Lecture Series
Real Time Chicago
Real Time Chicago (RTC) is Great Cities Institute’s hallmark seminar series, covering the latest policy dialogues in the Chicago Metropolitan Region. Through RTC and in its role as convener, Great Cities Institute brings the important and pressing conversations to the UIC community so we can be informed and weigh in. The RTC lineup is new every semester and brings together a variety of contributors, all organized around a semester-long central policy theme.
Real Time Chicago lecture media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages.
INNOVATE Chicago
INNOVATE Chicago is GCI’s seminar series aligned with our Employment and Economic Development research cluster. Focusing on the latest and most creative strategies for economic development throughout the region, GCI facilitates conversations among researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers at the forefront of making Chicago a better place to live, do business, and live a quality life. INNOVATE debuted in Fall 2013.
INNOVATE Chicago lecture media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages.
Poverty to Prosperity
Poverty to Prosperity is GCI’s newest seminar series focused on critical and overdue conversations to identify real solutions to one of our nation’s age-old problems: poverty. The Poverty to Prosperity series provides a forum for dialogue and policy discussion between some of the nation’s premier experts on poverty and the Chicago community. Now 50 years after President Johnson’s declared “War On Poverty,” persistent problems in inequality and stratification of access to resources and opportunities continue to disproportionately affect certain neighborhoods and communities, inhibiting their chances to break the cycle of poverty. GCI provides the space for dialogue on some of our generation’s most pressing issues.
Poverty to Prosperity lecture media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages.
Cities Across the Globe: People and Places Across Borders
The Cities Across the Globe: People and Places Across Borders series examines cities as dynamic and contested spaces shaped by migration, development, political struggle, environmental change, and global economic restructuring. Through case studies from Mexico City, South Africa, Palestine/Israel, Mumbai, Medellín, Oaxaca, Cairo, Central Europe, Western Australia, the Rio Grande watershed, China, and the American Southwest, the series explores how people experience and respond to urban transformation. Topics include public space, youth engagement, displacement, food insecurity, violence, mining governance, water commons, irrigation landscapes, urban design, and revolutionary movements. Together, the series highlights how cities across the world face shared challenges while also revealing distinct local histories, community practices, and forms of resistance.
Cities Across the Globe: People and Places Across Borders lecture media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages.
Jewels of UIC
The Jewels of UIC Lecture Series highlights distinguished UIC faculty whose scholarship, leadership, and public engagement reflect the university’s intellectual depth and civic mission. Hosted by the Great Cities Institute, the series brings together students, faculty, staff, and community members to learn from scholars whose work bridges disciplines and addresses pressing urban, social, environmental, and global issues. Each lecture offers an opportunity to celebrate UIC’s “gems” while creating space for thoughtful dialogue, interdisciplinary exchange, and connection across campus. The series also reinforces UIC’s role as a public research university committed to knowledge, equity, and real-world impact.
Jewels of UIC lecture media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages.
Special Topics
The Great Cities Institute Special Topics lecture series brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, community leaders, and public thinkers from a wide range of regions, disciplines, and areas of expertise. Unlike lecture series centered on a specific theme, field, or individual body of work, Special Topics provide a flexible platform for timely conversations on pressing urban, social, economic, environmental, and policy issues. These programs reflect GCI’s mission to connect research, public dialogue, and civic engagement in ways that deepen understanding of cities and metropolitan regions. Through diverse perspectives and cross-sector exchange, the series creates space for meaningful discussion on issues shaping communities locally, nationally, and globally.
Special Topics Series media can be found on our Youtube and Facebook pages as well as under “Past Events“.