Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

Chicago Center celebrates 40 years

By Ben Cook
StreetWise Staff

The Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture was founded in 1970, and since then has helped thousands of college students make Chicago their classroom. The Chicago Center serves students from more than 30 liberal arts colleges and universities by providing practicum opportunities in all academic majors as well as urban teaching and social work in Chicago.

The Chicago Center engages students with urban resources, realities, and issues through a first voice pedagogy which uses the city directly as a teaching resource.

Upon arrival, students share apartments in the heart of Hyde Park (1327 E. Hyde Park Boulevard). They receive a one – or two-week course in the culture of the city, attending a variety of different religious services, plays, music, venues, museums, and festivals throughout the city.

After touring of the city, students are steered towards an internship that will challenge their particular academic interests.

StreetWise has hosted six interns from the Chicago Center in the last three years, including Brenna Daldorph, whose  August 5, 2009 cover story won ‘Best Feature’ at this year’s North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) awards.

Rachel Sylwestrzak, the most recent intern, told us about her experience with the Chicago Center and interning at StreetWise.

“I was interested in publishing, and StreetWise was one of the contacts that the Center game me.” Sylwestrzak said. “It wasn’t the exact idea I had in mind, but I thought that working here would challenge me, in addition to giving me an inside look at a lifestyle that I hadn’t really been exposed to. I’m glad I came here, because it worked out great. One thing that was kind of big for me – I live in the suburbs, and we don’t have public transportation. One of the things the Center stressed was how to use the CTA to get around the city. So, it’s made me more comfortable when I have to go out to different locations for stories,” She continued.

“I got to cover a few city hall meetings, which is something I’d never got to do before. It was very interesting and definitely something I will remember from my experience here in Chicago.”

Sylwestrzak concluded, “The Chicago Center is very supportive of the internship. I like how they let us take charge of the experience. It’s been a perfect fit.”

Marit Ehmke interned at StreetWise through Chicago Center in January 2009. Reflecting on her experiences, she said, “I learned a lot of new things, met a lot of great people, and experience what life in Chicago is really all about. Working at StreetWise reminded me of how important it is to help out in when, where, and any way you can.”

For more information about the Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture, visit www. chicagocenter.org, or call 773.262.1313

Chicago Center looks back on 40 years of urban education

Hyde Park Herald, November 3, 2010

The Chicago Center, located here in Hyde Park, could very well be the most important neighborhood institution you’ve never heard of.  Tucked away in the office space at 1515 E. 52nd Pl., the center has spent four decades bridging the gap between urban communities and those that attend university with an eye to studying them, teaching in them and otherwise working in those places.  Scott Chesebro, who heads the center, describes it as having more in common with, for example, a living abroad program than with a more traditional urban studies format.

We don’t think of ourselves as a service learning program.  We don’t think of ourselves as a vista-type education program [We are] an urban education program that utilizes the city and its resources as an educational tool,” Chesebro said.

Students at Chicago Center, who come from over 30 colleges largely in less urban settings and in many cases from across the Midwest, are given crash courses in navigating public transportation, exposed to the diversity of neighborhoods throughout the city and are challenged to deal directly with the people who are represented by the studies and statistics that often are the main fare of such majors as sociology and urban planning.

It is this quality, which Urban Social Work Practicum Director Arvis Averette describes as “a reliance on first voices,” that sets the center apart from many other kinds of programs.

“It’s like study abroad in Chicago,” Chesebro said. “It functions more like a study abroad program than it does a service learning program or an internship program that a student might do while they’re at the University of Chicago.  Maybe they do an internship at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, but they’re still living on campus, they’re still going to classes every day. They’re just doing a volunteer experience in the neighborhood.”

Averette contrasts this to other learning environments related to urban studies.

“Many of the academic things that one does in school-you look at the community and study it, look at the statistics and so forth. But here- the separation from the other programs I’ve been aware of – is this reliance on having people from that community who are very responsible people, who know the community and speak to it to the students in a learning fashion,” Averette said. “For example, if we are going to deal with Bronzeville, we would invariably talk to Tim Black or Harold Lucas who are the reigning experts on these areas.”

By all accounts, students currently at the center give high marks to the approach.

Student Ryann Bird, who comes from a small town in rural Nebraska and attends school in Lincoln, said her initial impression of the South Side of Chicago was, like many people, based on pretty unreliable source of information.

“I’m from a really tiny town in Nebraska with 5,500 people.  My parents, they knew everything they see on TV about the South Side of Chicago.  I was nervous at first,” Bird said. “But Hyde Park is really safe and homey…it’s not like the media portrays it at all.”

Bird is interning at the DuSable Museum of African American History, which she gets to via public transportation each day from the apartment building the center recently purchased for its students.  Student Beth Izzo, who is teaching second grade at Beasley Elemetary on State Street, said the shared living quarters have been a big help to her as a student teacher.

‘It’s good to live with other student teachers so we can talk about our experiences, which always helps,” Izzo said, “It’s nice to have that support system.”

Chicago Center is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a full day of events this Saturday, Nov. 6, culminating in an evening at Carnivale.  For more information, call Althea Conyers at 773-363-1312 or visit chicagocenter.org

Study Off Campus in Chicago: Experience Theater in Chicago

If you think of Chicago as a sports town with its many professional teams, or as a great place to tour famous museums, or as a city of incredible architecture, you would be right! But one thing you shouldn’t overlook during your Chicago internship experience is the theater scene of Chicago. In variety and quality, it rivals New York and London — in fact, the character of Chicago theater is so representative of the city and its neighborhoods that experiencing it is integral for our students who are studying off campus in Chicago.

The Second City and Improv in Chicago
Chicago is primarily known for its comedy and improv. Like Hollywood calls to aspiring movie stars, our beautiful city hosts the best up-and-coming improv and sketch comedians in the nation at The Second City theater in the Old Town neighborhood. Read More

Chicago Education Programs: Learning from Nature, Even in the City

When you come to the city for a Chicago education program, your first thought may not be that you will be able to experience nature in the country’s third largest urban center. But even in the “city of big shoulders,” known for its manufacturing and industry, you can explore and learn about nature and the outdoors.

Because of Mayor Richard Daley’s persistent steps to make the city more green, the learning institutions within the city and the park districts throughout the state, Chicago education programs can teach you as much about nature as they do about urban living.

Chicago Education Programs: Experiencing Nature Within the City Limits

Lake Michigan: One of the best amenities of Chicago is its location on the “third coast,” meaning Lake Michigan. While you are with the Chicago Center, you can take advantage of the Lake and all of its natural glory by participating in a variety of beach and water sports.

Promontory Point in Hyde Park, Chicago

Read More

Our Chicago Internship Program in the Press: Josh LeGreve in the Herald Times Reporter

Out of His Comfort Zone

TR native gets taste of big city life by student teaching in Chicago
By Cindy Hodgson • Herald Times Reporter • March 2, 2010

Josh LeGreve, back right, long-term substitute Spanish teacher in the Mishicot School District, helps students set up their personal accounts on the Edmodo Web site so they can converse with Justin Gerlach's English students in Argentina. LeGreve is filling in for Gerlach, who took a leave of absence from teaching in Mishicot to teach English to Spanish-speaking students in Argentina. He is helping, from left, sophomores Jacob LeFleur, Nathan Krcma and Andrew Schwerma. In the background is senior Kiyanna Faulks. (Sue Pischke/HTR)

MISHICOT — When it came time to do his student teaching, Two Rivers native Josh LeGreve decided not to go the usual route.

LeGreve, 23, said most of his fellow students at Ripon College choose to student teach at a nearby school, such as in Ripon, Oshkosh or Fond du Lac.

“I wanted to move out of my comfort zone,” he said. “I wanted to push myself as a teacher.”

LeGreve decided to do his student teaching in Chicago through a partnership Ripon College has with the Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture. Read More

Chicago Internships: Skills You Can Learn On the Job and With Us!

At the Chicago Center, you get to work in an internship in Chicago while being supported by peers who are doing the same thing and a staff who is ready to help you make the most of your internship experience and your time in Chicago. That is the great part of being in a Chicago internship program rather than simply finding an internship on your own.

We’ll help you take your work experience and understand it in the context of the city and its unique cultural and economic background. Meanwhile, you’ll be in charge of your own career education while you are on the job. There are many things you can learn from an internship, whether it’s your first one or one of many you’ve worked in. Here are just a few of the skills you can expect to pick up in an internship in Chicago.

Multitasking and Time Management

In high school and college, you have to balance many time commitments, classes and jobs, but when you work in an internship or job, you realize how different multitasking on the job can be. Rather than being able to dedicate your full attention to one task for an extended period of time or until it’s finished, you often have to juggle projects and finish them all quickly and efficiently. Read More

Community Education Chicago: Cultural Experiences with the Chicago Center

While you will definitely learn career skills and other practical knowledge during your time in your internship at the Chicago Center, you will also learn directly from being immersed in our home city: Chicago. As you study off campus in Chicago, you will learn directly from the rich diversity of Chicago neighborhoods; the opportunities that come along and teach you the most might not be the ones you are expecting!

Community Education Chicago: A Definition

Community education means exactly what it sounds like– learning directly from Chicago’s neighborhoods by participating in activities and events important to the community itself.

Chicago Center calls this educational philosophy First Voice pedagogy.  We engage students with urban resources, realities, and issues through a First Voice pedagogy which utilizes the city directly as a teaching resource. First Voice pedagogy integrates community based resources and experiential education into more traditional ways of learning; seminars are designed to extend the text into the dynamics of the city. Read More

Chicago Summer Internships: How to Start Looking Now!

Although it’s still winter here in Chicago, you may want to start making your summer plans … even if it’s just so you can think about warm weather and classes being out! If your summer might include working in a Chicago summer internship, here are some ways to start looking and prepare yourself.

What kind of Chicago summer internships are there?

Chicago, being the 3rd largest urban center and having the 2nd largest job market in the country, hosts many industries and offers various types of employment. Some college students know exactly what kind of internship they want and which industry they want to work in; those students can get started right away on their Chicago Center application and look through examples of internships on our internships page. We have networked with hundreds of agencies, corporate organizations, arts groups and more to find internship sites that will give you great guidance, experience and let you contribute to the community  in significant and meaningful ways.

However, if you aren’t exactly sure what career you may want get started in, here’s how you can start your research on Chicago summer internships: Read More

Chicago Internships: Answers to your potential questions, from Chicago Center!

Chicago internships can teach you a lot about yourself and your chosen career, and while you are working in one, there are probably tons of questions you may want to have answered. Luckily, Chicago Center provides a built-in support system to help you find answers to your own questions. From working in an office, to communicating with coworkers, to meeting deadlines, you may run into challenges in your Chicago internship program, but we’ll be there to help you address them, while also learning from them!

But you might have heard the saying, “Nothing worthwhile ever comes easily.” The amazing experiences you have as an intern and a student in Chicago are so great because they teach you that you can rise to meet the challenges you face! Chicago Center assists you in learning from your internship and succeeding in it.

Working an internship in Chicago, IL can provide challenges that help you learn about yourself.

The great thing about the Chicago Center internship programs is that we’ll be there the whole way to help you deal with any challenges you might meet. Whether challenges should rise in your Chicago internship, in your studies, or in your experience living in the city, you have an entire staff at your disposal, who have been through the Chicago Center experience themselves, to support you and help you learn and grow! It is a truly a unique community experience that helps you face any problem you meet.

And we’ll start helping you right here, by outlining some preliminary challenges and questions that our students meet and how to deal with them. With the help of our staff, you can navigate through challenges, and learn from the ones you must face! Read More

Chicago Internships: How An Internship Can Help You Get A Job

Chicago internships can assist you in facing one of the biggest life transitions: Starting a career. Getting a job right out of college these days is harder than ever. With a lagging economy and a job market saturated with entry-level employees, finding employment can be difficult no matter how qualified you are.

What are employers looking for more than anything? Real experience. And a great way to get real on-the-job experience is through choosing a Chicago internship in your field.

How can a college internship help you get a job?

Well, there are skills that you learn and tools you acquire that make the Chicago internship experience completely irreplaceable on your way to your chosen career. Here are the things a college internship can teach that make you a better candidate for employment. Read More