To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, the University of Chicago has organized numerous virtual and in-person programs throughout the entire month. From walking tours, to art exhibitions and presentations, to preservation workshops, there are ways for everyone to learn more about climate change—and how data, practices and policies can help build creative solutions.
Already underway is a monthlong “Battle of the Buildings” competition between UChicago residence halls to save energy and water. The Smart Museum of Art has also opened “Unsettled Ground,” which explores how the environment has shaped artistic practice; on display through June 26, the exhibition was curated collaboratively by UChicago students.
Listed below are just few more examples of the many ways to participate in Earth Month. Visit the UChicago ECo Calendar to see them all.
- Monday, April 11: The Institute on the Formation of Knowledge will host a workshop with postdoctoral researcher Katherine Buse, who will discuss the ways that climate models mediate time, space and events. (Learn more about Buse, who consulted on the production of the film Dune.)
- Monday, April 18: Get new plants through a plant swap at the Urban Lounge (1155 E. 60th St.), hosted by Chicago Studies and the Program on Global Environment.
- Tuesday, April 19: Artist Alisa Singer will present two works from her series Environmental Graphiti, which is derived from charts, graphs and maps related to climate change data.
- Wednesday, April 20: Take an urban hike through Jackson Park with landscape historian Julia Bachrach, author of the photographic history book The City in a Garden.
- Wednesday, April 20: The Institute of Politics will host a discussion on the costs of climate change with Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, and Heather McTeer Toney, former mayor of Greenville, Mississippi.
- Thursday, April 21: The Smart Museum will host an outdoor screening of student films, which interweave the pressing concerns of climate change with racial, economic, ecological and social justice.
- Friday, April 22: Asst. Instructional Prof. Alison Anastasio will lead an Earth Day restoration workday at Kickapoo Woods. Participants will take a shuttle from campus, and are encouraged to dress appropriately and bring water and snacks.
- Friday, April 22: The University Community Service Center will host an Earth Day panel conversation about pathways forward in sustainability and environmental justice.
- Sunday, April 24: Edward Warden, ABʼ18, will lead a bird walk through Jackson Park. Binoculars will be available to borrow. (Read this UChicago Magazine Q&A to learn more about Warden, who is the president of the Chicago Ornithological Society.)
—Prof. Chuan He
