American Dream Reconsidered Conference @RU (Oct 16-19)

Theme: Mind, Body and the American Dream

Mind and body are such fundamental concepts that we often take them for granted, but recent events have served as a reminder of how central they are to the American Dream. For example, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade served as a stark example about the body itself as a site of political contestation. Roosevelt University is uniquely suited to explore this theme. As an educational institution, one of the University’s central missions is promoting and celebrating the life of the mind.
The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt is centrally focused on education that brings together mind and body in music, theater, and dance. In addition, as a participant in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and potentially Division II of the National Association of Collegiate Athletics (NCAA), the University is home to more than two dozen sports teams that encourage students to hone their physical development.
Visit the 2023 Conference website for the schedule and info on speakers!

Don’t Go Without Water this Week: See “Without Water . . .” on Tue 4/11 @RooseveltU

Next Tuesday 4/11 as part of the 2023 Roosevelt Student Research and Inquiry Symposium as well as the WorldWide Teach-In for Climate and Justice, CCPA Acting and SUST 360 Honors students will collaborate on an interdisciplinary arts + humanities event combining performance and critical discussion.

Please join us at 2pm CST in the Fainman Lounge in RU’s historic Auditorium Building for an encore performance of the original devised play, “Without Water,” conceived and written by the first-year BFA Acting Class of 2026 and directed by Prof. Elise Kauzlaric in the CCPA’s Theatre Conservatory. The performance will be bracketed by commentary on the role of water in the urban environment by students in Prof. Mike Bryson’s SUST 360 Writing Urban Nature honors seminar, followed by an interactive discussion among the two groups of students and the audience.

This is the first-ever creative collaboration between the CCPA Theatre Conservatory and the Sustainability Studies Program of the College of Arts & Sciences at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The event also is part of the annual week-long scholarly and creative extravaganza known as the Roosevelt Student Research and Inquiry Symposium as well as the WorldWide Teach-In for Climate and Justice and RU’s Earth Month 2023 programming. Hope to see you there!

The cast of “Without Water” (BFA Acting Class of 2025, CCPA)

SUST 360 Honors students hiking at Northerly Island, March 2023

Questions or to RSVP:
Contact Prof. Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu)
Dept. of Sociology & Sustainability / College of Arts & Sciences

SUST Alumni & Student Panel Next Tues 10/18 @RooseveltU

Next week Roosevelt University kicks off its 2022 American Dream Reconsidered Conference at its Chicago Campus as well as online. The theme of this year’s conference is “The City and the American Dream,” and many exciting and thought-provoking talks, panel discussions, and events are planned throughout the week.

Alumni, students, and faculty of the Sustainability Studies Program @RooseveltU are featured in the Oct. 18 Tuesday online panel discussion at 7pm CST on the topic, “Is the American Dream Sustainable?” with a special focus on Chicago as a city. The panel will be broadcast live on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube — links to those social media sites are below.

Is the American Dream Sustainable?

The science of urban ecology demonstrates that cities are not mere technological constructions, distinct from and diametrically opposed to nature, but complex ecosystems. As laboratories for sustainable innovation, such as green rooftops, cities offer a unique vantage point for re-imagining the sustainability of the American Dream. Using Chicago as a prime exemplar, our panel consisting of students and alumni will explore how urban sustainability advancements and environmental justice activism are redefining how we think about and work toward the American Dream.

Featured Panelists

Yesenia Balcazar (BA ’18) — Senior Resilient Community Planning Manager at the Southeast Environmental Task Force; MA in urban planning and policy (UIC ’21)

Kiera Carpenter (BA ’24) — SUST Student Associate, College of Arts & Sciences; RU Student Steward for 2022-23 in the Resilience Studies Consortium

Dan Lyvers (BA ’21) — Chief Operating Engineer at the Stickney wastewater treatment plant (the world’s largest such facility), Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicagoland

Moderator

Mike Bryson, Professor of Sustainability Studies, College of Arts & Sciences; RU Faculty Steward, Resilience Studies Consortium; Scientific Affiliate, Field Museum of Natural History

Viewing Information (So Many Options!)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/678320980097230

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event

/urn:li:ugcPost:6985981931213504512/

YouTube: 

Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposia in April 2019 & RU Workshop this Friday 2/22

This is a great opportunity for RU students in all disciplines to present their research, get public speaking experience, receive feedback from faculty experts on their work, network with fellow students at Chgo-area universities, and build professional credentials for their work résumés or grad school applications.

In addition, the Office of Student Research @RooseveltU is running a student workshop this Fri 2/22 at 1pm on the Chgo Campus geared toward preparing students for the RU Student Research Symposium on Fri 4/12 and/or the CAURS on Sat 4/13. See below for details!

Research Presentation Workshop @RU, 2/22, 1pm Learning Commons

Access the pdf of the above image.

 

Roosevelt University’s “American Dream Reconsidered” Conference Planned for Sept. 12-15

Students, colleagues, and friends — please attend and participate in this major conference at Roosevelt next month, which should be a galvanizing week on our campus. The theme couldn’t be more timely, considering the tensions, rancor, and controversies of the current election season. In particular, I’m looking forward to speaking on a faculty panel addressing the presidential election (Wed 9/14, 4:15pm) and participating in Service Day on 9/15. The following text is from Roosevelt’s official announcement of the conference. Be sure to register soon!

RU Chicago and US flagWhat does the American Dream mean today? That’s the topic of a major conference Roosevelt University will be hosting Sept. 12-15 in Chicago.

At more than a dozen lectures and discussions, leading American scholars, activists and entrepreneurs will analyze the American Dream and how it affects millennials, education, health care, real estate, immigration, politics and more.

PrezAli at RU“The American Dream is about every individual who aspires to achieve more in life,” said Ali Malekzadeh, president of Roosevelt University and a native of Iran. “Understanding our national ethos of democracy and equality has never more urgent. At the American Dream Reconsidered Conference, we will present many viewpoints on what it means to be an American in these challenging times.”

The conference, sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, McDonald’s Corporation and other organizations, also celebrates Malekzadeh’s first year in office. It is being held in lieu of formal and expensive presidential installation ceremonies commonly held on university campuses.  Instead, President Malekzadeh has led an effort to discuss the future of the American Dream and initiate a new scholarship program for six outstanding Roosevelt students. Among the highlights of the first annual American Dream Reconsidered Conference are:

• A conversation with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel on “The American Dream — Globalization, Technology and Progress.” (Sept. 13, 12:30-1:45 p.m.)

•  A lecture by Pedro Noguera, distinguished professor of Education at UCLA, on “The Five Principles of Courageous Leadership to Guide Achievement of Every Student.” (Sept. 12 , 6:00-7:30 p.m., Roosevelt’s Goodman Center)

•  A panel discussion on “The Current State of the American Dream” featuring John W. Rogers Jr., founder and CEO of Ariel Investments; Melissa Bean, Midwest chair of JP Morgan Chase and former member of the U.S. Congress; Rabbi Abie Ingber, executive director of the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement at Xavier University and Ali Malekzadeh, Roosevelt president. (Sept. 14, 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.)

Jelani Cobb
Jelani Cobb, professor at Univ of CN

• “A Conversation on Justice, Race and the American Dream” with Martha C. Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund distinguished service professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago and Jelani Cobb, professor of journalism at Columbia University and staff writer at the New Yorker magazine. (3:30 to 5 p.m., Sept. 13)

• “A Conversation on Community Leadership and Social Justice,” moderated by Samuel Betances, and including Tom Burrell, founder of Burrell Communications; Gloria Castillo, president and CEO of Chicago United; Father Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina’s Church; Dana Suskind, University of Chicago Medicine and founder of the Thirty Million Words Initiative and Omar Yamini, activist and author. (Sept. 12, 1:30 to 3 p.m.)

Other panel discussions during the week focus on: immigration (Sept. 14, 2 to 3:15); the Affordable Care Act (Sept. 13, 9:30 to 11 a.m.); the 2016 presidential election (Sept. 14, 4:15 to 5:45 p.m.); real estate (Sept. 13, 9:30 to 11 a.m.); and corporate America (Sept. 14, 4:15 to 5:45 p.m.). There is also a film on millennials created by undergraduate students.

On the last day of the conference, Thursday, Sept. 15, Roosevelt will award BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois American Dream Scholarships to outstanding Roosevelt students.  The University community will also participate in the American Dream Service Day, when students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the University will volunteer at 30 nonprofit organizations throughout the Chicago area.

Eleanor Roosevelt with RU students in 1945
Eleanor Roosevelt with RU students in 1945

Roosevelt University, home of the American Dream Reconsidered Conference, was founded in 1945 to protest discriminatory racial and religious college admission quotas, and remains dedicated to providing access to higher education for all qualified students.

“Education is the key to achieving the American Dream,” President Malekzadeh said.  “That’s why Roosevelt is hosting this conference.”

The American Dream Reconsidered Conference is free and open to the public, however reservations are requested. For more details and to register, visit: www.Roosevelt.edu/americandream. The conference will be centered at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, with additional events at RU’s campus in Schaumburg, IL.

INSS Conference in Uptown, Chicago IL, June 8-10

Next week I’ll be attending and presenting at the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability Conference, a national multi-site conference that is hosted locally by the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. I’ll be presenting on Thursday 6/9 at 2:45pm in the Education & Culture session along with my colleague, friend, and co-author Mr. Michael Howard, executive director and co-founder of Eden Place Nature Center on Chicago’s South Side.

To see an interactive agenda, register, and attend the conference, check out this link. Hope to see you there! An overview is also available here (pdf).

Headwaters Conference / “Relative Wild” Writer’s Retreat

Western State CO Univ
Western State CO Univ

Today I’m en route to Gunnison CO, home of Western State Colorado University, to participate in the 25th annual Headwaters Conference sponsored by the university’s Center for Environment and Sustainability. This year’s conference focuses on the notion of “The Relative Wild,” and features a keynote address by acclaimed poet Gary Snyder as well as a full day of presentations and discussions on various aspect of wildness. I’m speaking tomorrow as part of a panel discussing the “urban wild” — in particular, the experience of urban nature and its relation to kids and environmental education.

Crested Butte, CO
Crested Butte, CO

On Sunday, I join a group of writers convened by Gavin Van Horn (Center for Humans and Nature in Chicago) and John Hausdoerffer (WSCU Headwaters Project) for a long-anticipated writer’s retreat in nearby Crested Butte. We’ll be sharing ideas, outlines, and initial jottings to kick off a new book project to be co-edited by Gavin and John that’s tentatively titled The Relative Wild — a collection of stories and essays that, as the editors describe it,

will explore how human and ecological communities co-create the wild. The ‘myth of the pristine’ — that nature is most valuable when liberated from human presence — is quickly being supplanted by ‘the myth of the humanized,’ the assertion that nothing is untouched by human influence, and therefore one may embrace ecosystem change, even extreme changes, as ‘natural.’ We suggest that both of these myths deserve equal scrutiny, and that one way to do so is by celebrating the common ground of the relative wild: the degrees and integration of wildness and human influence in any place.

Having participated in a previous CHN writer’s retreat at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for the forthcoming book City Creatures (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2015), I know firsthand how extraordinary an opportunity it is to take time out from the busy schedules and harried demands of ordinary life to mingle with talented and creative writers all focused on a common project. The fact that this is happening in a beautiful mountain setting at the autumnal equinox is even better!

June 2014 Guest Talks and Conference Presentations

The first part of June has been exceptionally chatty, academically speaking, as I think I’ve had my busiest week ever in my 20-year academic career giving presentations and hobnobbing with colleagues at other institutions. Thus far I’ve been right here in the Chicago area, though a nice little trip to New York City awaits later this week — which is exciting, since I haven’t been to New York since the fall of 2006 (for the SLSA Conference at NYU).

JJC greenhouse (photo: Steinkamp Photography /  Legat Architects)
The LEED-certified greenhouse at JJC (photo: Steinkamp Photography / Legat Architects)

Last Sunday, as we flipped the home calendars to June, I drove out to Joliet Junior College, the nation’s oldest community college, to give a guest lecture entitled “Sustainability and the Future of Cities: Connecting Curriculum to Community” (pdf), as part of JJC’s three-day faculty retreat for the Grand Prairie Project — an effort to encourage the integration of sustainability across JJC’s curriculum led by my colleague, friend, and fellow Joliet public school alum Maria Rafac, an architectural technology prof at the college.

Institute for Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago
Institute for Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago

Then on Wednesday, June 4th, I collaborated with an RU professor, Aaron Shoults-Wilson, on a presentation (pdf) about sustainability/environmental science education at Roosevelt for a “Research and Education towards Sustainability Symposium” sponsored by the Institute for Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University in Chicago. This small gathering was especially interesting, since the IES was hosting a group of Vietnamese environmental scientists and educators from Vietnam National University. Learning about their work in Ho Chih Min City and other locations throughout Vietnam was utterly fascinating, and they in turn were extremely excited by the chance to explore Chicago and meet like-minded colleagues here in the US. I also got my first tour of Loyola’s new IES facility in my old neighborhood of East Rogers Park, opened in Fall 2013, which is quite impressive indeed.

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL

Finally, on Thursday, June 5th, I gave my first talk at the Field Museum of Natural History along the downtown Chicago lakefront, as part of the museum’s Interchange monthly lecture series sponsored by the Dept. of Science and Education. These gatherings are internal to the museum, and provide a chance for researchers to present data and report on works in progress from all the various disciplines of the museum in a friendly setting that encourages active discussion and cross-disciplinary connections. My talk, “Reading the Book of Nature: May Theilgaard Watts’ Art of Ecology,” (pdf), reflected on how the arts and humanities complement scientific discourse, in this case within the context of urban ecosystems wherein live over 80% of Americans and more than 50% of people worldwide.

Pace University, New York City (GraduateGuide.com)
Pace University, New York City (GraduateGuide.com)

Later this week, I fly to New York City for the annual conference of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, one of the academic tribes of which I’m an enthusiastic member. Hosted this year by Pace University in lower Manhattan, near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the conference theme is “Welcome to the Anthropocene: From Global Challenge to Plantery Stewardship.” This smallish conference of 500-600 attendees is always notable for its friendly and informal atmosphere, great spirit of convivial networking among colleagues from many different areas of academia (from the sciences to the social sciences to the humanities), and fun field excursions. My talk about my teaching experiences in a service-learning course at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm is part of a panel entitled “Innovative Pedagogies for Environmental Justice and Community Engagement.” I’m eager to hear what my fellow panelists have in store for our session!

Attending the Sustainable City Year Program Conference at Univ of OR

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in Eugene, Oregon, for the Sustainable City Year Program conference — the 3rd such gathering held annually at the University Of Oregon. I’m on a fact-finding mission to learn how the five-year-old SCYP got started at U of O, get insights from other colleges and universities who have started their own versions of the program at their institutions, and bring back good ideas to potentially implement at Roosevelt in Chicago.

13th Street at the Univ of Oregon in Eugene OR
13th Street at the Univ of Oregon in Eugene OR

I’ve already met some fantastic and interesting people here in Eugene, where we’re comfortably appointed at the downtown Eugene Hilton, and greatly anticipating today’s workshops and discussions. This gathering is rather small — more like a workshop than a conference — so I expect to get to know almost everyone in the group fairly easily in what will be three days of vigorous discussion and socializing. There are folks here from all across the US and even abroad (the Centre Transnational de Recherche Gabon), and it’s a nice mix of academics like myself as well as city professionals and officials — since the point of this program is connecting academic service learning to urban sustainable development in particular communities. But as far as I can tell, the only other folks from IL are a group from Augustana College in Rock Island; so I’m the sole participant from the Chicago Region. (That makes me rather happy, actually.)

According to By Nicole Ginley-Hidinger writing for the SCI blog, here’s an overview of the three-day conference:

A lot of student work goes to waste. After brilliant plans, layouts, and other assignments are turned in for a final grade, the reports, essays, and drawings are crammed into the back of a closet and forgotten about. SCYP changes that by creating a partnership between the University and a nearby city. Students get the chance to pitch ideas on real-world projects while cities get a wide array of proposals that they can incorporate into the development and growth of sites and programs. 

Institutions in over ten states have now implemented SCYP, adopting the program and crafting their own innovative approach. During April 16-18, many of these schools will converge in Eugene to share ideas and teach other universities interested in developing their own program during the SCYP conference.

The three-day conference includes SCI faculty who will discuss the Oregon model, panels made up of cities Oregon has worked with, cities other universities have worked with, and panels of program coordinators and faculty who will address how the format can be adapted and utilized in different locations.  

During the 2014 SCYP Conference, scheduled for April 15-18, the University of Oregon, will share tactics to creating a successful program centered on sustainability with the help of SCYP-like programs across the nation.

“The conference is huge,” says SCI co-director, Marc Schlossberg. “The conference will give new programs all of the context, and the nut and bolts, of how a program like this is organized, how it can be effective, and how to navigate through the system of cities and universities to get something done and organized.”

The SCI staff will share everything, from inspiring moments like the support they receive from the city staff and community to the more difficult aspects, such as not being able to find a city last year.

The three-day conference includes the SCI “program how-to”, where the Oregon model is broken down into city, student, and institutional engagement. The model is explained through presentations and discussions with cities Oregon has worked with, cities other universities have worked with, and panels of program coordinators and faculty who will address how the format can be adapted and utilized in different locations.  

“There’s been schools around the country that have been interested in this type of work and to this scale,” says SCI co-director, Nico Larco. “They have an interest in developing programs that are similar. We have all these different adaptations of this model.”

SCI wants to share that their model is versatile and can be implemented at any school, no matter the size or the type.

“The basic idea is that it takes advantage of classes that are already being taught in the university and leverages them in a different way,” says Schlossberg. “It can work anywhere there’s students, courses, and faculties.”

The main goal of the conference is to help schools build programs that take advantage of the resources that they already have to help the communities around them. In SCYP programs, classes help address vital community issues, such as climate change, minority outreach, and how to handle limited fiscal resources in conjunction with a community need for fresh ideas that are from a neutral source.

“Students are demanding applied learning opportunities and to make an impact in the world now, while they are students,” says Schlossberg. “We have idea-generating machines in students, classes and faculty, so if we’re going to make any progress at all on these big vexing multi-disciplinary problems in a community, the university should be active in addressing them.”

The first day of the conference will focus on schools that are interested in developing a program of their own. The University of Oregon is the sole presenter and will teach curious schools the ins-and-outs.  

“[It’s on] everything from how you structure within the university, like the faculty, to how you structure things within the city, like contracts, the schedule throughout the year, and the breath and depth of the projects” says Larco.

The second day is focused both on schools who already have programs and schools who want to build them. The discussions will center on engaging faculty, students, budgeting issues, funding issues and different ways to work with cities.

It will feature schools who have adopted the program and implemented it in unique and innovative ways, from the Oregon model where all thirty classes focus on one community to other campuses who engage with several communities at one time.

The third day is focused on developing a national network of SCYP programs and how universities can go after funding and develop together.

“We are interested in changing the way higher education is delivered in this country,” says Schlossberg. “The more people that are engaged in that endeavor, the stronger the message is.”

This is the third year the University of Oregon will put on the SCYP conference. The 2014 SCYP conference strives to share how to create an effective program while building a peer to peer network of institutions who are ready to improve the higher education model.