University of Illinois, Chicago: News

UIC's 22nd Annual Blues Cabaret Feb. 24

bflood@uic.edu (Brian Flood) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:10:46 -0500

WHO/WHAT:
The University of Illinois at Chicago celebrates Black History Month with the 22nd annual Blues Cabaret featuring Nellie "Tiger" Travis.

WHEN:
Feb. 24
7 p.m.

WHERE:
UIC Forum
725 W. Roosevelt Road

DETAILS:
Nellie "Tiger" Travis grew up singing gospel music in Mississippi. She has become one of today's leading female blues singers. She is influenced by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, Koko Taylor and Etta James.

Travis has headlined the Chicago Blues Festival and performed in the U.S. and all over the world. She has shared the stage with the likes of Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Gladys Knight, and Ronnie Baker Brooks.

Admission is $25 and includes a soul food buffet. UIC student tickets are available at the door for $10 (one per student i-card). For more information call (312) 413-5070.

Travis photo available for download at http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/v/uicblackhistorymonth/DSC_1259.jpg.html.

The UIC Forum is the newest event venue on campus. Located at the corner of Roosevelt Road and Halsted Street, the UIC Forum has a main hall, two floors of meeting space, a 150-seat theater and a 25-seat training room. The 22,000-square-foot main hall seats 3,000 and features a theatrical lighting system, state-of-the-art concert sound and telescopic seating.

UIC Theatre Presents 'Our Lady of 121st Street'

aranallo@uic.edu (Anne Brooks Ranallo) — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:43:51 -0500

[Note: Photos for download at http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/v/uic_theatre/]

WHAT:
University of Illinois at Chicago acting students will perform "Our Lady of 121st Street," a comedy by Stephen Adly Guirgs, directed by Shansia Davis, film and television actress and UIC adjunct lecturer in theatre.

WHEN:
Feb. 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 19, 26 at 2 p.m.
Feb. 22 at noon

WHERE:
UIC Theatre
1044 W. Harrison St.

DETAILS:
Sister Rose, a nun, teacher and beloved activist in Harlem, has died of alcoholism, and her body has been stolen from the funeral home. Her distraught mourners are over-the-top characters who grew up together, but have not seen each other in years as their lives went astray in various directions. Suddenly needing to come clean, they square off against each other, unleashing their pain and fear in reminiscences, quarrels, and confessions.

The New York Times praised this play as "a scorching and dark new comedyMr. Guirgis has one of the finest imaginations for dialogue to come along in years."

Shansia Davis is a Jeff-nominated actress who has appeared in feature films such as "The Weatherman," "Backdraft" and "With Honors," and in a lead role in the CBS television series "Early Edition." She has performed onstage at Chicago's Goodman, Northlight, Court and Royal George theaters, and at the San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Stephen Adly Guirgis is co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater. He first became known for his play, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," nominated for London's Olivier Award for best new play.

Hull-House Museum Panel to Weigh Historic Preservation

aranallo@uic.edu (Anne Brooks Ranallo) — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 11:00:28 -0500

WHAT:
The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum at the University of Illinois at Chicago will host "This is Not My Beautiful House: Historic Preservation and the People's History," a panel discussion among national and local experts.

WHEN:
Feb. 10
2 - 5 p.m.

WHERE:
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
800 S. Halsted St.
Residents' Dining Hall

DETAILS:
How do we prevent historical amnesia? When is historic preservation a force for gentrification and social displacement, and when is it a force for equality? What role should preservation play in fostering a sense of community?

The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, the National Public Housing Museum, and a panel of distinguished thinkers and activists will examine these and other questions of historic preservation and social justice.

Panelists include:

-Lee Bey, executive director, Chicago Central Area Committee; urbanist, photographer and critic specializing in architecture and the role of politics in the built environment

-Roberta Feldman, UIC professor emeritus of architecture; architectural activist and co-author, "The Dignity of Resistance: Women Residents in Chicago Public Housing"

-Mary Means, founder, Main Street program, National Trust for Historic Preservation; leader in community revitalization and heritage development

-Vince Michael (moderator), chair, historic preservation, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; heritage conservationist and cultural sustainability activist

-Estevan Rael-Galvez, vice president, historic sites, National Trust for Historic Preservation; former director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center; historian of American Indian slavery and advocate for the power of place

Admission is free and open to the public. For information or to RSVP, email mplumme@uic.edu or call (312) 413-5354.

This symposium is funded in part by grants from the Graham Foundation and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

Five UIC Students Win Gilman Study Abroad Awards

bflood@uic.edu (Brian Flood) — Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:49:23 -0500

Five University of Illinois at Chicago undergraduates have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships for study abroad opportunities.

The UIC students are among more than 900 undergraduates awarded Gilman scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs during the 2012 spring semester.

Since 2006, UIC students have received 54 Gilman scholarships totaling about $224,500. Eligible students are those who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in education abroad. The program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, aims to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they travel.

The UIC recipients are:

Grant Buhr, senior Honors College sociology major from Chicago, studying in Quito, Ecuador

Monica Fetherston, junior Spanish and political science major from McHenry, Ill., studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Alexander Guevara, junior criminology, law and justice major from Chicago, studying in Rabat, Morocco

Gilbert Moran, junior economics major from Elmwood Park, Ill., studying in Madrid, Spain

Cesar Rocha, junior accounting major from Chicago, studying in Bilbao, Spain

The scholarship program is funded through the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and is administered by the Institute of International Education's Southern Regional Center in Houston. It honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee.

UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 27,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu.

UIC Demographer Writes on Aging for World Economic Forum

smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis González) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:15:48 -0500

Noted University of Illinois at Chicago biodemographer S. Jay Olshansky is the author of two essays assembled by The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on an Ageing Society to address the challenges and benefits of population aging.

Olshansky's work is part of a book titled "Global Population Ageing: Peril or Promise?" released at the World Economic Forum meeting today in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The book consists of 22 essays divided into four themes: setting the stage for policy decisions on aging; investing in ourselves; pursuing healthy aging; and redesigning our environment. The central theme that emerges is the increasing need to adapt to population aging, identify and take advantage of the opportunities it offers and find ways to unlock the human capital resources that population aging and longer lives make possible.

"The book is designed to change the way the world looks at the aging of individuals and populations," says Olshansky, who is professor of epidemiology in the UIC School of Public Health. "The traditional view is one of loss, decline, decay, and high cost. The new view is to look at aging as an opportunity."

Olshansky's first chapter is "The Elders," about a small group of independent-minded elders brought together by Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel, Nelson Mandela, Graa Machel, Desmond Tutu and others to actively engage in society to resolve global issues at the highest levels. The group, as Olshansky shows, provides an example of leadership attributes common in older people that should be nurtured.

In the second chapter, "The Longevity Dividend: Health as an Investment," Olshansky, John R. Beard and Axel Brsch-Supan advocate investing in health to live better, not just longer. "The economic value of a rapidly growing healthy older population is so large that healthy aging should be aggressively pursued, on its own merits, as a societal investment," say the authors.

The Ageing Book is available at:
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC_GlobalPopulationAgeing_Report_2012.pdf

Olshansky can be reached at sjayo@uic.edu or (847) 537-7278.

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu.