WHAT: “Understanding the Energy Challenge: It Takes More Than Science,” Professor Emeritus Paul Debevec, Physics Department, University of Illinois
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @ 3 p.m.
WHERE: 141 Loomis Lab, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana
From the event announcement: “The United States and other developed nations employ fossil fuels for their primary resource. Continued dependence on fossil fuels is made problematic by the effects of climate change and pollution, and the increased demand from developing and underdeveloped nations. A transition from fossil fuels to sustainable resources within the next few decades appears to be mandatory, but a clear pathway for this transition is still to be developed. Energy should be a paramount issue for our campus community of students, educators, scientists and citizens. The interconnection of science, technology, economics, and policy, however, make energy a daunting problem. I will illustrate these interconnections with specific examples, and I will describe efforts at UIUC broadly directed toward energy education and research.”
WHAT: Diana Sheets, author of American Suite
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 17 @ 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Illini Union Bookstore – Authors Corner
From the event announcement: “American Suite, seemingly a light parody of chick lit and confessional memoir, is subversive in its intent to take on the banality of womens fiction today. Nominally its a diary novel. But, as Sheets suggests on her website, Literary Gulag, behind the pink tulle fabric is masculine carnage: warfare, religious strife, and the schism fostered by oppositional politics. Diana E. Sheets is a Research Scholar in the Departments of English and History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a Ph.D. in Modern European History from Columbia University with honors in her minor field, Literature and Politics, which she studied with Edward Said. Later, she worked in corporate sales in metro New York before relocating to the Midwest to write fiction. She is the author of two novels, American Suite & The Cusp of Dreams, as well writing a blog on literary criticism & political commentary at Literary Gulag.”
WHAT: “CEO Pay and Firm Performance: The role of CEO-Firm Match Quality,” Craig Olson, UIUC
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 18 @ 12 noon
WHERE: 35/43 School of Labor and Employment Relations, 504 E. Armory Ave., Champaign
A good way to end the week: firm up the foundation of your class resentment!
You live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible enlightenment. If that’s the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are several events going on in town this week. Check out one or more of them if you have time. Get your learn on, as they say, and join the cognoscenti. It’s free, you know. Plus, sometimes there’s free food, too!
If you have a community event, speaker, or film event that you’d like to see featured on Listen Up!, send the event information to joelgillespie [at] smilepolitely [dot] com by Friday the week prior to the event. Listen Up! runs on Tuesdays.