Political Art and the Public Sphere to screen The Invisible War documentary

WHAT: The Political Art and the Public Sphere (PAPS) series at the University of Illinois Springfield presents a screening and discussion of the documentary The Invisible War, a film about sexual assault in the United States military.

WHEN: Monday, February 25, 2013 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS

DETAILS: The Invisible War is nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards. The 2012 film features interviews with veterans from multiple branches of the United States Armed Forces who recount the events surrounding their assaults. Common themes of their stories include the lack of recourse to an impartial justice system, reprisals against survivors instead of against perpetrators, the absence of adequate emotional and physical care for survivors, the unhindered advancement of perpetrators’ careers, and the forced expulsion of survivors from service.

The survivors and advocates featured in the film call for changes to the way the military handles sexual assault, such as shifting prosecution away from unit commanders, who often are either friends with assailants or assailants themselves.

The PAPS series is a monthly event on the UIS campus hosted by Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky, associate professor of Political Philosophy. The theme of the Spring 2013 Political Art and the Public Sphere series, Women and War, is dedicated to discussions of ignored, marginalized, misrepresented, and underrepresented social and political questions relating to the experiences of women in war.

This event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Issues Caucus. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Gilman-Opalsky at 217/206-8328 or email rgilm3@uis.edu.

UIS Visual Arts Gallery hosts annual Silent Auction Benefit featuring original works of art

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery will hold its annual Silent Auction Benefit December 10-13, 2012. This year, the auction boasts a wide range of high caliber works by artists from Springfield and throughout Illinois. A closing reception, along with final bidding, will take place on December 13 from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Visual Arts Gallery.

This annual fundraising event will feature an extraordinary range of work by artists who are celebrated locally and nationally. Local artists Chris Britt, Mike Miller, Felicia Olin, Thom Whalen, Kevin Veara, and Betsy Dollar are among the list of local artist donors. The list goes on to include Bloomington artists Erin Furimsky and Rob Fifield, Peoria artists Bill Conger and Heather Brammeier, Decatur artists Lyle Salmi and Annette Russo, Chicago-based artist Nick Henning and Betsy Odom, and also Brooklyn-based artist Victoria Calabro. These are but a sampling of artists represented at the auction this year.

This remarkable collection of donated works is accessible to the community through this annual Silent Auction Benefit, which supports gallery programming throughout the year.

“It’s really an incredible outpouring of support from these artists, and the quality of work is better than ever,” said UIS Visual Arts Gallery Director Jeff Robinson. “Now we look to the community for continued support through bidding. It’s likely one of the best opportunities to obtain an original work of art or even a functional, unique holiday gift, and very likely at a significantly reduced price. In turn, because of the support and money raised through this event, we can continue to bring exceptional gallery programming to the community throughout the year.”

The Silent Auction Benefit will launch bidding at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery on Monday, December 10, and bidding will remain open through Thursday, December 13. The Thursday reception, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., will include complimentary refreshments as well as offer final bidding for auction items. Enjoy festive holiday music performed by the UIS Chorus from 5:30-6 p.m. and the Chamber Ensemble from 6:10 to 6:40 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The UIS Visual Arts Gallery is centrally located on the UIS campus in the Health and Science Building, room 201 (HSB 201). Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information on exhibitions, please visit the UIS Visual Arts Gallery website at www.uis.edu/visualarts/gallery, or contact the gallery by phone at 217/206-6506 or email Allison Lacher at alach3@uis.edu.

UIS Music Program presents Fall Showcase Concert

WHAT: The music program at the University of Illinois Springfield presents its Fall Showcase Concert entitled “Blow the Candles Out…”. Community members, students, faculty, and staff are invited to enjoy an evening of music filled with love, tragedy, comedy and enchantment.

WHEN: Friday, November 30, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Studio Theatre

DETAILS: The event will feature music highlighting a range of passions from the human experience. Highlights include an Indonesian lullaby, a traditional Greek piece, Themes from Romeo and Juliet, an enchanting new work by Phillipe Sparke, and arrangements of Sleigh Ride and Frosty the Snowman to indulge the holiday spirit.

Studio Theatre doors open at 7 p.m. and the evening music begins at 7:30. The performance is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

The Chorus, under the direction of Dr. Sharon Graf, will open the Showcase with a traditional sea shanty arranged by Gregg Smith: “Blow the Candles Out”. Directed by Dr. Yona Stamatis, the Chamber Orchestra will perform selections including “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” by He Zhanhao & Chen Gang and “Themes from Romeo and Juliet” by Tchaikovsky. Finally, Dr. Abigail Walsh will lead the Band through selections including David Maslanka’s “Rollo Takes a Walk,” and Samuel Hazo’s "Enchanted Spaces".

Donations are welcome and will be used to benefit the UIS Music Student Merit Award. This year’s awards will be presented at the Fall Showcase.

The UIS Music program began in 2001 and is comprised of students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as Springfield community members, all with a variety of skill levels. Anyone who is interested in joining the UIS Chorus, Band or Chamber Orchestra may contact Dr. Abigail Walsh by emailing music@uis.edu or calling 217/206-7549.

UIS to celebrate 5th annual Sustainability Days

The University of Illinois Springfield will celebrate Sustainability Days (November 12-15, 2012) with several activities on campus. All events are free and open to the public.

Monday, November 12 

Electronic Waste Collection/Recycling
When: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Brookens Library loading dock

“Art in Nature” Contest Submission Deadline 
Entries must be submitted to Mary Umbarger, SLB 16, by 10 a.m.
Prizes will be awarded for 1st place, 2nd place, & popular vote. All medians of art accepted.

Tuesday, November 13 

Launch of Food Services Clamshell Program 
Participants will have the option of replace there Styrofoam containers and get a clamshell container. This event is limited to the first 50 participants.
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: PAC Food Emporium

Electronic Waste Collection/Recycling 
When: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Brookens Library loading dock

“Art in Nature” Contest Voting Begins 
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Across from the PAC Food Emporium

Wednesday, November 14 

Earth Fair 
Meet local environmental groups at the Earth Fair.
When: 6:45 – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Tunnel outside Brookens Auditorium

Foreign Intervention & Domestic Conflict in the Congo featuring Séverine Autesserre 
Séverine Autesserre, will discuss her book, The Trouble with the Congo, which won the Chadwick Alger prize presented by the International Studies Association for the best book on international organizations and multilateralism published in 2010.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Brookens Auditorium

“Art in Nature” Contest Voting
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Across from the PAC Food Emporium

Thursday, November 15 

“Art in Nature” Contest Voting
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Across from the PAC Food Emporium

Sustainability Open Microphone and “Art in Nature” Reception
When: 4:30 to 6 p.m. (Contest winners announced at 5:30 p.m.)
Where: PAC C/D
Light refreshments will be served.

UIS Sustainability Days are sponsored by the Senate Committee on Sustainability, Lambda Pi Eta, Students Allied for a Greener Earth, Department of Environmental Studies, and BLH Computers of Springfield.

PAPS to screen Fig Trees, a film exploring AIDS in South Africa

WHAT: The Political Art and the Public Sphere (PAPS) series at the University of Illinois Springfield presents a screening and discussion of the documentary Fig Trees. The documentary tells the story of Zackie Achmat, who in 1999 went on a treatment strike, refusing to take AIDS treatment pills until they were widely available to all South Africans.

WHEN: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS

DETAILS: Achmat’s symbolic act helped build his Treatment Action Campaign into a national movement—yet with each passing month, Zackie grew sicker. Fig Trees is a documentary opera that tells the story of Zackie's treatment strike and the larger story of the fight for pills on two continents.

The PAPS series is a monthly event on the UIS campus hosted by Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky, associate professor of Political Philosophy. This fall, Dr. Michael J. Murphy, assistant professor of Women and Gender Studies at UIS will co-host and moderate each PAPS event.

This semester, PAPS marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery and naming of the HIV virus (1982-2012). The fall series is dedicated to raising social, cultural, and political questions related to HIV, particularly how the disease has been treated as an affliction of a “despised sexuality,” as well as how different communities have been impacted by and have addressed the problem. All events are free and open to the public.

This event is co-sponsored by the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series and UIS LGBTQA Resource Office.

For more information, contact Dr. Gilman-Opalsky at 217/206-8328 or email rgilm3@uis.edu.

Illinois Innocence Project presents "DNA as Evidence"

WHAT: The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois Springfield, is giving you a chance to learn about DNA. The project will host a lecture by Cris Hughes, Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She will discuss how human genetic variations in DNA can be used in a variety of contexts.

WHEN: Monday, November 5, 2012 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Public Affairs Center (PAC), Conference Room G

DETAILS: Participants will learn ‘the basics’ of forensic DNA, understand how DNA testing is used in the criminal justice system, and discover the science behind genetics at Native American anthropological sites.

Hughes will discuss how DNA has been used in her work on the border at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Arizona. She will also discuss her work at the Malhi Degraded DNA Laboratory at UIUC, which focuses on living and ancestral genetic variation in Native Americans. Additionally, she will address the way that degraded DNA, associated with crimes, is processed and used in cases.

This Illinois Innocence Project event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mandy Altman at 217/206-6569. For more on the project, visit their website at www.uis.edu/innocenceproject/.

UIS celebrates American Indian Heritage Month

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series presents “Hopi Running” as part of American Indian Heritage Month. Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert, assistant professor of American Indian studies and history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) will lead the discussion.

WHEN: Monday, November 5, 2012 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: This talk will discuss Hopi running past and present and the ways Hopis have used running to combat obesity, diabetes, and to further Hopi culture on the Reservation. Hopis are historically known for their ability to run great distances in record time.

Sakietewa Gilbert is enrolled with the Hopi Tribe from the village of Upper Moencopi in northeastern Arizona. Centering his research and teaching on Native American history and the history of the West, he examines the history of American Indian education, the Indian boarding school experience, and American Indians and sports.

Sakiestewa Gilbert received his Ph.D. and M.A. in history from the University of California, Riverside, and holds a M.A. in theology from Talbot School of Theology/Biola University.

This event is being co-sponsored by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Mahatma Gandhi Fund.

For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.

Political Art and the Public Sphere to screen RED RED RED, a film exploring the politics of AIDS

WHAT: The Political Art and the Public Sphere (PAPS) series at the University of Illinois Springfield presents a screening of the documentary RED RED RED. The film by David Oscar Harvey focuses on a law in Iowa that severely limits the liberties of people with HIV. Following the screening, Harvey will take questions from the audience during a group discussion.

WHEN: Monday, October 22, 2012 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS

DETAILS: RED RED RED is a personal and political film that considers big questions about the contemporary state of queer politics and the dimensions of identity for HIV-positive persons. The film has screened at numerous film festival internationally.

Harvey is a filmmaker and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa in the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature. He is also an educator, activist, artist and scholar regarding issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. His academic writing on HIV/AIDS has been published in a variety of journals.

The PAPS series is a monthly event on the UIS campus hosted by Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky, associate professor of Political Philosophy. This fall, Dr. Michael J. Murphy, assistant professor of Women and Gender Studies at UIS will co-host and moderate each PAPS event.

This semester, PAPS marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery and naming of the HIV virus (1982-2012). The fall series is dedicated to raising social, cultural, and political questions related to HIV, particularly how the disease has been treated as an affliction of a “despised sexuality,” as well as how different communities have been impacted by and have addressed the problem. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Dr. Gilman-Opalsky at 217/206-8328 or email rgilm3@uis.edu.

Speakers Series presents "The Freshwater Crisis: Challenges and Solutions"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series presents “The Global Freshwater Crisis: Challenges & Solutions”. The discussion will be led by Gary Lamberti, professor and chair of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame.

WHEN: Wed., Oct. 24, 2012 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Sangamon Auditorium Lobby, on the 2nd level of the Public Affairs Center.

DETAILS: The planet’s fresh water supply is arguably in jeopardy with more than one billion people lacking access to clean water and more than three billion people lacking sanitation for their waste. Toxic chemicals ranging from metals to pharmaceuticals enter, accumulate, and bio-magnify in fresh water habitats. As a result, fresh water is globally threatened, with fish, mussels, and crayfish being the most endangered groups of animals worldwide.

Human and environmental well-being is dependent on the presence of high-quality and plentiful freshwater resources. In the discussion, Lamberti will address how the planet and human populations can deal with this fresh water crisis and explain possible solutions to ensure a plentiful supply of clean fresh water for future generations.

Lamberti, author of more than 130 scientific publications, and past editor of Methods in Stream Ecology, received his doctorate from University of California (Berkeley) in 1983. Lamberti is an aquatic ecologist and environmental scientist whose research focuses on salmon biology, the ecology of invasive species, wetland conservation, and river restoration. At Notre Dame, he teaches biostatistics, stream ecology, and restoration ecology. Lamberti is also a past president of an international society of aquatic scientists.

This event is co-sponsored by the Notre Dame Club of central Illinois and is free and open to the public. For a list of other ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries.

UIS Speaker Series presents "Asian Americans Are (Not) Funny?: Comedy and Racialization"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series presents “Asian Americans Are (Not) Funny?: Comedy and Racialization”. The discussion will be led by Caroline Kyungah Hong, assistant professor of English at Queens College CUNY.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Hong's talk will discuss the common misconception in U.S. popular culture that Asian Americans are not funny, unless they’re being made fun of for their physical, cultural, and social difference. Asian American comedy and humor employ the very same mediums that have historically been used to exclude and mark Asian Americans as the racial other, in order to destabilize prevalent images of Asian Americans as the yellow peril, the perpetual foreigner, and the model minority. Through examining the past, present, and future of Asian American comedy and humor, it discusses how Asian American comedic tradition challenges stereotypes and fixed notions of race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Hong’s research interests include Asian American studies, comedy and humor, ethnic studies, women writers of color, gender and sexuality studies, race and popular culture (especially film, TV, and comics/graphic narratives), and American studies.

For a list of other ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.

UIS Lincoln Legacy Lectures to discuss the Emancipation Proclamation and Slavery Today

The 10th Annual Lincoln Legacy Lectures presented by the University of Illinois Springfield will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, October 11, 2012 in Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS.

This year’s topic is “Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.” The lectures, and a reception and book signing that will immediately follow, are free and open to the public. No reservation is required.

The Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series brings nationally known scholars to Springfield to discuss issues that are of contemporary interest and also engaged Abraham Lincoln and citizens of his era.

This year’s featured speakers are Dr. Allen C. Guelzo, director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, and Ron Soodalter, historian and author. Dr. Michael Burlingame, Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at UIS, will serve as moderator.

Guelzo’s lecture will discuss Lincoln’s decision making in “Four Roads to Emancipation.” Soodalter will describe “A Blight on the Nation: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today.”

Guelzo is one of America’s foremost Lincoln scholars and author of many books on Lincoln and the Civil War, including Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (Simon & Schuster, 2004) and Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Soodalter is the author of The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (with K. Bales, University of California Press, 2010) and Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader (Atria, 2006).

The Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series is sponsored by the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership in cooperation with the Lynn Chair in Lincoln Studies. Cosponsors of this year's event are: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Public Affairs and Administration, Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, Engaged Citizenship Speakers Series, Illinois Issues, Illinois State Library, University of Illinois Alumni Association, and WUIS Public Radio.

 Seating in Brookens Auditorium is limited; however overflow seating will be available in the Public Affairs Center, Level 1, Conference Room C/D, where the audience can watch a large-screen live video feed. Those unable to attend in person can watch a live webcast by going to www.uis.edu/technology/uislive.html at the time of the event.

For more information, contact the Center for State Policy and Leadership at 217/206-7094.

Internationally renowned artist Roger Shimomura presents America Behind Barbed Wire at UIS

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery welcomes Roger Shimomura, an internationally renowned and celebrated artist known for his prints, paintings, and performance works.

The gallery exhibit, America Behind Barbed Wire, runs from October 1 through December 1, and offers a varied collection of his prints. Shimomura will present a lecture on Thursday, October 11 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Public Affairs Center, Room F. A gallery reception will follow from 6:30-8 p.m. in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery, located in the Health and Science Building, Room 201. This event is free and open to the public.

Shimomura is a significantly influential and celebrated artist. His work is an aesthetic and political comparison between contemporary America and traditional Japan. As a small child during World War II, he and his family were relocated from their home in Seattle to a Japanese American internment camp in Idaho. Using images from both cultures, Shimomura creates a complicated layering of pictorial information and social observation. He creates work that often pivots on exposing and battling both past and prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions that he encounters as a third generation Asian American. His stylistic representations reflect the aesthetic conventions of comic books, cartoons, and Pop Art. Working in these Western traditions, America Behind Barbed Wire reflects the artist’s long interest in the status of Asian Americans within American society.

Shimomura is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. He is in the permanent collections of over 85 museums nationwide, and has had over 100 solo exhibitions of his paintings and prints, as performance pieces. Select venues include the Franklin Furnace, New York City, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and The Smithsonian Institution. He is the recipient of four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in painting and performance art, a McKnight Fellowship, the Kansas Governor's Artist Award, a Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Fellowship, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, and was the first artist internationally to be awarded a Japan Foundation Grant, as well as the first in the state to receive the Kansas Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in Painting. His personal papers and letters are being collected by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The UIS Visual Arts Gallery is centrally located on the UIS campus in the Health and Science Building, Room 201 (HSB 201). Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information regarding America Behind Barbed Wire and future exhibitions, please visit the UIS Visual Arts Gallery website at www.uis.edu/visualarts/gallery, or contact the gallery by phone at 217/206-6506 or alach3@uis.edu.

UIS to screen locally produced film The Yellow Wallpaper in Brookens Auditorium

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Women’s Center presents a screening of the film The Yellow Wallpaper. A discussion led by Springfield-based directors David Cain, Kevin Purcell, and actress Aasne Vigesaa will follow the screening.

WHEN: Sunday, October 7, 2012 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: The Yellow Wallpaper was filmed at the historic Vachel Lindsay Home in Springfield. The story was adapted from a short story written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Illinois Times writes, “It’s the story of a woman with a nervous disorder whose physician husband orders bed rest for her and refuses to let her pursue her interests. She is trapped in her bedroom with nothing to do and slowly, yet methodically, becomes unstable.”

Vigesaa's spell-binding performance as the "Narrator" leads you on an emotional journey of discovery and evolution as she transcends depression, her overbearing husband and the repressive medical practices of her era.

David Cain is an artist, filmmaker, composer, author, animator, and teacher. His production company, UMEDIA, Inc., is located at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, where he is a resident artist. Kevin Purcell is a founding member of Over the Moon Productions, and directed Shakespeare Shorts and other plays. As an actor, Kevin was seen in UIS Theatre's production of As You Like It, as well as local productions. Aasne Vigesaa holds an MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University, and has taught as an adjunct for UIS Theatre.

The screening and discussion of The Yellow Wallpaper is being co-sponsored by the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series and UIS Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

Kate Bornstein to discuss award-winning book Gender Outlaw at UIS

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series will host a discussion on the book Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us. Award-winning author Kate Bornstein will lead the presentation and discussion.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Bornstein is a performance artist and playwright who has authored several books in the field of Women and Gender Studies. Her book, Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us, is described as being part coming-of-age story and part mind-altering manifesto on gender and sexuality, coming directly to you from the life experiences of a transsexual woman. In this talk, Bornstein will discuss Gender Outlaw and the gender continuum. A reception and book signing will follow the event. This event serves as the kickoff event for the October awareness month “Queertober”.

Bornstein’s books are taught in five languages in over 200 colleges and universities around the world. She lives in New York City with her girlfriend, three cats, two dogs, and one turtle, in whose company she wrote her new memoir, A Queer and Pleasant Danger: the true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today."

This event is co-sponsored by the UIS College of Education and Human Services, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Diversity Center, Human Development Counseling Department, LGBTQA Resource Office, Psychology Department, Student Government Association, and Women & Gender Studies Department.

For a list of other ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.

Activist Tom Hayden to speak at UIS

WHAT: Tom Hayden, one of the co-founders of the 1960s group Students for a Democratic Society and author of the Port Huron Statement, will speak at the University of Illinois Springfield as part of the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series.

WHEN: Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 7:00pm

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Few symbolized 1960s radicalism as boldly as Tom Hayden. In March 1962, the 22-year-old student journalist and activist sat down in his Manhattan apartment to begin work on an "agenda for a generation," a manifesto that would distil the fears and hopes and values of the student movement then rising on American campuses.

Three months later, Hayden co-founded the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the leading organization of the New Left movement. Under his direction, the the Port Huron Statement, set out a vision of bottom-up "participatory democracy" as the common thread binding the various left-liberal causes – civil rights, anti-poverty, anti-nuclear, peace, labor, free speech, campus reform – and a life-affirming answer to the conformism and apathy of the time.

In addition to being a co-founder of SDS, he was a Freedom Rider in the South, a member of the Chicago Eight put on trial for disrupting the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and a Vietnam War protester. Later he earned fame in other ways, by marrying actress and activist Jane Fonda and serving in the California legislature.

For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.

UIS Lunch & Learn Series presents "Chasing the American Dream to the Heartland"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Alumni SAGE Society and Illinois State Historical Society presents “Chasing the American Dream to the Heartland” as part of its annual Lunch and Learn Series.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Public Affairs Center (PAC) Conference Room C/D, located on the lower level of the PAC on the UIS campus.

DETAILS: Mike Lelys, executive director of Oak Ridge Cemetery and a first generation Lithuanian-American, will discuss the two distinct waves of Lithuanian immigration to Sangamon County, and how that culture has struggled, survived, and thrived in Illinois. Victor Juarez, Philadelphia campus taxpayer advocate for the IRS and first generation Peruvian-American, will share perspectives on Latino and Hispanic culture and immigration to central Illinois.

The cost for the hot buffet lunch and program is $20/per person. Reservations are requested, as seating is limited. Seating is available in the back for those who do not purchase the luncheon buffet.

Other upcoming Lunch & Learn events include “The Sky is Falling” on November 9 and “Gerontological Education: Early Foundations and Future Demands” on December 5. A discounted $35 series subscription is available if reservations are received by October 1. Lunch is complimentary for the November 9 program as part of the "Back to Class for a Day" event.

Visit www.uiaa.org/uis to register online. For more information, contact the UI Alumni Association at UIS at 217/206-7395 or email alumni@uis.edu.

UIS hosts leadership fair for high school students

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute will host over 200 high school students from around Illinois as part of a student leadership fair.

WHEN: Friday, September 21, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.

WHERE: College/Career Fair: Public Affairs Center (PAC), lower level Opening Remarks: The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC)

DETAILS: The student leadership fair will allow high school students to hear nationally prominent motivational speakers, attend workshops on preparing for college, financial aid/literacy, and leadership development. Students will also have the opportunity to visit with recruiters representing vocational and technical schools, community colleges, 4-year academic institutions, and the military. In addition, students will receive helpful materials on college preparation and applying for scholarships.

Opening remarks will be delivered by UIS Chancellor Susan J. Koch and Jaime Cruz, president of the UIS Organization of Latin American Students at 9:30 a.m. in TRAC. Following the remarks, a keynote address will be delivered by speaker, educator, and author Jimmy Cabrera. The leadership development session will be led by motivational speaker Andres Lara.

The United States Hispanic Leadership Institute is a Chicago-based national nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that promotes education, civil participation, and leadership development for Latinos and other similarly disenfranchised groups.

The free event is open to high school students of all backgrounds; however registration is required for admission. Students may register online at ushlislsspringfieldil2012.eventbrite.com.

For more information, contact Dr. Clarice Ford, UIS associate dean of students and Diversity Center director at 217/206-6333 or cford21@uis.edu.

UIS hosts "Property Rights on Trial: Fighting Eminent Domain and Civil Forfeiture Abuse"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Department of Liberal Studies, the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Foundation, and the UIS Liberty Forum presents “Property Rights on Trial: Fighting Eminent Domain and Civil Forfeiture Abuse”. The presentation will be led by Attorney Scott Bullock of the Institute for Justice.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Scott Bullock serves as the senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. His work “focuses on property rights and economic liberty cases in federal and state courts.” He argued the controversial landmark Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London, defending the rights of residents threatened by the abuse of eminent domain for private development.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact William Kline, assistant professor of Liberal & Integrative Studies at 217/206-7418 or wklin2@uis.edu.

Speakers Series and WUIS host Constitution Day event exploring the 2012 elections

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series and WUIS public radio will host a Constitution Day event exploring the 2012 elections. The discussion will be moderated by WUIS News Director Sean Crawford.

WHEN: Monday, September 17, 2012 at Noon

WHERE: Sangamon Auditorium Lobby, UIS Public Affairs Center - 2nd Floor

DETAILS: WUIS Statehouse Bureau Chief Amanda Vinicky and Chicago Sun-Times Bureau Chief Dave McKinney recently returned from covering this year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. They closely followed the Illinois delegations at each event and will share how these partisan platforms relate to the quadrennial constitutional election process.

Vinicky earned an M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield in 2005. She completed undergraduate degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003. Amanda has been covering the Illinois General Assembly for WUIS and the Illinois Public Radio network since 2006.

McKinney has been Springfield bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1995. Before that, he was a government and general assignment reporter at the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, where he began his career after graduating from Eastern Illinois University with a journalism degree in 1986. He has won numerous awards for his political coverage.

Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions and offer thoughts on the effectiveness of this democratic process.

For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.

Speakers Series presents "How Young Adults Can Move Forward to Challenge the Status Quo"

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speakers Series and the Organization of Latin American Students at UIS presents “How Young Adults Can Move Forward to Challenge the Status Quo”. The discussion will be led by motivational speaker Andres Lara also known as “The Cuban Guy”.

WHEN: Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Hispanics, Latinos, and all immigrants to this country are those who were dissatisfied with the status quo in their homeland and were willing to do something about it. Leaving everything behind to start a new life with nothing says a lot about their commitment, determination, and motivation to excel. One example is Andres Lara. At age 16 Andres escaped from Cuba and arrived in America not knowing a word of English. Without his parents and without any money he was homeless and lived on the street. By age 24, Andres was an honors graduate of Montclair State University, the author of several international-selling books, and a nationally known speaker.

In this talk, and in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Andres Lara will tell his story. Using his experiences in both Cuba and the United States, Lara will discuss the broad social issues individuals – especially immigrants - face based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors and how such barriers can be overcome to achieve personal success and social change.

For a list of other ECCE Speakers Series events and more information, visit http://illinois.edu/goto/speakerseries. All events are free and open to the public.