The Calumet Quarter was launched in 2008 as an effort to bridge theory and practice in environmental studies. Since then, it has become a long-standing collaboration with Chicago Studies, welcoming students from across the College. The Calumet Quarter is an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate students interested in environmental and urban studies, taught this year by Alison Anastasio, Ray Lodato, and Mark Bouman in Spring 2022. The program will bring courses on urban ecology, regional planning, and environmental justice in the Calumet together with weekly day-long Friday field trips throughout the region. The Spring 2022 Calumet courses constitute an opportunity for interconnected, interdisciplinary exploration of the historic region that includes Southeast Chicago and Northwest Indiana. While they can be taken independently, we encourage you to try taking two or even all three so as to better understand the richness of this fascinating part of Chicagoland.
The Calumet region, extending from Chicago’s south side along Lake Michigan into Indiana and Michigan, lies at the intersection of pre-contact distributions of northern boreal forest, prairie, wetlands, savanna, and dune. While the area saw significant use prior to European colonization, it was only in the last 150 years that human land use—especially heavy industry and urban development—began to radically reshape the region. In spite of this, the Calumet is still home to significant levels of biodiversity. Students interested in pre-registering for all three Calumet Quarter classes should contact cskrable@uchicago.edu.
View our virtual info session (recorded with the Quarter faculty on Friday, 1/21) here.