Past Community Conversations

Fall 2018

"Telling Stories with Data"
Rob Arthur
Sept. 6, 2018
7:15-8:30 p.m.
SU 003

Data can be uniquely powerful and persuasive as a medium for telling stories, but it is also uniquely difficult to use effectively. In the talk, I'll review different ways to write about and visualize data, and provide some basic principles of effective data communication. I'll lean on examples drawn from baseball and other fields to show how statistics can sometimes create stories that wouldn't otherwise be told.
 
Rob Arthur is a freelance data journalist and consultant whose work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Slate, VICE, and numerous other places. He earned his Ph.D. in evolutionary genetics from the University of Chicago in 2015, before going on to cover baseball for FiveThirtyEight. Since then, he's written about topics ranging from police shootings to election hacking for a variety of different publications and consulted for multiple MLB teams as well as other companies.

Spring 2018

Maintaining Our Affordable and Inclusive Communities Through Workforce Housing Strategies
April 3, 2018 from 6:30-8 p.m.
秘密研究所, Student Union, Room 003

Join 秘密研究所n faculty and panelists for an informative conversation about ways to address the need for affordable housing in our community areas and the importance of maintaining income diversity which in turn creates strong, healthy communities. Attendees will be better informed on affordable housing programs and strategies, its need in our neighborhoods, and thus encouraged to be involved in future community discussions on housing projects to help retain local residents.

Speakers

  • Tim Libretti, event facilitator; Professor and Chair - English - NEIU
  • Dennis Grammenos, Associate Professor - Geography & Environmental Studies - NEIU
  • Shareef Taylor, Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)
  • John Kennedy, Evergreen Real Estate Group
  • Alan Mills, Uptown People鈥檚 Law Center

Panelists will cover topics ranging from local housing data, gentrification in Chicago, income and identity diversity, building management, housing vouchers, landlord resources, preservation, and tenant rights.

This program is co-hosted by NEIU's Division of Student Affairs and the North River Commission鈥檚 Housing Committee.

Relocating the Difference: Fake News and Fact in the Age of Trump

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
6:30-8 p.m.
Golden Eagles Room

Speaker: Dr. Tim Scherman, Professor, English

#MeToo Moment and Momentum: How Do We Make the Deeper Changes around Sex, Gender, Race and Power?

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
6:30-8 p.m. 
Golden Eagles Room

Speakers:

  • Dr. Nancy Matthews, Professor, Justice Studies and Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies
  • Terrie Albano, Freelance journalist and NEIU alumna
  • Dr. Vicki Byard, Professor, English
  • Karen Kent, President of UNITE HERE Local 1
  • Kasey Nalls, casino worker leader of UNITE HERE Local 1鈥檚 鈥淗ands Off Pants On鈥 campaign

Black Women鈥檚 Liberatory Pedagogies: Resistance, Transformation, and Healing
Within and the Beyond the Academy

Tuesday, February 27, 2018
5:30-7 p.m.   
Golden Eagles Room

A discussion with Professors Sharon Bethea, Olivia Perlow, BarBara Scott, and Durene Wheeler.

Race, Education, and the Current Political Climate

Thursday, February 22, 2018
Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies, Auditorium
Speakers:

  • Dr. Sunni Ali, Professor, CCICS;
  • Dr. Flavian Prince, META 24 and Member of the Mayor Rahm Emanuel鈥檚 Committee on Race Relations; NEIU students

Whole Educator, Whole Child: The Impact of Educator Wellness on Successful Learning Environments

Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Speakers:

  • Vanessa Ahmed: NBCT, Founder of Yawpster, co-facilitator
  • Reginald Grigsby: MA, District 215 educator, co-founder of Brother 2 Brother
  • Troy LaRaviere: President Chicago Principals & Administrators Association
  • Erika Wozniak: Recipient of 2016 AFT 鈥淓veryday Heroes鈥 teacher division award
  • Adeeb Odeh: Curriculum Coordinator for BAM/Youth Guidance
  • Dr. Tim Duggan: Associate Professor of Secondary Education, NEIU
  • Co-Facilitator: Dr. Timothy Libretti, English Department Chair, 秘密研究所

Fall 2017

Race and Trump鈥檚 America

Monday, October 2, 2017
Speakers:

  • Kristen Over, 鈥淣ation, Narration, and Race: William Faulkner鈥檚 Southern Fable鈥
  • Ryan Poll, 鈥淐an One Get Out?: Developing a Woke Aesthetics in the Epoch of Black Lives Matter鈥
  • Tim Libretti, 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Confederate Heart: Understanding Supremacist Thought in the American Socio-Economic System鈥

Haters Gonna Hate?: Understanding and Overcoming the Roots of Hate in American Culture

Monday, October 23, 2018
Speaker: Tim Libretti, Professor of English, Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies, Latina/o and Latin American Studies

International Economic Issues in the Age of Trump

Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Speaker: Scott Hegerty, Professor of Economics

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