UIS Lunch and Learn Series resumes for Spring 2010

The University of Illinois Springfield’s “Central Illinois: Patchwork of Creative Minds,” a three-part educational series examining creative expression that has flourished in the heartland of Illinois, will resume this spring beginning in March.

The presentations will be held in the Public Affairs Center (PAC) Conference Rooms C/D. Over the lunch hour, attendees will hear presentations by two experts and enjoy a delicious hot buffet luncheon available at 11:30 a.m. The presentations are from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. There is a charge for lunch, but the presentations are free and open to the public. The moderator for the series is William Furry, director of the Illinois State Historical Society, and sponsors are the UIS Alumni SAGE Society, the Illinois State Historical Society and the Office of UIS Chancellor.

The first presentation will be held on March 24 and is a program titled “Song and Dance Along the Sangamon” by Todd Cranson, UIS assistant director of Co-Curricular Music and director of the Vintage Brass Band. Cranson will speak about music and social dancing in early Springfield. Tom Irwin, a song writer, national performer and music editor and writer for Illinois Times weekly newspaper, will then discuss and perform songs of place in the Sangamon River Valley.

On April 21, “Literature, Prairie Visions, Prairie Voices” will be the topic addressed by Dr. Barbara Burkhardt, associate professor of English at UIS and a leading expert on the life and work of Lincoln, Ill. native William Maxwell, who is a former literary editor of The New Yorker magazine. She will be joined by Dr. Dennis Camp, UIS faculty emeritus of English, Vachel Lindsay scholar and author of a new Lindsay biography, who will discuss why Lindsay is an important literary figure.

The series will end on May 19 with the topic “Architecture: Backyard Barns and Prairie Cathedrals.” Presenters include Larry Kanfer, award -winning Champaign, Ill. photographic artist and journalist, whose recent book is Barns of Illinois. Floyd Mansberger, director of Fever River Research, which specializes in cultural resource management projects associated with historic properties, will report on recent archeological discoveries in the Lincoln Home neighborhood that provide a retrospective on this 150th anniversary of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency.

Paid reservations are required for the luncheon at least one week before each session. The cost is $20 per person for lunch or $50 per person for all three lunches if paid reservations are received by March 17. Pre-registration is also requested from those not purchasing the lunch who wish to attend the free presentations.

For more information or to register, visit www.uiaa.org/uis/patchwork or contact the Office of UIS Alumni Relations at 217/206-7395 or alumni@uis.edu.