Events

The Program on the Global Environment (PGE) hosts events for students and the broader environmental community. Offerings include public lectures and panel discussions, student-focused open houses and information sessions, study breaks, lunch and learns, undergraduate research presentations, and career events featuring alumni and environmental professionals.

PGE also collaborates regularly on events with on- and off-campus partners, this quarter including the faculty working group for the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU), Chicago Studies, the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (3CT), the Nicholson Center for British Studies, and the Chicago Ornithological Society.

Spring 2022

    Nicholson Faculty Lecture
    Fossil Futures: Rethinking British History in the Anthropocene
    Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

    Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 5:00pm CT
    Zoom

    Moderated by Dipesh Chakrabarty

    Organized by the Nicholson Center for British Studies and co-sponsored by the faculty working group for the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU).

    Register here

    Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    Theorizing the Present Lecture Series
    Lenticular Ontologies
    Ghassan Hage

    Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 5:00pm CT
    SSRB Tea Room & Zoom (Hybrid Event)

    People who have social and affective connections to a multiplicity of geographical locations, such as immigrants, are often portrayed as dwelling and being torn between places. In his recent book, The Diasporic Condition (University of Chicago Press, 2021), Ghassan Hage argues that this is not always the case; that rather than being torn between two or three places people are also capable of dwelling in all these places at the same time. One needs to pluralize one’s conception of what it means to dwell in and occupy a place, and the idea of inhabiting simultaneously a multiplicity of locations becomes easier to conceive. But to what extent do we all inhabit a multiplicity of realities? And if we do, what are the critical analytical consequences of approaching social existence in this way?

    Organized by the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (3CT) and co-sponsored by the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, the Department of Anthropology, and the faculty working group for the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU).

    Register here

    Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    Thursday, April 7, 2022, 5:00pm CT
    Math Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Current third years are invited to join PGE preceptors and faculty for a brainstorming session about BA thesis topics and research. This session is recommended for all third years students who are interested in writing a BA Thesis in Environmental and Urban Studies. During this informal session, students will be able to share ideas, ask questions, and get advice related to the BA thesis.

    For further information or to ask any questions, please reach out to Alicia Perez or schedule office hours with a preceptor or PGE faculty member.

    Reminder: the BA Thesis application is due on Friday, April 29 (which must be approved by a faculty advisor).

    Register here

    Friday, April 8, 2022, 12:30–1:30pm CT
    Zoom

    University of Chicago graduate students are invited to join the CEGU Faculty Working Group for an open discussion of their proposal for a Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization within the Social Sciences Division. Current graduate students from all divisions and schools are welcome.

    CEGU is envisioned as a robust interdisciplinary platform for critical thinking, advanced research, and innovative pedagogy on the societal and spatial dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental transformation. Its faculty and students will seek to investigate and respond to the environmental crises of our time not only by advancing climate change awareness and environmental literacy, but by actively centering questions about climate change and socio-environmental interdependencies in the epistemologies, conceptual frameworks, analytic methods, data sources, and normative foundations of social research at large. Further details will be shared during the event.

    Register here

    Please note: A separate forum for undergraduate students will take place on April 15. Register here for the CEGU Undergraduate Student Forum.

    Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Math Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Current third years are invited to join Professor Evan Carver to learn more about the BA Capstone option in the major for a productive brainstorming session to explore your potential individual BA research projects. Students will discuss BA Capstone courses, possible projects and what makes a capstone different than a thesis.

    Please reach out to Alicia Perez or Professor Evan Carver if you have questions about the BA Capstone.

    Register here

    Friday, April 15, 2022, 12:30–1:30pm CT
    SSRB Tea Room and Zoom (hybrid event)

    University of Chicago undergraduate students are invited to join the CEGU Faculty Working Group for an open discussion of their proposal for a Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization within the Social Sciences Division. Current undergraduates from all Collegiate divisions and majors are welcome.

    CEGU is envisioned as a robust interdisciplinary platform for critical thinking, advanced research, and innovative pedagogy on the societal and spatial dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental transformation. Its faculty and students will seek to investigate and respond to the environmental crises of our time not only by advancing climate change awareness and environmental literacy, but by actively centering questions about climate change and socio-environmental interdependencies in the epistemologies, conceptual frameworks, analytic methods, data sources, and normative foundations of social research at large. Further details will be shared during the event.

    Register here

    Monday, April 18, 2022, 12:00–1:30pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Kick off Earth Week with the Chicago Studies and PGE Plant Swap! In preparation for spring, bring in your plant cuttings and take some new plants home with you. Simply propagate a healthy section of your houseplant, or grab some extra seeds, and stop by to share! Light refreshments will be served.

    Register here

    Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 5:00–6:30pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Join Chicago Studies and the Program on the Global Environment in the Urban Lounge as we unveil new art, including a special presentation by artist Alisa Singer on two works in the space from her series, Environmental Graphiti, which is derived from charts, graphs, and maps related to climate change data. Singer's work has been featured on the cover of recent major reports by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

    PGE student Grace Lee will moderate the discussion. Light refreshments will be served.

    Register here

    Claire Costelloe, LEED Green Associate at the Delta Institute
    Edward Warden, Conservation Stewardship Coordinator at the Shedd Aquarium
    Leah Song, Environmental Law Fellow at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

    Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 12:00–1:00pm CT
    West Lounge, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St.

    Please join UChicago Green Careers in welcoming several young alumni back to campus to talk about their careers! Their backgrounds span conservation, law, environmental data analysis, and more. It will also be a great opportunity to network with locally-based environmental alumni.

    Register here

    Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    POSTPONED TO APRIL 27
    Jackson Park

    Join Chicago Studies and Open Studio for an Earth Week Urban Hike in Jackson Park with Julia Bachrach, a Chicago historian and the author of City in a Garden: A History of Chicago's Parks.

    Register here

    Keisha Lance Bottoms, current IOP Pritzker Fellow, former Atlanta mayor (2018-2012)
    Heather McTeer Toney, former Pritzker Fellow, EPIC Policy Fellow, vice president of community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, former mayor of Greenville, Mississippi (2004-2011)

    Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 5:30–6:45pm CT
    Ida Noyes Cloister Club, 1212 E. 59th St.

    Many of America’s most populous regions are reeling from the effects of climate change, from rising sea levels, increased flooding, extreme heat, and a surge in wildfires and hurricanes. At the same time, the nation’s biggest cities within those regions are home to a higher proportion of communities of color. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report that highlighted how racial and ethnic minority communities face the most severe harms from climate change. Black Americans are 34 percent more likely to live in areas with the highest rates of childhood asthma while Latinos are 43 percent more likely to reside in areas with the highest projected reductions in labor hours due to extreme temperatures. Throughout the country, mayors, often pressed by climate advocates, have attempted to address the crisis with modest policies designed to the improve health of residents and local economies. But can this patchwork approach mitigate the threat that climate change poses to those living in large cities? How can communities of color in America’s major metropolitan areas be better positioned to brace for the impact of climate change?

    Organized by the Institute for Politics; co-sponsored by EPIC and PGE. If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact Christine Hurley.

    Register here

    POSTPONED TO APRIL 28
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Join the Program on the Global Environment and Chicago Studies for the launch of the Spring 2022 issue of Expositions Magazine. Expositions aims to highlight environmental and urban scholarship through creative forms. Stop by to grab a copy, hear live readings from the authors, and enjoy light refreshments.

    Environment, Democracy, and Social Movements
    Alyssa Battistoni, Barnard College
    Megan Black, MIT
    Moderated by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson and Lisa Wedeen, University of Chicago

    Thursday, April 21, 2022, 4:30–6:00pm CT
    Zoom

    The Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU) is a proposal currently under development by a faculty working group at the University of Chicago. Based in the Division of Social Sciences, CEGU is envisioned as a robust interdisciplinary platform for critical thinking, advanced research, and innovative pedagogy on the societal and spatial dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental transformation. CEGU faculty and students will seek to investigate and respond to the environmental crises of our time not only by advancing climate change awareness and environmental literacy, but by actively centering questions about climate change and socio-environmental interdependencies in the epistemologies, conceptual frameworks, analytic methods, data sources, and normative foundations of social research at large.

    Please join us for this event in an inaugural series of events this winter and spring. Further event listings can be found at cegu.info.

    Register here

    Friday, April 22, 2022, 9:30–12:30pm CT
    Kickapoo Woods (transportation available)

    Join Chicago Studies and PGE for an Earth Day restoration workday with Professor Alison Anastasio! Learn more about the ecology of the Calumet region while working to protect and preserve this local hidden gem. All are invited to join; no prior experience necessary.

    Participants should meet outside the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street before 9:30 as the shuttle will be leaving campus at that time. Please dress appropriately for this event including long pants and sleeves, multiple layers, and waterproof shoes.

    Register here

    Sunday, April 24, 2022, 9:30–11:00am CT
    Jackson Park 

    New to birding or a full-fledged birder, all experience levels are welcome to join us for our Earth Week bird walk in Jackson Park with the President of the Chicago Ornithological Society, and UChicago Alum, Edward Warden. Step just outside of campus and witness the dazzling number of species that call Chicago home.

    Register here

    Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 5:30pm CT
    Jackson Park

    Join Chicago Studies and Open Studio for an Earth Week Urban Hike in Jackson Park with Julia Bachrach, a Chicago historian and the author of City in a Garden: A History of Chicago's Parks.

    Register here

    Thursday, April 28, 12:00–1:30pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Join the Program on the Global Environment and Chicago Studies for the launch of the Spring 2022 issue of Expositions Magazine. Expositions aims to highlight environmental and urban scholarship through creative forms. Stop by to grab a copy, hear live readings from the authors, and enjoy light refreshments.

    Animals, Territories, Environments
    Matthew Gandy, University of Cambridge
    Mindi Schneider, Wageningen University
    Moderated by Neil Brenner and Victoria Saramago, University of Chicago

    Thursday, April 29, 2022, 4:30–6:00pm CT
    Zoom

    The Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU) is a proposal currently under development by a faculty working group at the University of Chicago. Based in the Division of Social Sciences, CEGU is envisioned as a robust interdisciplinary platform for critical thinking, advanced research, and innovative pedagogy on the societal and spatial dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental transformation. CEGU faculty and students will seek to investigate and respond to the environmental crises of our time not only by advancing climate change awareness and environmental literacy, but by actively centering questions about climate change and socio-environmental interdependencies in the epistemologies, conceptual frameworks, analytic methods, data sources, and normative foundations of social research at large.

    Please join us for this event in an inaugural series of events this winter and spring. Further event listings can be found at cegu.info.

    Register here

    Monday, May 2, 2022, 12:30pm CT
    Room 284, Harper Memorial Library

    Please join PGE alum Saul Levin (AB '17), now Policy Advisor to Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), for a lunch and learn on the Green New Deal. Saul will talk about his journey from PGE to Capitol Hill and his work on climate justice policy and strategy including the Green New Deal for Cities, the Public Power Resolution, and the Environmental Justice Mapping and Data Collection Act. He'll also discuss his work to improve transparency in Congress and his team's efforts to bring organizing strategy to a place known for its rugged individualism.

    Saul Levin is Policy Advisor to Congresswoman Cori Bush focusing on climate, labor, transportation, and Indigenous issues. He was previously Senior Climate Advisor to then-Congresswoman Deb Haaland and was a project manager on commercial and industrial renewable energy and efficiency projects. Saul has a Masters in Urban Planning from Harvard and double-majored in Geography and Environmental Studies at UChicago. He loved studying the Indiana Dunes during the Calumet Quarter and wrote his BA thesis on copper mining pollution in the Atacama Desert.

    Lunch will be provided.

    Register here

    Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 3:00–5:00pm CT
    Urban Lounge, 1155 E. 60th St.

    Writing Wednesdays, co-sponsored by Chicago Studies and PGE, are dedicated weekly writing time (with coffee and cookies!) created to offer students structure in working on their BAs or other projects, including collaborative work. Writing Wednesdays will take place every week in the Urban Lounge at 1155 E. 60th Street, with faculty and staff available to answer questions related to writing and BA-focused research.

    Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 5:00–6:00pm CT

    Students who BA thesis applications have been approved to proceed are invited to join PGE Preceptor Jamie Countryman for a BA thesis workshop to further discuss the thesis process, research best practices, and other guidance needed. Drop in to meet with others students and grab a snack while you're here! Students are also more than welcome to use the space for independent writing or studying.

    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, 5:00–6:00pm CT

    Students who BA thesis applications have been approved to proceed are invited to join PGE Preceptor Damien Bright for a BA thesis workshop to further discuss the thesis process, research best practices, and other guidance needed. Drop in to meet with others students and grab a snack while you're here! Students are also more than welcome to use the space for independent writing or studying.

    Tuesday, May 31, 2022, 9:00am–5:00pm
    1155 E. 60th St., Room 142
    and Zoom (hybrid event)

    Graduating ENST Majors present their BA Thesis projects.
    Read the full day's schedule
    Register to attend either in person or on Zoom

     

    Reception & Graduate Celebration, 5:00–6:30pm
    1155 E. 60th St., Northeast Courtyard
In-person events are subject to change based on public health conditions. See individual listings for program details and registration information.
All events are open to all invitees regardless of vaccination status. Because of ongoing health risks to the unvaccinated, those who are unvaccinated are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures advised by public health officials (masking and social distancing, etc.). Public dining may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others, including venue staff, and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.