CHF Chicago Humanities Festival

The 2012 presidential election will be remembered as a hinge of history. Barack Obama, who won his first term with a promise of hope, faced a tough path to reelection, including the challenges of the floundering economy, widespread joblessness, and obvious ferocity between Democrats and Republicans. In his new book, The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies, Jonathan Alter uses his unparalleled access to Obama's inner circle, and his deep knowledge of politics and history to tell the story of Obama's most recent—and final—campaign. Sharing new information and measured insights, Alter parses the 2012 election stakes and looks astutely toward Obama's second term, offering a deeper understanding of both the man and his presidency.

Schools are complex social and cultural institutions. Ethnography can help us turn some of the confusion and chaos of high school into a rich resource for innovative pedagogy. How, for example, can students, teachers, and administrators better understand jock culture or the impact of the Internet on school social life?

Join us at the Chicago Humanities Festival’s 17th annual Summer Institute for Teachers. Participants will work in small groups to develop their own research questions and will leave with an ethnographic toolkit of research methods that can be easily applied to school settings and implemented with both students and colleagues alike. The target audience is high school social science, science, and language arts teachers as well as counselors, but all certified teachers are welcome to attend. The program will reference Common Core standards and CPDUs are available.

A $6 registration fee is required to reserve a spot in the workshop.