WHAT: “Developing a Value Chain: Biomass & Biofuels in Haiti,” Kathleen Robbins, Co-founder, Jatropha Pepinye
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 1 @ 12 noon
WHERE: Stephen J. Warner Conference Room, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign
From the event announcement: “The presentation will discuss the work of Jatropha Pepinye and other organizations in Haiti to help solve some of the problems of deforestation and limited energy supplies in that country. The seminar will be broadcast live on the ISTC website www.istc.illinois.edu and also archived there for later viewing.”
WHAT: “Higher Education in India and India’s role in Higher Education in a Global Context,” Panel Discussion featuring: Indian Consul General Mukta D.Tomar (pictured at right); Prof. P.R. Kumar, Electrical and Computer Engineering ; Prof. Madhu Viswanathan, Business Administration; Mousumi Mukherjee, Doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy Studies
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 1 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: Illini Union, room 404
Each discussant will be asked to briefly present their perspectives on education in India, as well as respond to audience questions.
WHAT: “Mediterranean Vices,” symposium featuring: Dr. Michael Herzfeld (Anthropology, Harvard University); Dr. Silvana Patriarca (History, Fordham University); Dr. Emanuel Rota (Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, UIUC). Introduction by Dr. Angeliki Tzanetou (Classics, UIUIC)
WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 2 @ 2 p.m.
WHERE: 3rd floor, Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana
From the event announcement: “Since the industrialization of Northern Europe in the 18th century, the Mediterranean and its inhabitants have been represented as an inviting but dangerous alternative to the austere Northern European values. While industriousness, politeness and respect of the laws have been used by Northern Europeans to represent themselves, the Mediterranean– from the Enlightenment to the tourists industry to the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain)– captured the European and American imagination as a place of laziness, licentiousness and anarchy. The panel will discuss the Mediterranean ‘vices’ looking at the role they play for the representation and self-representation of Europeans both in popular culture and in the social sciences.”
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.