Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

Directed Study Presentations – An Investigative Think Tank!

Here are some comments from listeners:
Frank Murphy, former Sumer Session student and Summer staff member, said, “This course is like an investigative think tank!” 

Insructor Scott Chesebro said, “These findings will be of interest to your supervisors at your internship sites. You’ve done the legwork that sometimes the sites don’t want to take a look at – your findings are important, as you have looked behind the facts and asked questions.” 

The Directed Study Projects

Keith
Black Female Entrepreneurs
What do they face that white women and/or black men don’t face?

There are approx 22 million companies and 63% earn less than $50K
86% of black owned companies earn less than $50K
Keith interviewed 8 black women entrepreneurs and found similar issues with all:
No long-term black networks
Challenges of clients trusting you and balancing family life with owning a business
Most came from families that stressed education and entrepreneurship was part of life 

Maggie 
Sight-Seeing in the Projects

Compared and contrasted two tours of public housing on the South Side of Chicago
Beauty Turner: “Ghetto Tours” – former resident of CHA
Derrick Hill: Spokesperson for CHA 

Jen

New Prentice Women’s Hospital – A Deeper Look Into the Move

 

This hospital (also her internship site) moved 200 patients in less than 5 hours into a new building. The new building tripled in size and is state-of-the-art,
Interviewed 2 Administrators, 3 Physicians and 2 Nurses 

Ashly
Immigration and the Archdiocese of Chicago
 

Why does the Catholic Church are about immigration policies? Does the Catholic Church support illegal immigration?
Interviewed a priest who has been active in both Cook and Lake Counties 

Faina
Black-Jewish Relations in Chicago and the Hyde Park Neighborhood

Interviewed Haki Madhubuti, founder and president of Third World Press, which publishes many black nationalist authors and Rabbi Wolf of KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue
Chicago has the 4th greatest Jewish population in the United States and the largest contiguous black population in the United States 

Kari
A Textual Analysis of News Coverage in Public Housing in the Chicago Defender and Chicago Sun-Times in 2006 and 2007

Examined 2 months of articles in each newspaper each in 2006 and 2007
Used data coding and 14 variables, including interviews with residents, crime, class/income level, self-imrovement, government 

Meg
Cook County Public Health System and the John H Stroger Public Hospital

– sees 180,000 patients every year
Injustices in health care
Interviewed Deputy County Commissioner, Chief of Staff and a Doctor
Helped conduct a patient survey – in-depth interviews of 48 patients

8 hours for a prescription to be filled
Elimination of mammograms and some primary care clinics 

Kyle
Have schools and students picked up on environmental issues after visiting the North Park Nature Center? 


Started off as interviews but there wasn’t enough time; focused on elementary school teachers – conducted 10 interviews with teachers
Found teachers and students were more focused on wildlife and nature and not global environmentalism 

Annaliese
Does the Oriental Institute Specifically Target Schools from Affluent Areas?

Examined statistics and interviewed staff
 
Steve
Civil Rights: The Nazis Come to Chicago

Chicago neighborhood Marquette Park was 99.9% white and working class in 1950s
60,000 people (whites) moved out of West Englewood in 4 years – a large number went to Marquette Park
As the 2nd wave of the black migration happened, the Black population began growing. This challenged some whites’ identity and they feared economic change, and competition for political, social and cultural resources
1962 Civil Rights Act signed and led to the Chicago Freedom Movement
Open housing – most clearcut form of discrimination in the North and most easily resolved and could capture national attention

Deep complexities
Found old early documentary and interviewed a couple of residents about that time
Leader was Frank Collins, later to be found to be half Jewish and later convicted pedophile
 
Kevin
Merrill Lynch Experience
A Merrill Lynch brokerage firm was his internship and during his time there, CEO Stan O’Neil was canned. Under his leadership lost 8 billion dollars in 3 months Merrill Lynch is the 32nd biggest in the exchange
Interviewed brokers about what happened
He over-invested in sub-prime lending and
“Deserved what he got” was the general attitude.

Abby
Youth Violence in Chicago
Learned new terminology: vulnerable communities, youth at rist,
Looked at Funding sources and grant reviewers
McCormick Tribune Foundation
Teen report card
Profiled several organizations that serve youth in Chicago

AJ
After School Programs & Gangs
Interviewed and spoke with the kids at his after schcool program, CTVN – none of them were in a gang, but most were familiar with gang culture
After school programs help with the development of skills crucial to a working future
At CTVN, it’s camera work, working with groups, work ethic, leadership 

Fall Semester 2007 Wrap Up

On the last day of the term, students met together to share their stories and experiences. Here is some of what they shared:

Jen
Norhtwestern Memorial Hospital,Special Events Intern – My first day I helped coordinate a big event – we worked 16 hours and had the comedy group Second City as the Act and Jim Belushi was the host. We had a silent auction. So now I know I want to go into fundraising, although not necessarily event planning, because I learned it’s really draining.

Faina
I worked at Thirld World Press and it was really good for the most part. . I was surprised how much work goes into making a book – I had always sort of thought books just magically appeared. A memory I’ll take away is a production meeting we had. There was this generational divide amongst the staff, especially concerning the website. Haki (the founder) was very dapper. At this meeting he was giving this speech about how ‘we’re all black and here to promote excellence in black work.’ The vice president patted me on the back and said I was an honorary black person! And I got free books! There is also agood chance I’ll get some free lance work from them in the future.

Kari
I worked at the newspaper the Hyde Park Herald. I conducted interviews and research with public housing residents. When I went on the official CHA tour, we went to the Harold Ickies Homes and the spokesman said: Here is the worst of the worst. I had already been there for interviews, and I was surprised he said that.

Steve
I was at the Sunlight African Community Center. I learned to work under extreme pressure – when you have 15 little kids, you have to be on top of it.
They bought me a cake on my last day and they said, “Mr Steve – we’ll miss you!” that was great.

Annaliese
I worked at the Oriental Institute which has a museum, provides education and programming. It was pretty much chaos all the time. My big project was to prepare an outline of a pre-programming suggestion for a pilot program that simulated an archeology dig. I spent 2 months researching Mesopotamia. After I presented it, the Executive Director said, “This is good. I want the focus to be Israel.” I said, “No, it has to be Mesopotamia” and he said, “Israel.” So I had to start over from scratch. It was great to be able to see behind the scenes what goes into making the place work. I got to also see all the artifacts and details, the politics of working there.
Sarah
I student taught at Kenwood Academy, 8th Grade honors world history and 10th grade US History. It’s hard to think of one story. I loved seeing the overall growth of the students. I asked them for feedback and they spoke so eloquently. So many ran up to me at the end of my day and said “We’re going to miss you” – I still want to be a teacher, and I will stay in Chicago to teach. I have an interview Monday.

Robin
I student taught at Beasley Academic Center, 3rd grade gifted. So many stories. One interaction that was monumental was my first field trip – I got to see them out of their uniforms and out of school. We went to a grocery store, and learned about nutrition; we sampled food. They were so excited. My student teaching confirmed I want to be a teacher.

Katie
I was at South Shore School of Entrepreneurship, and tought 5 freshmean English classes. My cooperating teacher disappeared a lot; once during my 5th period, which had my most trouble-makers and talkers, she was gone. So I realized I was going to be teaching. I got up on a chair to get their attention, and to project my voice. I learned to try new things and new ways to make things work. I know now I can handle my students, that I can teach independently, and that I’m self-reliant.

Laura
I taught art at Orozco, to junior high age. I had no background in Spanish but now I can pick out certain words. At the end of the last day, my cooperating teacher had a student tell her, “Now you’ll have to stand on your own two feet because your student teacher is leaving” and that student wasn’t even in any of my classes. Even kids in the mariachi band gave me hugs goodbye.
I was in after school programs and friendly with a lot of the kids. I learned a lot about Mexican culture. I want to come back.

Emily
I taught at Sawyer Elementary – 8th grade science and reading. On the first day, they still didn’t know who my cooperating teacher would be. It was scary to be in a new city, not knowing anything. I’ve had to be assertive. On the last day, the 8th grade kids gave me notes, like “Thanks for believing in me.” It was hard to leave. I was more of a teacher with them then when I came.
One student wrote on the first day interest card that he wanted to be an architect and I referenced that during a lesson once and it was a bonding moment for him and me. On the last day he gave me a note that said, “You will know me when I’m an architect. I love you.”

Cherelle
I taught 2nd grade gifted at Beasely. I had 28 kids, so it was good, but hard. I hadone little boy who was very emotionally expressive, sometimes needed physical attention like my hand on his shoulder. One day he kept coming jp to me and giving me lots of hugs. I was getting very frustrated and he kept coming up to me for a hug. I finally realized he was doing it because I needed the hugs! I am staying in the city.
I have a funny story about a little lesson I gave on pollution – either I did a poor job or they weren’t listening because their assignment was to give me an example of pollution. They could even write an example from their book but that night my roommates were laughing at their answers.
Some of the answers about pollution were: “I have a pet at home.” “In Flordia, several squirrels live by the highway.” “Pollution is what butterflies eat.”
Needless to say, the next day we went over pollution (and pollen) again.

Melissa
I student taught at DePriest Elementary, 7 weeks Kindergarten and 7 weeks as a reading resource. That experience helped me teach better with all the kids.
I had one Kindergartner who was completely visually impaired, due to a tumor. He was also a little guy – his growth had been stunted. I learned a lot from him – he was so focused.
I’ll be staying there to teach 2nd grade.

Elizabeth
I was also at DePriest, in special education 1st through 4th grade, and a combined 3th/4th grade class. I always knew I wanted to do special education because my brother has a learning disability, but I’d never had much experience – at my university, it’s an endorsement.
With this experience I got confidence, I prepared lessons.
I’m going to go back to visit throughout the month, and next month I’m going to be a full-time sub there.

Kyle
I was at North Park Nature Preserve. I was the first and second place winner in October and November to find the Queen of the beehive! My second day, one of the staff asked me to water some trees. I went and got the John Deere tractor out of the shed – my supervisor didn’t know how to work the brake but I knew because I grew up on a farm. Anyway, while I was watering these trees I realized, I’m in the middle of Chicago driving a tractor!

Ashly
I worked with the Deputy Commissioner of Youth Services – it was politics, not social work. I got to meet the Mayor of Chicago. I’m going to go on to get my master’s degree in public policy – I want to be a staff writer or photographer for a politician.

Kevin
I worked with Merrill Lynch, doing investment and financial stuff. It was great – I had access to all the files and used all the programs a regular broker would use. My boss was not even 30 years old and his mom worked there. They had a great relationship – they could yell at each other and be honest. Last night they took me out to dinner to thank me.

Keith
I worked at OH Community Partners, a consulting firm for non-profits. I’m not sure I even knew what a non-profit was before I came. I helped with a 350K grant, made phone calls, and helped with the grant database their clients use. I feel like I’m leaving with more questions than answers.

Meg
I’m a pre-med major and I got to work in the emergency room of Stroger Hospital, a public and teaching hospital. I wanted to learn about how the uninsured receive health care. I shadowed a resident and assisted with a research project of one of the doctors. I interviewed patients who were homeless and drug addicts. It was an amazing experience and I definitely want to keep working with this population.

Alumni Visit Chicago Center

Dan Charles (left) who lives and works in Chicago, and Frank Murphy who lives and works in New York City stopped by to visit the staff, and sat in on the Academic Semester Directed Study Research Presenations. They also took the time to update us on what they are doing these days.

Dan writes:
“I work for a Property Management Corporation which provides affordable rental housing all over Chicago. I am grateful for my experience at Chicago Center, both as staff and student, as I find myself referring back to my experience in many settings.”

Frank writes:
“I work for Arbor Education and Training as an Educational Trainer/Coordinator. I serve students from the ages of 16-24 from various areas throughout the 5 boroughs of New York. I train/teach out of school disconnected youth in work readiness/job training skills so that they can enter and effectively stay in the workforce.

“I also serve as a Customer Service Certification and Basic GED Skills Trainer to help the trainees move forward in their educational pursuits.

“If it wasn’t for my experience at the Urban Life Center (now Chicago Center) I couldn’t effectively aid my population. Chicago Center gave me the skills, social training and opportunity to learn about myself, as an African/Latino male culturally, and about other cultures and organizational systems of leadership.”