Quick Studies

Facing Chicago’s Future

andrew — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:22:27 +0000

The recent NATO summit set the world’s attention on Chicago for a few busy days this spring, offering an image-building opportunity for civic boosters touting the city as a thriving global player. But in this edition of the Quick Studies podcast, Connie Mixon, director of Elmhurst’s urban studies program, says the city and its suburbs face some pressing problems. Mixon is the co-editor, with former Chicago alderman Dick Simpson, of Twenty-First Century Chicago, a new book that considers the future of the city and its suburbs.

Understanding America’s Creeds

andrew — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:13:07 +0000

Elmhurst has been celebrating the lives and legacies of two of its greatest graduates—the brothers Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr, who graduated in 1910 and 1912, respectively, and who went on to hugely influential careers at the intersection of theology and public life. Last year, the College brought an all-star collection of scholars and writers to campus to examine Reinhold Niebuhr’s powerful impact. This year, it’s Richard’s turn. Martin Marty, America’s foremost historian of religion in American life, visited campus to deliver a “centennial appreciation” of H. Richard Niebuhr’s work. Marty is a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago and his honors include a National Book Award and the National Humanities Medal. In this edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, he says that Richard Niebuhr’s work forever changed the way we think about faith’s place in society.

Wild Weather

andrew — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:29:26 +0000

Elmhurst and the rest of the Chicago area have been enjoying historically warm weather this winter. At the same time, Europe has been suffering through brutal cold that has killed hundreds. So are these just weather anomalies? Or is extreme weather becoming the new normal? In this edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, Heidi Cullen, a senior research scientist at the science and media organization Climate Central, says that climate change is making our world steadily warmer–and in the process, creating more fuel for storms and weather extremes.

New Media For a 2000-Year-Old Message

andrew — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:14:17 +0000

Father Robert Barron uses new media to tell a 2000-year-old story.

Barron is a Catholic priest of the Chicago archdiocese, and he preaches from an extraordinary pulpit. His podcasts, tweets, online videos and 10-part television series Catholicism, which ran on many PBS affiliates last year, are part of his mission “to reach out to the culture” to communicate his faith’s message. Barron has been called a successor to the pioneering mid-20th century Catholic televangelist Bishop Fulton Sheen. But in this edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, Barron acknowledges that he is working in the midst of the greatest crisis in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.

The Power of Individual Actions

andrew — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:31 +0000

Ask Elmhurst students which of their classes made the biggest impact on them, and you likely will hear about a course that Michael Lindberg teaches each year during the College’s January Term. Called “Facing History and Ourselves,” the course connects historical episodes of racism and intolerance with the everyday ethical decisions that students make in their own lives. In this edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, Lindberg, chair of Elmhurst’s geography and geosciences department and director of the College’s First Year Seminars, explains why so many of his students call the class a life-changer.

The Lessons of Jamaica

andrew — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:00:04 +0000

Every January for the last twenty years, Professor Judy Grimes has been leading groups of Elmhurst students on two-week trips to Jamaica. But this is no midwinter vacation. Grimes and her students work in the impoverished schools around Montego Bay, teaching music to Jamaican children and donating instruments and school supplies that have helped launch and sustain band programs there. The trip is part of Grimes’ popular January Term class, “Educational Experiences in Jamaica.” In this edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, Grimes talks about how the annual trips change lives in Montego Bay and in Elmhurst.

Naomi Wolf’s Warnings

andrew — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:07:53 +0000

When author and social critic Naomi Wolf spoke at Elmhurst as part of the College’s Democracy Forum on October 20, she told students that it was “time for Americans to start acting like Americans again.” For Wolf, that means organizing “to stand up for your rights” and “demanding transparency” in government.

Wolf’s 1991 feminist classic, The Beauty Myth, was hailed by The New York Times as one of the most important books of the 20th century. Her 2007 book, The End of America, warned of a “fascist shift” in the United States. In the latest edition of the Quick Studies podcast series, Wolf discussed threats to American democracy and the hope offered by activist movements on the left and right.

The Brain on Trial

andrew — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:35:00 +0000

They may sound like they’ve been lifted from the pages of science fiction, but a new generation of brain-scanning technologies and other neuroscientific advances are playing a role in determining guilt or innocence in criminal courts. They also may change the way we think about age-old questions of justice and personal responsibility.

In the first installment of the Quick Studies podcast series, we talk with Katrina Sifferd, an assistant professor of philosophy at Elmhurst. Sifferd, an attorney and a scholar in the emerging field of neuroethics, unravels some of the ethical and legal questions posed as advances in brain science find their way into courts.