The First Lady Raps!

Hey folks, it does not matter what neighborhood you live in. One Chicagoan speaks to all, and even to Michiganders. This rocks!

John Dewey in Chicago

Joëlle Zask has just published an introduction to John Dewey in French (http://cems.ehess.fr/index.php?3615). Who was this pragmatic philosopher that spent a decade as a faculty member in the philosophy department at the University of Chicago and influenced the disciplines of sociology and education?

Listen to the program on France Culture to find out more:
http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-la-suite-dans-les-idees-john-dewey-un-philosophe-a-chicago-2015-10-17

Back to School?

Will Chicago's 350,000 students be back to school on Monday, after a week of teacher's strikes?  Chances are good. Read more through the links below.

Links
Anon, "Chicago Forges Outline to End Teacher Strike," New York Times (September 15, 2012).
Motoko Rich, "National Schools Debate is on Display in Chicago," New York Times (September 11, 2012).

Chicagoans to Washington for the Inauguration

Two videos from the Chicago Tribune.

Citizens on the bus to Washington:


Eighth-graders visit the capital the day after:

Catch the sound of Chicago Public Schools

Chicagoan Brad Harbaugh has compiled an iTunes list of songs by artists who attended the Chicago Public School system as reported by Carlos Sadovi in the Chicago Tribune (December 5, 2008).  Styles range from Jazz to Rythm & Blues to Soul to Pop to Rock to Country and the list of artists includes Bo Diddley, Eddie Harris, Dinah Washington, Herbie Hancock, Benny Goodman, Gene Ammons, Nat "King" Cole, and Lou Rawls.  Next to the name of the song and the artist, you find the name of the Chicago school attended.  See the complete list from the Chicago Tribune (December 5, 2008).  

Mayor Daley's Chicago

Mayor Richard M. Daley was elected to his 6th term in office in February 2007 with a landslide victory (70% of the vote).  One crisis he had to face shortly afterwards was corruption in the Police Department.  The head of the Chicago Police department resigned in Spring 2007, and was replaced by J.P. Weis, in fall 2007.  

Daley has shown himself to be on the whole a strong Mayor, advancing the city's best interests, using a coalition of multi-ethnic and multi-racial supporters to upgrade the city's school system, improving the beauty of the Grant Park area with Millenium Park, and making what may be a successful bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games which would totally revamp the Washington Park neighborhood.

He is also sure to be remembered for his sale of the Chicago Skyway for 1.8 million dollars in 2004.

Valerie Jarrett, set to be a senior adviser to the President of the United States, has been a member of the Daley Team.  She directed the Habitat Company, which managed public housing projects.

Republicans, still incensed by the Obama victory have been attacking his close ties to Chicago.  Their vision of scandal has been unleashed on a website called "Barackbook," a satire of Facebook, where Mayor Daley is prominently featured.  This biased presentation of Daley may have some shreds of truth, but Obama himself supported the Mayor in his 2007 re-election campaign, and also received the Mayor's strong support in his bid for the Presidency.

Mayor Daley speaking at the Democratic National Convention 2008:

Mayor Daley speaking at the Democratic National Convention Meeting in Chicago in 2006, and emphasizing Chicago's efforts for education:

Links:

Jodi Kantor, "An Old Hometown Mentor, and Still at Obama's Side," New York Times (November 23, 2008).

Barack Obama introduced Mayor Daley at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami, citing the "astonishing leadership that this man has shown over two decades..." for the city of Chicago which has changed considerably between 1985-2008 (June 21, 2008).

Chicago Man in View for Secretary of Education

Native Chicagoan Arne Duncan, who has played basketball with Barack Obama since the early 1990s is being considered for the position of Secretary of Education in the Obama administration.  For the last seven years, he has been the C.E.O. of Chicago Public Schools, with an excellent track record.  Born in 1964, Mr. Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, but he also has links with the University of Chicago, where his father taught psychology.  

Links:

Sam Dillon, "The New Team: Arne Duncan," New York Times (November 20, 2008).

What if Obama the teacher becomes Obama the President?

People who were students in classes that Barack Obama taught on Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago speak out on his capacities and strategies as the next President of the United States.  As they see it, his presidency will be more pragmatic than ideological.  See Alexandra Starr, "Case Study," New York Times (September 19, 2008).

Some Links: Jane Addams & Hull House

See biography of Jane Addams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 on Nobelprize.org.

Entry on Jane Addams from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Biography of Jane Addams from the Hull-House Museum on the University of Illinois campus at 800 S. Halsted.

Visit the Hull-House Museum's Web pages.

Recordings, "Hull-House History On Call" (with transcripts visible on the page) from the Hull-House Museum about Jane Addams and Hull-House, including one, "Bill Ayers on why Jane Addams was so 'dangerous'" that mentions Nelson Algren and Al Capone.  

Studs Terkel and Florence Scala talk about the demolition of the Hull-House Settlement.

Take a virtual tool of the Hull House Museum here, and see some other photos of Chicago, as well.

There is a Jane Addams Hull House Association and a Jane Addams Peace Association.

A guide to teaching Jane Addams to 4th and 5th graders by Julie Carlson.

About Jane Addams and the Settlement House Movement on www.pollutionissues.com.

Obama's Education Policy inspired by Chicago Public Schools

In a speech on education made in Dayton, Ohio on September 9, 2008, Barack Obama said, "When we challenge our kids to succeed, they will succeed!"  He then quoted Arne Duncan, Chicago Public School System Director, on better results obtained in Chicago:  "Our kids aren't smarter than they were three years ago, it's just our expectations for them are higher."

(you can hear that about 20 minutes into Obama's 36 minute long speech on YouTube).

Learn more about Chicago Public Schools.

Obama's speech came only one day after two dozen college presidents defended raising college tuition yet again.  Tamar Lewin described the situation in the New York Times (September 8, 2008), quoting Peter Welch, "Tuition has risen at twice the rate of per capita income and this year it will cost just under $50,000 to attend the average private college.  If the cost of milk had risen as fast as the cost of college since 1980, a gallon would be $15."

Women in and around town

From Mrs. O'Leary to Jane Addams to now, some links to women's activities in the city:


Chicago Area Women's History Council (founded in 1971)
http://www.cawhc.org

CWLU herstory project (the Chicago Women's Liberation Union)
http://www.cwluherstory.com

Working Women's History Project (Promoting Education on Women, Activism and Unions in Chicago History)
http://workingwomen.homestead.com/home.html

Chicago Women in Trades
http://www.chicagowomenintrades.org/artman/publish/resources.shtml

Rima Lunin Schultz, "Women contribute to the Commercial and Social Development of Chicago, 1790-1860" and
other articles at the Chicago Metro History Education Center
http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/1_women.html

Chicago Tribune Photo Gallery: "Chicago Women's History"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-080402womhistorychi-photogallery,0,4995015.photogallery?index=3

Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women

http://chicagonow.org

And some books:

Flanagan, Maureen A., Seeing with Their Hearts: Chicago Women and the Vision of the Good City, 1871-1933, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.

Knupfer, Anne Meis, The Chicago Black Renaissance and Women's Activism, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Schultz, Rima Lunin, and Hast, Adele, Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.

Universities in Chicago & vicinity

Adler School of Professional Psychology.
The oldest independent school of Psychology in North America.
65 East Wacker Place.
http://www.adler.edu

Catholic Theological Union.
5401 South Cornell.
http://www.ctu.edu

Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
325 North Wells Street.
http://www.thechicagoschool.edu

Chicago State University.
9501 South King Drive.
http://www.csu.edu

Chicago Theological Seminary.
The oldest institution of higher education in the city of Chicago, run by the United Church of Christ.
5757 S. University.
http://www.ctschicago.edu

City Colleges of Chicago
http://www.ccc.edu

Columbia College.
600 S. Michigan Avenue.
http://www.colum.edu

De Paul University.
1 East Jackson.
http://www.depaul.edu

Illinois Institute of Technology.
3300 South Federal Street.
http://www.iit.edu

Loyola University.
6525 N. Sheridan Rd.
http://www.luc.edu

McCormick Theological Seminary.
http://www.mccormick.edu

Moody Bible Institute.
820 N. La Salle Street.
http://www.moody.edu

Northwestern University.
Founded in 1851, Northwestern sports a very attractive campus.
633 Clark Street, Evanston.
http://www.northwestern.edu

Saint Xavier University.
Chicago’s oldest Roman Catholic University, founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846.
3700 West 103rd Street.
http://www.sxu.edu

Spertus College of Judaica.
608 South Michigan Avenue.
http://www.spertus.edu

University of Chicago.
5801 South Ellis.
http://www.uchicago.edu

University of Illinois-Chicago.
1200 West Harrison.
http://www.uic.edu/index.html

Wheaton College.
501 College Avenue, Wheaton.
http://www.wheaton.edu

PRACTICAL INFORMATION CONCERNING UNIVERSITY STUDY

RANKINGS

America's Best Colleges from US News & World Report

Peterson's guide to U.S. Colleges and Universities

University of Illinois links to different college rankings, including Shanghai

Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2005 from Shanghai Jiao Tong University

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Fulbright program USA and France

USA Study Guide for International Students

U.S. Education Guides for International Students

FINANCIAL AID

Federal Student Aid

Financial Aid information from the U.S. Department of Education

Paying for College by US News & World Report

Student Aid on the Web