Graham Symposium 2023

Graham Symposium

The Symposium is our annual, in-person gathering to bring our global student and alumni community together for shared learning. Start your day by choosing your learning adventure with learning options in geopolitical history, law, and science. Then, celebrate our instructors through our Excellence in Lifelong Learning Awards luncheon. End the day with an exciting panel presentation on a new Basic Program Alumni Sequence on “Asian Classics.”  

Schedule

• Breakfast and Registration 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
   
• Choose among three morning learning options:
  • Option A: American Century in Hyde Park Tour 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
    • Join UChicago Professor Paul Poast and Graham School instructor Jennifer Lind for our American Century Tour, which will visit locations in Hyde Park that were key to the rise of the United States as a 20^th century superpower. The tour will feature shuttle service between locations and will include some walking and standing. Please note there is approximately 2 miles of walking in this tour.
  • Option B: The 14^th Amendment and the Court on Abortion and Affirmative Action 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
    • Kendall Sharp, Cyril O. Houle Chair of the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults, will lead a sample discussion of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, followed by Basic Program instructor Richard Hoskins, who will discuss two recent landmark decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson W.H.O. (2022) overturning Roe v. Wade, and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and University of North Carolina (2023) overturning race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Time will be reserved for Q&A
  • Option C: Race, Data, and the Human Side of Science 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
    • Iris Clever, former post-doctoral researcher in UChicago's Institute for the Formation on Knowledge, will lead this workshop where we will discuss how science, past and present, has been deeply shaped by human perceptions and prejudices, including racism. Examples include racial classification in colonial Mexico and modern-day medicine.
• Excellence in Lifelong Learning Awards Luncheon 12:00 - 1:15 p.m.
   
• Panel Discussion: New Basic Program Alumni Sequence, "Asian Classics" 1:20 - 2:00 p.m.
• The Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults will debut in the 2024-2025 academic year a new, two-year alumni sequence, “Asian Classics.” Join us for a conversation with the sequence’s Lead and BP Instructor, Stephen Walker, and Graham School Director of Academics and BP Instructor, Zoe Eisenman, led by BP Chair Kendall Sharp.