicago History Museum
May 18
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Carmen Vergara, Chief Operating Officer at Esperanza Health Centers
May 11
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Meredith Muir, master of Public Policy 2021, Harris School of Public Policy
May 4
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Angela Hurlock, Executive Director at Claretian Associates, Inc
April 27
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Hilary Naa-Afi Tackie, doctoral candidate, UChicago Comparative Human Development
April 20
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series—Daniella Pereira, Vice President of Community Conservation at Openlands
April 13
Watch: Open Lectures: Voices in Action Video Series —Jeff Deutsch, Director of Seminary Coop Bookstore
Watch: Talk with Toni — Jeff Deutsch, Director of Seminary Coop Bookstore
Phase 2 Content
Bonus Content: Virtual Harper Lecture: COVID & Beyond: Understanding Vaccine Adjuvants, with Aaron Esser-Kahn
Bonus Content: Polsky On Demand: an online portal that provides access to some of Polsky's world-class business and entrepreneurship educational workshops
January 4 – January 10: Racial Justice
Big Brains: How Can We Achieve Real Police Reform? with Sharon Fairley
Big Brains: The Way you Talk and What it Says About you
UChicago George E. Kent Lecture: "The New Jim Crow" - Author Michelle Alexander
UChicago Summer 2020 Recommended Viewing: "Minding the Racial Wage Gap: Prejudice in Black Wages" with Kerwin Charles
UChicago Summer 2020 Recommended Viewing: In Studio With Forrest Stuart: Violence, Policing, and Poverty
Bonus Content: Career Development
UChicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Four Steps to Becoming an Effective Mentor
UChicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | The Transformative Power of Job Crafting
UChicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Navigating the First 90 Days of a New Job
December 28 – January 3: Environment
UChicago Urban Network: Using Technology to Map the Galapagos Islands
TEDx UChicago: Sabina Shaikh – Should you get paid to protect the environment?
Argonne National Laboratory: Seth Darling – The End of Water as We Know It
UChicago Geophysical Sciences Researcher Spotlight: Liz Moyer
Harper Lecture: Of MOOCs and Global Warming
Bonus Content: Career Development
UChicago Young Alumni Career Development: Preparation, Presence & Practice | Fundamentals of Public Speaking
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Enhanced Executive Presence
December 21 – 27: Philosophy
UChicago Civic Knowledge Project: Leon Depres at 100 interviewed by Bart Schultz
*Scroll down to ‘The Civic Knowledge Project Remembers’ and select ‘Leon Despres at 100’
UChicago Department of Philosophy: Night Owls – Economics and Philosophy
UChicago Department of Philosophy: Night Owls – Philosophy of Divorce
UChicago Department of Philosophy: Night Owls – Let's get Philosophical about Sex
Big Brains: Correcting History – Native Americans Tell Their Own Stories (Ep. 55)
Bonus Content: Career Development
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Going Beyond Networking Coffees – 3.5 Tips to Turbocharge Your Networking Skills
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: How to Succeed as a First Time Executive
December 14 – December 20: History
PBS NewsHour: What Trump’s response to white supremacist groups means
Harper Lecture with Michael Dietler: A Social History of the Chicago Blues
TEDxBroadway: They are Children – How Posts on Social Media Lead to Gang Violence | Desmond Patton
Conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg: US Supreme Court Justice Live at UChicago
Harper Lecture with Mario L. Small: Are Some Cities More Punishing than Others?
Bonus Content: Career Development
UChicago Career Month: Building Your Brand on Social Media
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Build Your Leadership Resilience: Extreme Self Care
December 7 – December 13: Elections
UChicago: The Most Historic U.S. Election in a Generation
Mind of State: The Politics of Care
Not Another Politics Podcast: Should We Make It Illegal Not To Vote?
John Mark Hansen Virtual Harper Lecture: American Politics Before and After Trump
Big Brains: The Future of Voting And The 2020 Election, with Assoc. Prof. Anthony Fowler
Bonus Content: Career Development
UChicago Young Alumni Career Development: Preparation, Presence & Practice – Fundamentals of Public Speaking
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: Mind Your Career | Beat Impostor Syndrome – Strategies for Career Confidence
November 30 – December 6: Health and COVID-19
UChicago Virtual Harper Lecture with Susan Stokes: Protests and the Pandemic
Big Brains Podcast: Why Coronavirus Could Send China’s Economy Back to the 1980s, w/ Chang-Tai Hsieh
UChicago Urban Education Institute: Supporting Student Learning and Healing through Trauma-Responsive Teaching Practices
UChicago Medicine: Racism as a Public Health Crisis: Rep. Lauren Underwood, Dr. Melissa Gilliam & Brenda Battle
Big Brains: COVID 2025: How COVID-19 Will Change Cities: Prof. Luis Bettencourt
Bonus Content: Career Development
UChicago Young Alumni Career Development Series | How to Network to Your Next Job
University of Chicago Alumni Career Programs: Unlocking Your Leadership Potential
November 18 – 29: Economics
UChicago Urban Labs: Crime and Poverty in Chicago
Harris Public Policy: Labor Markets, Public Policy and Racial Inequality in America
UChicago 531st Convocation Address: "Mind the Gaps"
Big Brains Podcast: Revolutionizing Economics By Studying People In The Real World
Capitalisn't Podcast: Coronavirus a cost benefit analysis of the economic shutdown
Bonus Content: Career Development
Young Alumni Career Development Series | Budgeting for People Who Hate Budgeting
Career Month | Résumé 2.0: Strategies and Tools Supported by Data
Phase 1 Content
Week of August 31: Law and Policy
Big Brains Podcast: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Polarization, Discrimination and Her Favorite Dissent
Big Brains Podcast: U.S. Immigration and Hidden Abuse with Claudia Flores
TEDxUChicago: Mother-in-Law – Representing children accused of crime | Herschella Conyers
Ryerson Lecture: Sexing the Constitution – Getting to Gay Marriage?, Geoffrey R. Stone
Seattle Harper Lecture with John Mark Hansen: Polarized Politics – Past, Present, Future
Bonus Content: Career Development
Mind Your Career | Resumes that Resonate
Week of August 24: Science and Discovery
Big Brains Podcast: Why talking to strangers will make you happier with Nicholas Epley
Uncommon Core: The Ethics of an Outbreak with Emily Landon
Knowledge Applied Podcast: The Psychology of Trees, with Marc Berman
The Big Question – Chicago Booth Review: Why is there still a gender pay gap?
Big Brains Podcast: Nature’s Design Secrets with Rama Ranganathan
Bonus Content: Career Development
LEADERSHIP LAB: Writing Beyond the Academy 1.23.15
Week of August 17: Democracy and Citizenship
Big Brains Podcast: Why Your Social Life is a Matter of Life and Death
Big Brains Podcast: Rise of the White Power Movement
Harper Lecture: Challenge of Citizenship
Race and Capitalism: Flip'n the Script – Michael Dawson, Beyond Linked Fated, and the Roots to Racial Capitalism
Harper Lecture: How to Save a Constitutional Democracy
Bonus Content: Career Development
LEADERSHIP LAB: The Craft of Writing Effectively
Week of August 10: Community and Education
Big Brains Podcast: How Students and Schools Can Recover From Coronavirus, with Elaine Allensworth
Big Brains Podcast: How the Loss of Community Threatens Society with Raghuram Rajan
WBEZ: Chicago Sociologist Eve Ewing Talks ‘Ghosts In The Schoolyard’
Big Brains Podcast: What Rats Can Teach Us About Empathy and Racism, with Peggy Mason
TEDxBroadway: "They are Children: How Posts on Social Media Lead to Gang Violence" - Desmond Patton
Bonus Content: Career Development
Decision Making in Tough Environments
Week of August 3: Humanities
Big Brains Podcast: Why Chasing The Good Life Is Holding Us Back, With Lauren Berlant
UChicago Division of the Humanities: Agnes Callard, What Good Is Public Philosophy?
The Oriental Institute: Irving Finkel | The Ark Before Noah: A Great Adventure
UChicago Division of the Humanities: Jacqueline N. Stewart, Home Movie Day: Personal Archives Lost and Found
CAN TV: The Life and Times of Timuel D. Black: A Centenary Symposium
Bonus Content: Career Development
Negotiating in Times of Change
Week of July 27: COVID-19
Virtual Harper Lecture: The American Presidency in a Time of COVID, featuring William Howell
Big Brains Podcast: Coronavirus Shows Why We Need To Rethink Health Care, with Katherine Baicker
Big Brains Podcast: The Science of Conspiracy Theories and Political Polarization with Eric Oliver
Big Brains Podcast: How Coronavirus Is Exposing Our Racial Disparities, with Monica Peek
Berlin Family Lectures: Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus
Bonus Content: Career Development
Leadership and Skyscrapers
Week of July 20: Racial Justice Movement
Big Brains Podcast: Black Lives Matter Protests: Hope for the Future?
NPR: Poet Eve Ewing Connects 1919 Chicago to Today's Racial Unrest
MacLean Center for Bioethics: Peggy Mason – Racism: Is it Biological?
New Dawn Podcast: Creating a Caring World
Growing up in Chicago’s “Black Belt” - Timuel Black
Bonus Content: Career Development
Learning Leadership: Lessons from a Pop-Up Choir
In a conversation with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, UChicago Vice President for Civic Engagement and External Affairs Derek Douglas discusses the Open Lectures for Residents series and the University’s Civic Leadership Academy.
Bonus Content: South Side History Bike Tour
For over 20 years, UChicago students, staff, and community members have been learning the history of some of UChicago's neighboring communities on their bicycles, guided by notoriously avid bikers College Dean John W Boyer (author of The University of Chicago: A History) and Professor John Mark Hansen (Charles L. Hutchinson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science, and author of The City in a Garden: A Guide to the History of Hyde Park and Kenwood). This 20-mile self-guided tour reproduces this annual event, as our guides take us on deep dives into the stories of key figures and significant places across the South and Near West Sides. Click here to check out the tour.
