Alumni & Parent University
Alumni & Parent University opens the doors of the University of Chicago’s distinctive learning environment to alumni and parents who seek to expand their minds, build relationships with peers, and deepen their engagement with the University.
Presented collaboratively by UChicago Alumni and the Graham School, Alumni & Parent U offers discussion-based seminars that are taught by eminent faculty, accomplished instructors, and distinguished alumni in intimate, Zoom-based classrooms. These courses are offered during the Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters.
Literary Imagination and the Climate Crisis
Instructor: Stephanie Friedman, Writer's Studio Instructor, University of Chicago Graham School
Tuesdays | 3/19/24 - 4/9/24 | 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. CT
In a lecture series given at the University of Chicago in 2016 titled “The Great Derangement,” novelist Amitav Ghosh argued for a need to respond to the climate emergency with “new stories” that would reflect a new understanding of our past as well as our future: we can only imagine solutions to this existential crisis by reimagining the stories we tell ourselves about our relationships with each other and with the more-than-human world. In this course, we will discuss contemporary literary works that search for these new ways of thinking and telling and consider how a more nuanced understanding of our planet and its history might help us work toward a more sustainable future. Our readings will include work by authors such as Octavia Butler, John Kingsnorth, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Rebecca Solnit.
Congress and the Presidency
Instructor: Fred Beuttler, Open Enrollment Instructor, University of Chicago Graham School & Former Deputy Historian, U.S. House of Representatives
Thursdays | 3/21/24 - 4/11/24 | 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. CT
This discussion/lecture course will focus on the relation between the U.S. Congress and the Presidency, looking at a few different topics of historical and contemporary interest. Structurally, the Constitution separates power, and American politics is a constant struggle between the branches for policy primacy. Through secondary scholarship and primary sources, we will examine the distinctive cultures and organizations of the House, Senate, and the Executive branch, and then look at how these interact on three perennial issues: taxing and spending, the war power, and health care policy. There are no prerequisites for this course, and we will use examples of ways to teach these materials in the classroom.
If you would like to inquire about partial financial support that may be available, please contact: grahamschool@uchicago.edu.
