Past Events

UIC Great Cities Institute Director Teresa Córdova will interview UIC Professor Emeritus and former Chicago Alderman Dick Simpson about his new book, "Chicago's Modern Mayors—From Harold Washington to Lori Lightfoot." To contextualize the book discussion, Córdova and Simpson will explore how the UIC University Library's special collections of mayors Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley are fundamental to understanding the history of Chicago politics.

In US cities, regions, and territories, low-income Latina/o populations often reside in communities sensitive to pollution and climate change events such as droughts, extreme heat, and wildfires. Public policy can often trigger these inequities by forcing people to live in precarious and underserved communities with limited access to resilient infrastructure, services, and opportunities. However, even though climate change disproportionately impacts and displaces Latino communities, there is sparse research within Latino Studies on how these experiences threaten their health, safety, and neighborhood well-being. The overarching research question of the Climate and Environmental Justice working group is: How do Latino communities experience, cope, and contest the disparate impacts of pollution and extreme climate change events? Please join us in this webinar to learn more about our projects.

Join us for Gordon Parks and the Postwar City, a three-day interdisciplinary conference taking place April 2–4, 2025, at the UIC Great Cities Institute and Daley Library. This event explores the groundbreaking work and lasting impact of Gordon Parks—one of the most influential Black photographers, filmmakers, and storytellers of the 20th century. Parks’s career spanned decades and mediums, capturing the radical transformations of post-World War II America. Through his iconic photographic essays, films, and activism, he documented urban life, civil rights, poverty, Black identity, and the rise of Black Power, offering an unflinching look at American society through the lens of social justice. The conference will highlight Parks’s deep connections to Chicago, where he launched his career at the Southside Community Art Center and developed his philosophy of the "camera as a weapon" against inequality. This conference brings together students, scholars, artists, activists, and filmmakers to examine Parks’s legacy across disciplines and its relevance to contemporary struggles for racial and social justice. Featuring panel discussions, film screenings, and community dialogue, the event is free and open to the public.