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.
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: “Applications of Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment Methods for Assessing Efforts to Reduce Climate Change Emissions,” by Anny Huang, PhD candidate, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
WHEN: Monday, November 2 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: 1518 Hydrosystems Laboratory (205 North Mathews Ave Urbana)
With short-term gain at the heart of the capitalist system, it’s important to examine the consequences of these actions over the long-term. That’s what Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is intended to do just that, and the soon-to-be Dr. Huang will walk through her research about the implications of different processes on the climate.
WHAT: Screening of Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft & Design, and a lecture by filmmaker Faythe Levine
WHEN: Monday, November 2 @ 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign
See a clip from the movie above. From the event announcement: “The screening and lecture will focus on the new wave of craft makers, artists, and designers from 15 American cities. This movement of artists, crafters, and designers recognize a marriage between historical techniques, punk, and DIY (do it yourself) ethos while being influenced by traditional handiwork, modern aesthetics, politics, feminism, and art. This event is free and open to the public.”
WHAT: Artist Lecture by Glen C. Davies
WHEN: Tuesday, November 3 @ 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Room D244, Parkland College
From the event announcement: “This lecture will be an in-depth look at Glen C. Davies’ artwork and experience as an artist. It is in conjunction with the “Museum of Mystery: A Thirty-year Bannerline of Paintings by Glen C. Davies” exhibit at the Parkland Art Gallery that runs through Tuesday, November 17.
“Highly influenced by his experience of travelling with circuses and carnivals in the 1970s, Mr. Davies’ current retrospective focuses on his series of Bannerline paintings. “Bannerline” refers to the style of artwork influenced by the special form of advertising in which banners can be easily put up and taken down for a traveling show. This artistic style has allowed Mr. Davies to express his mysterious narratives
through a personal visual language. In his response to the loose canvas format, he brings to mind signage commonly associated with carnival attractions, fraternal lodge rituals, and medieval religious pilgrimages; the artist thus relates life experience as a moral drama, played out in a public forum.”
WHAT: Kaylie Jones: Lies My Mother Never Told Me
WHEN: Wednesday, November 4 @ 4 p.m.
WHERE: Illini Union Bookstore Author’s Corner
Jones, the daughter of acclaimed author and Robinson, Illinois, native James Jones, will be spending most of her week in east-central Illinois, including this appearance at the IUB and several events happening in Charleston at EIU over the weekend. Look for an interview with Jones on Smile Politely for tomorrow, but make plans to attend this reading and signing of her new book, a memoir of her tumultuous relationship with her alcoholic mother.
WHAT: Symposium: “Global Security, Climate Change, and the Arctic Implications of an Open Northwest Passage“
WHEN: Thursday, November 5 @ 3 p.m.
WHERE: Room 314A, Illini Union (1401 West Green St., Urbana)
Did you realize that global warming is offering opportunities in shipping corridors? From the event announcement: “Rapidly melting ice in the Arctic Ocean offers promising opportunities for enhanced international marine shipping through the Northwest Passage. But it has also raised the specter of tensions among various countries for access to corresponding transit routes and natural resources. This symposium will provide scientific background and consider the geopolitical implications of climate change and the opening of the Northwest Passage.” Panelists include: Michael Byers, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Political Science, University of British Columbia; William Chapman, Senior Research Programmer, Atmospheric Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics, Royal Holloway, University of London; and Ingrid Lundestad, Research Fellow, Centre for Transatlantic Studies, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.