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 Mondays.
WHAT: “Carded at the Door: Contested Space and the Consolidation of the Feminist Subject,” Anne Enke, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Madison
WHEN: Monday, March 1 @ 5 p.m.
WHERE: Humanities Lecture Hall, IPRH, 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana
Enkie had a 2007 book of a similar title, and this talk will likely draw from that source material.
WHAT: “Speaking Unconventionally: The Printed Works of Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.”
WHEN: Monday, March 1 @ 7 p.m.
WHERE: Main Lounge of Allen Hall, 1005 W. Gregory, Urbana
Check tomorrow’s edition of Smile Politely for more on Mr. Kennedy, as an exhibition of his work is opening at Indi-go Gallery later this week, but head to Allen Hall tonight if you’re looking for a sneak peek at the man.
WHAT: Carr Reading Series: Angie Estes, author of Tryst
WHEN: Wednesday, March 3 @ 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Author’s Corner of the Illini Union Bookstore
Again, there will be more to come tomorrow on this one, as we’ll have an interview with Ms. Estes. Another reading not to be missed.
WHAT: “Trading Progress for Paradise: American Tourism in Porfirian Mexico,” Janice Jayes, Ph.D., Independent Scholar
WHEN: Thursday, March 4 @ 12 noon
WHERE: 101 International Studies Building, 910 S. Fifth Street, Champaign
I had a hard time finding out much more than the calendar listing describes, but it should be an interesting case study.
WHAT: “Scholarship of Sustainability – A Series of Public Events for the Campus and the Community,” Professor Don Wuebbles (atmospheric sciences), Professor Jeff Brawn (NRES), Ms. Jackie Wilcosz
WHEN: Thursday, March 4 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: 213 Gregory Hall, 810 South Wright Street, Urbana
This installment of the yearlong series is called “The Challenge of Spatial Space.”
From the event announcement: “The important issue of spatial scale arises in various ways. One way relates to the challenges scientists face in understanding nature; their work often needs to consider nature and natural processes at varied spatial scales. A second way relates to the need, when evaluating uses of nature, to consider human actions at varied scales; only in that way can we fairly evaluate our effects on nature. Finally and significantly, our efforts to remedy misuses of nature require coordinated action at scales from the individual and local to the global. How can this coordination take place, however, in a world that is fragmented into political jurisdictions and privately owned pieces of nature? How does the fragmentation of the planet, that is, add to our misbehaviors and make remedial action so much more difficult? While taking note of the first two challenges related to spatial scale, the session will largely focus on the third.”