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.
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 Mondays.
WHAT: “In the Name of Capturing Political Power: Dalit Women, NGO Activism and Panchayati Raj,” by Radhika Govinda, University of Cambridge
WHEN: Tuesday, April 14 @ 12 noon
WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge (room 1080), Foreign Language Building (707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana)
Did you know that Panchayati Raj is not a person, but a decentralized form of government instituted by Gandhi? Well, now you do. If you did already know that, this talk might be a great way to spend a brown-bag lunch on a Tuesday.
WHAT: “Yes to Books, Youth and Reading against Exclusion in Haiti,” by Elizabeth Pierre-Louis
WHEN: Wednesday, April 15 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: GSLIS Auditorium (501 East Daniel, Champaign)
Pierre-Louis is the recipient of the 2008 Charles C. Stewart International Young Humanitarian Award given by the Office of International Programs and Studies. Her talk will address questions such as: Who reads in Haiti? Where are books accessible? and With half the Haitian population under 18 years of age, how should libraries address their reading needs in order to nurture and prepare this young population for their future?
WHAT: “MGSC/ISGS Carbon Sequestration Demonstration Project,” by Dr. Rob Finley, Director, ISGS Energy and Earth Resources Center
WHEN: Wednesday, April 15 @ 12 noon
WHERE: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (One E. Hazelwood Drive, Champaign)
From the event announcement: “Dr. Finley will discuss the progress on the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) and Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) Phase III large-scale sequestration demonstration project in Mt. Simon Sandstone in Decatur. The MGSC, ISGS, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), and Schlumberger Carbon Services are working together on this project which involves the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from ADM’s ethanol plant in Decatur. The project is designed to confirm the ability of the Mt. Simon Sandstone to accept and store 1 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over a period of 3 years.”
WHAT: “Annual Food Film Festival,” by the U of I’s Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program
WHEN: Wednesday, April 15 @ 7 p.m.
WHERE: Main Lounge, Allen Residence Hall (1005 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana)
We posted the full press release a couple of weeks ago, but the main things you need to know are that there will be three movies (King Corn, Eat Drink Man Woman, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John, in that order) as well as booths from local food advocacy groups. It should be an excellent opportunity to connect members of the community that care about food-related issues, so I’d recommend carving out a portion of your Wednesday evening to check out the Festival.
The event is scheduled to end at 12:45
WHAT: “Hewlette Conference on Sustainable Biofuels and Human Security: A Comparison of Brazil and East Africa,” multiple speakers
WHEN: Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17
WHERE: Levis Faculty Center, Third Floor (919 W. Illinois St., Urbana)
Check out the program agenda for what’s going on when, but there are roughly a dozen speakers featured over the two-day conference. About half of the presenters are from the U of I, and the other half come from such far-flung locales as England, Mozambique, and Brazil.