You live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible enlightenment. If that’s the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are several events going on in town this week. Check out one or more of them if you have time. Get your learn on, as they say, and join the cognoscenti. It’s free, you know.
If you have a community event, speaker, or film event that you’d like to see featured on Listen Up!, send the event information to joelgillespie [at] smilepolitely [dot] com by Friday the week prior to the event. Listen Up! runs on Mondays.
WHAT: Landscape Architechure: Stan White Lecture Series, Pierre Belanger, Assoc. Professor, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University
WHEN: Monday, November 30 @ 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Plym Auditorium – Temple Hoyne Buell Hall (611 Loredo Taft Drive, Champaign)
Belanger “teaches graduate courses on design and planning in the interrelated fields of landscape, infrastructure and urbanism.” The native of Canada has an interesting professional background, as he’s certified as both a Landscape Architect and a Surface Miner. I have no idea what the precise subject of his lecture will be, but he seems like he would have an interesting perspective on nearly any topic.
WHAT: Illinois State Water Survey CAS Seminar: “Probabilistic Downscaling of 21st Century Precipitation Occurrence and Intensity,” Dr. Justin Schoof, Dept. of Geography & Environmental Resources, Southern Illinois University
WHEN: Tuesday, December 1 @ 2 p.m.
WHERE: Room 201, Water Survey Research Center, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS
It’s a subject tailor-made for a late-night monologue: the same folks who can’t tell you if it’s going to rain tomorrow are going to project how much it’s going to rain across the U.S. for the middle and latter parts of the century. Just kidding; I’m sure long-term trends are more able to be projected than instantaneous events. The event description sounds quite technical, but if you’re interested in whether the Midwest is going to become a Dust Bowl in the coming decades, this might be a good seminar to attend.
WHAT: “Life in Palestine: Our Travels in the Holy Land”
WHEN: Tuesday, December 1 @ 7 p.m.
WHERE: Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Rooms A&B
From the event announcement: “The free program is a presentation by local community members who recently returned from a 10-day stay in the West Bank with excursions to Jerusalem and Israel. Presenters will describe what they personally experienced with topics including travel restrictions, the separation wall, visit to a refugee camp, olive harvesting and a Palestinian based peace initiative. Slides will accompany the presentation; a question and answer session will follow.”
WHAT: Sustainability Seminar series – “Emerging Hybrid and Electric Vehicles and their Impact on Energy and Emissions,” Dr. Philip Krein, UI Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
WHEN: Wednesday, December 2 @ 12 noon
WHERE: llinois Sustainable Technology Center, One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign
For those fairly unfamiliar with hybrid and electric vehicles and their merits, this appears to be a good introduction. From the event description: “In this talk, fundamental characteristics of electric transportation are examined. What are the energy storage needs, the power needs, the control requirements, and the reliability concerns? The major types of present and near-term hybrid cars will be introduced, with emphasis on tradeoffs for low emissions, high fuel economy, control flexibility, and practicality.” Take your Prius over there on your lunch break, or even better, ride your bike.
WHAT: “The Pre-Colombian Epoch of Drug Trafficking in the Americas: the Birth of Illicit Cocaine, 1945-1973,” Paul Gootenberg, Professor of History, SUNY-Stony Brook
WHEN: Thursday, December 3 @ 12 noon
WHERE: 101 International Studies Building, 910 South Fifth Street, Champaign
Mr. Gootenberg knows how to pick a research topic. Author of Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug (check out the cover, at left), Gootenberg traces the growth of cocaine as a global commodity by tracing the commodity supply chains, from Colombian fields to American noses, that made the distribution of the drug possible.
This is no American Gangster-style lionization, though – the story ends once the modern illicit trade gets underway. I’m guessing this will be a tremendously interesting talk, so if you’re free over your lunch hour on Thursday, head to the quad and get educated and entertained.
WHAT: Distinguished Lecture Series: “Is New Agenda for Russian-American Relations Possible?” Andranik Migranyan, Director, Institute for Democracy and Cooperation (link in Russian)
WHEN: Thursday, December 3 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: Levis Faculty Center Music Room, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana
Mr. Migranyan’s charmingly-translated seminar title notwithstanding, he’s one of the foremost experts on Russian foreign policy, or at least that’s what the event announcement says. He certainly talks a good game, as you can see in the video interview below with Justine Rosenthal of the humbly-titled The National Interest. The interview mainly focuses on U.S.-Russian cooperation on Iran, which may or may not be a major component of Migranyan’s talk while in town:
WHAT: “The Real Freeway Rick Ross with Hip-Hop Detoxx in the ‘Paign”
WHEN: Thursday, December 3 @ 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, 201 E. Park St., Champaign