SPRING 2013
Student Presentation: Exploring the Health Care System
Thursday, April 25th 4 - 5pm
Koehneke Community Center, Alumni Room
Sociology of Health Care students will present a panel on issues concerning medicalization, mainly the ways that medical and psychiatric systems manage more areas of our lives. Presenters will specifically focus on the growing relationship between health systems and our educational system and the role the Federal Drug Administration plays in meeting both societal and corporate pharmaceutical company interests.
Student Presentation: Investigating the Justice System Using a Feminist Approach
Wednesday, May 1st, 4 - 5 pm
Koehneke Community Center, Room 10
Student discussants will present on research related to the current problems of our criminal justice system. Taking a unique feminist perspective, presenters will enlighten the audience about the difficulties local agencies face in reducing recidivism and meeting organizational goals. Discussants will conclude with a plan that outlines how these groups might work together to implement meaningful change.
PAST EVENTS
Spring 2013
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Tuesday, March 12 @ 7pm in KCC River Forest Room (Part I)
and
Tuesday, March 19 @ 7pm in KCC River Forest Room (Part II)
Filmed in 10 countries, this journey tells the stories of inspiring, courageous individuals. Across the globe oppression is being confronted, and real meaningful solutions are being fashioned through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality — which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds — present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change.
Discussion to follow with Dr. Carol Jabs and Dr. Jenna Mahay.
Turning a Corner
Screening and Discussion
Wednesday, April 3rd, 7 - 9pm
Koehneke Community Center, Oak Park-River Forest Room
Turning a Corner documents the experiences of current and former sex workers in Chicago. Beyondmedia Education and Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART) work to give voice to women who have lived and survived the harsh realities of sex work. This participatory action research project became a street-level movement contributing to the fight against the silence of abuse and negative societal views about those in the sex trade industry.
Discussion with Salome Chasnoff, director of Turning a Corner and one participant from the film.
Gender and the Justice System
Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 10, 7 - 8 pm
Koehneke Community Center - Alumni Room
Panelists will share their experiences with the criminal justice system, paying particular attention to how gender organizes day-to-day institutional processes.
Speakers:
Judge Beth Sexton, DuPage County
Jen Lindt, DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney
Mary J. Johnson, former Warden of Sheridan Correctional Center, clinical services supervisor at Thomson Correctional Center, and youth supervisor at IYC-St. Charles
James Kluppelberg, exonerated in 2012 after spending 23 years in Illinois prisons.
Fall 2012 Events
Living Life on Life's Term: Women's Narratives of Life After Prison
Speaker: Dr. Andrea Leverentz, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Boston
I will discuss how women coming out of prison negotiate competing messages of who they are, who they should be, and how they should live their lives. They receive often-conflicting messages from prison staff, halfway house and drug treatment program staff, family members, romantic partners, friends, and acquaintances about how to be a “good” ex-offender, recovering drug user, mother, daughter, sister, romantic partner, and productive member of society. Many of these are incompatible with one another, and the women must learn to redefine themselves in light of these multiple and competing messages. Drawing on qualitative interviews with female ex-prisoners and members of their social networks, I analyze the narratives they use to describe and define their lives as the women reenter society from prison and a halfway house stay.
Spring 2012 Events
Portrait of Relationship Dysfunction: The Impact of Technology on Domestic Abuse
Professors Tovar and Nicholls from Lewis University will speak about their recent research. Cell phones, cameras, and text messaging are considered a positive, yet sometimes addictive way of staying in constant contact. Can the addiction erode into a mechanism to control another person’s behavior? Has it become another tool for a domestic abuser to constantly watch and manipulate the behavior of their partner? Dr. Tracey Nicholls and Dr. Lynn Atkinson Tovar discuss their research that examines the impact of technology on relationships and how digital communication may be utilized to control and manipulate the behavior of a partner.” (Event organized by CUC student Jennifer Majczan)
The Medical Regulation of Sexuality and Gender
Dr. Batza, lecturer in History and Gender & Women's Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will explore the medical regulations and policies around fertility treatments and access to sperm banks in the last 50 years to show how mainstream medicine often enforces social ideals of motherhood regarding sexuality, gender, race, and class. She will then discuss the role of the women's movement in gaining access to fertility treatment for women previously deemed unworthy of motherhood.
Human Trafficking in the U.S
Speaker: Katehrine Egan, Midwest Manager for the Northern Tier Anti-Trafficking Consortium (NTAC)Katherine Egan will speak about her first-hand experiences working with human trafficking survivors in the U.S. and her role as the Midwest Manager for the Northern Tier Anti-Trafficking Consortium (NTAC). NTAC is a new program serving foreign-born human trafficking survivors across 14 states and Puerto Rico. As Midwest Manager, Ms. Egan serves as a first-responder, and links foreign trafficking survivors to services. She also recruits, trains, and supports nonprofits to provide comprehensive case management and advocacy for foreign trafficking survivors across Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and the southeastern half of Wisconsin. Ms. Egan has been working against human trafficking of both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals for 6 years. She has worked on the issue with Polaris Project, The Carter Center, Washington State's Office of Crime Victims Advocacy, and the National Immigrant Justice Center.
War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
Documentary screening and Discussion with Professors Jodie Dewey and Bill Pierros. War Made Easy takes a critical look at presidental decisions and media coverage of wars the U.S. has engaged in over the last 50 years. The documentary argues that through lying, deception, and slanted media depictions, goverment convinces the public to support and engage in conflict. Following the documentary, Professors Jodie Dewey and Bill Pierros will encourage and open and unbiased discussion about the role media plays in portraying events and educating the public and whether governmental administrations use the media to gain support for their agendas. By considering and critiquing the movie's premises the discussion will encourage critical thinking about the topic and the persuasive power of media.
Segregation and the Windy City
The high-rise projects of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), mostly built in the late 1950s, are now defunct. In December of 2010, the high-rise units of Cabrini-Green closed, marking the end of an era, initially one of hope and faith in the public sector and later one of racist isolation and widespread disappointment in government initiatives. The CHA had once housed as many as 60,000 people. The building of its complexes was one of the major public policy mechanisms that kept Chicago racially segregated. By the early 21st century, residents were being relocated to subsidized housing and mixed-income developments. The number of units did not equal the number of residents being relocated, and some residents could not meet requirements for the new housing. Consequently, many residents moved to low income communities from the far south side and south suburbs. Black Hawk Hancock, Assistant Professor of Sociology at DePaul University, will discuss how the displacement of public housing residents from inner-city locations to peripheral communities has actually exacerbated the pattern of racial and class isolation.
Black Gold
Black Gold examines the inequities of the coffee industry which is now worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. This documentary examines the role of globalization, multinational companies, and the WTO. Discussion will follow with Political Science Professor Bill Pierros and Sociology Professor Jenna Mahay.