CEGU

Join us to learn more about CEGU's new Capstone offering, CP2! The Community Project Capstone Program (CP2) track advances students’ direct participation in the work of Chicago area organizations whose missions align with themes of the CEGU major in the fields of conservation, urban affairs and environmental justice. Students will design, plan and develop projects and learn how to manage them through an iterative and reflexive process of collaborative learning-by-doing.

Project teams work independently with close faculty guidance and organization mentorship on projects of urgent concern to partner organizations in their program areas. Students in the CP2 track gain valuable research skills and build capacity to communicate ideas to diverse publics. CP2 can be completed in students’ third or fourth year. Participation in CP2 is by application only.

This transportation summit brings together faculty and students to create the future of mobility and safety on campus. In response to concerns spanning campus safety, sustainability, and accessibility, this event will serve as a platform to present innovative solutions that prioritize safe, equitable, and active transportation planning. Numerous faculty, RSO, and community members will present on current advocacy and planning projects to improve campus mobility. The event will also feature town hall-style conversations and mapping activities to collaboratively visualize solutions. 

The summit intends to bring together ideas from the campus and neighborhood community to improve mobility through better transportation accessibility, sustainability, and safety. Join us as we reimagine the design and safety of our campus to put pedestrians first, reduce emissions, and enhance student quality of life.

Click here to register for this event.

Sponsored by the University of Chicago Environmental Alliance, USG Committee on Campus Sustainability, and CEGU

Work through your ideas and interests to start developing a topic for your CEGU BA thesis!

Thanks to a generous gift from the Redekop family, CEGU offers funding awards for Ph.D. research projects engaged with CEGU themes, including socio-environmental studies, urban environmental studies, energy histories and geographies, environmental humanities, and more. University of Chicago Ph.D. students across all disciplines can apply for funding up to $5,000 per person.

Grants can be used to cover field work related expenses including travel costs, access to archival or digital materials, interview compensations, and other research-related expenses. Preference will be given to students who are pursuing the CEGU Doctoral Certificate, and to those who have not previously received funding. Please bear in mind that our funding is limited and that applying to a CEGU grant does not preclude you from applying for funding from other sources at the University and beyond. Please register for the info session here. 

Work through your ideas and interests to start developing a topic for your CEGU BA thesis!

From a marshy “wasteland” to a sprawling manufacturing complex to a scattered assemblage of industrial ruins, Chicago’s southeast side has experienced massive environmental transformations guided by more than one dream of landscape improvement. What can we learn from the processes of degradation and restoration that occurred in this wetland-turned-industrial zone? How might attunement to these cycles prepare us both for new rounds of modification and, more speculatively, for the impending, forced dereliction of coastal cities facing sea-level rise?

Please join CEGU and the Urban Theory Lab at a colloquium featuring Craig Colten, Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography Emeritus at Louisiana State University. Over a long and distinguished research career, Professor Colten has focused on perilous landscapes created by the combined forces of industrial contamination, ecological change and malign neglect both in Chicagoland and southern Louisiana. He is the author of seven books and dozens of articles that have shaped the field of environmental historical geography. Before taking up his position at LSU, Craig Colten spent a decade at the Illinois State Museum where he conducted the definitive research on industrial hazardous waste disposal in northern Illinois. 

About the book: The Petro-state Masquerade is a historical and ethnographic study of the fraught relationship between fossil fuels and political power in Trinidad and Tobago. Anthropologist Ryan Cecil Jobson traces how a model of governance fashioned during prior oil booms is imperiled by declining fossil fuel production and a loss of state control. After more than a century of commercial oil production, Trinidad and Tobago instructs us to regard the petro-state as less a permanent form than a fragile relation between fossil fuels and sovereign authority. Foregrounding the concurrent masquerades of oil workers, activists, and Carnival revelers, Jobson argues that the promise of decolonization lies in the disarticulation of natural resources, capital, and political power by ordinary people in the Caribbean.

About the author: Ryan Cecil Jobson is the Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. His research is preoccupied with questions of energy, sovereignty, race, and capitalism in the Caribbean and the Americas. His first book, The Petro-State Masquerade: Oil, Sovereignty, and Power in Trinidad and Tobago, was published by the University of Chicago Press in December 2024. His writing is featured in American Anthropologist, American  Ethnologist, Current Anthropology, The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, and Small Axe. He currently serves as coeditor-in-chief of Transforming Anthropology, the flagship journal of the Association of Black Anthropologists.

Learn more and register here.

An exhibition curated by the students of Professor Jessica Landau's CEGU/ARTH/CHST 20164: Exhibiting the Environmental Humanities

An alumna of the University of Chicago (1918), May Theilgaard Watts (1893-1975) was a groundbreaking naturalist, educator, artist, and activist of the 20^th century. After studying botany and ecology here, at UChicago, Watts had a multifaceted career that brought her from one room school houses to the Morton Arboretum, and in which she shared her knowledge through poetry, PBS TV programming, elementary science curriculums, art, nature writing, and more. Her legacy left important physical marks on the Chicagoland area - she gave us the Prairie Path, one of the nation’s first rails-to-trails pathways as well as several books (all still in print!) and countless lessons on plant identification and ecology. The importance of Watts’s legacy reaches beyond trails and lesson plans, however. We can all learn a lot from Watts’s educational philosophy, which sought to connect students of all ages, on a personal level, to their local landscapes and build community around a love of even the most unassuming habitats. This exhibition traces the many ways Watts instilled this love and built community in her overlapping roles as a naturalist, educator, artist, and activist. We hope it inspires you to get outside, to be curious and playful, and learn more about the landscapes around you.

Register here.

In Plastic: An Autobiography, Cobb’s obsession with a large plastic car part leads her to explore the violence of our consume-and-dispose culture, including her own life as a child of Los Alamos, where the first atomic bombs were made. The journey exposes the interconnections among plastic waste, climate change, nuclear technologies, and racism. Using a series of interwoven narratives ― from ancient Phoenicia to Alabama ― the book bears witness to our deepest entanglements and asks how humans continue on this planet.

Allison Cobb is the author of After We All Died (Ahsahta Press); Plastic: an autobiography (Essay Press EP series); Born2 (Chax Press); and Green-Wood, originally published by Factory School with a new edition in 2018 from Nightboat Books. Cobb works for the Environmental Defense Fund and lives in Portland, Oregon, where she co-hosts The Switch reading, art, and performance series and performs in the collaboration Suspended Moment.

Organized by the Environmental Humanities Lab, Department of English, Department of Creative Writing, and CEGU

Join us on Friday, February 14th, for the 3rd year BA Thesis and Capstone Information session. During this session students will learn more about both of the available tracks, as well as further information on the BA Thesis/Capstone application process.

This session will be recorded and shared following the event. Attendance is required for all 3rd year CEGU majors.

Register here.

Join CEGU for a conversation with Eddie Ahn, author of Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice.

About Advocate: Born in Texas to Korean immigrants, Eddie grew up working at his family’s store with the weighty expectations that their sacrifices would be paid off when he achieved the “American Dream.” Years later after moving to San Francisco and earning a coveted law degree, he then does the unthinkable: he rejects a lucrative legal career to enter the nonprofit world.

In carving his own path, Eddie defies his family’s notions of economic success, igniting a struggle between family expectations, professional goals, and dreams of community. As an environmental justice attorney, he confronts the most immediate issues the country is facing today, from the devastating effects of Californian wildfires to economic inequality, all while combatting burnout and racial prejudice. In coming fully into his own, Eddie also reaches a hand back to his parents, showing them the value of a life of service rather than one spent only seeking monetary wealth.

Weaving together humorous anecdotes with moments of victory and hope, this powerful, deeply contemplative full-color graphic novel explores the relationship between immigration and activism, opportunity and obligation, and familial duty and community service.

Register here.

Hear from three CEGU/ENST alumni on the experience of writing a thesis and the start of their careers following graduation from UChicago.

Food will be provided! Registration is required.

Register here.↗

Come learn more about CEGU's BA Capstone track from Instructional Professor and Director of Community Studies, Mary Beth Pudup. This is a required info session for Capstone track students.

Register here.↗

Registration is free and required. Click here to learn more and register.↗

This Earth Day, join us for an engaging evening in the Urban Lounge as we reconnect with UChicago alumni and explore the impact of the university on their experience after graduating. We will explore the pivotal experiences during their time as an undergraduate that shaped their careers, how they cultivated Chicago-based connections, and the skills crucial for success in their current paths. This event will feature alumni from a diverse array of fields, providing the opportunity for students to foster personal connections and explore shared experiences with alumni. Dinner will be provided. 

Join journalists from the the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for a lunchtime conversation on careers in climate journalism. Miho Ouyou is a Journalist and Post-Grad Reporting Fellow and Minsha Ouyou is a Journalist and Guest Contributor. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is a news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The Center’s goal is to raise the standard of coverage on international, systemic crises and to do so in a way that engages both the broad public and government policymakers. Lunch will be provided.

Recent publications:

• Japan’s Seafood Producers Are Feeling the Economic Fallout of China’s Ban on Imports↗
• Japan’s Plan To Discharge Radioactive Water Into the Sea Worries Residents↗

Join organizers and authors of CEGU's Exposions Magazine for the launch of our sixth issue. Hear from contributors, meet the team, pick up a copy, and enjoy some refreshments.

Objectified: Methods in Environmental Humanities is an exhibition featuring selections from the Joel Snyder Materials Collection and beyond. The materials and objects included in the exhibition represent a reckoning with some of the planet’s most pressing concerns, from climate change to biodiversity loss, through humanistic inquiry.

Staged in the CWAC Exhibitions space on the 2nd floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center during Winter Quarter 2024 in collaboration with Dr. Jessica Landau and students in the Methods in Environmental Humanities seminar offered by the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU), the exhibition foregrounds an interdisciplinary lens through which the contributors approach the environmental humanities. Students interrogate how humanistic disciplines such as art history, Indigenous studies, animal studies, comparative literature, and history serve as emerging methods through which we might understand the environment. Collectively, the student curators contemplate our everyday relationships with the built environment, natural resources, and stolen land through humanistic lines of inquiry.

To demonstrate how an interpretation can change depending on the methodological approach used or theoretical lens applied to an object, student curators were asked to produce two distinct labels using at least two different methodologies.

On November 30th, 2023, the United Arab Emirates convened the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—COP28 for short—in Dubai. Over the course of two weeks, negotiators from almost 200 nations took stock of progress made since the 2015 Paris Agreement—too slow, and not enough—and debated ways to transition away from fossil fuels—a debate influenced, no doubt, by the overwhelming presence of fossil fuel industry lobbyists and their political allies. Despite strenuous disagreement between delegates and scathing critique from activists, in his closing remarks on December 13th UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell proclaimed that COP28 signalled the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era.

But amidst such mixed messages emerging from COP, are there other signals in the noise? What really happened offstage? What were activists and other unsanctioned participants demanding, and why? Are carbon markets and other market-based technofixes the only answer? What can we learn from COP28 from the bottom-up? Come join students from UChicago’s COP28 delegation and Professor Berit Kristofferson (UiT, Norway) to get an inside story on the politics of climate change and discuss the way forward.

Energize is The University of Chicago’s largest annual networking event for undergraduate students interested in energy and the environment.

10+ employer partners from renewable energy to local non-profits will be joining us for fireside conversations, small group coffee chats, and an open, ‘career fair’ networking event. This will be your top chance in the 2023-2024 academic year to learn about internship opportunities, meet alumni working in the environmental and energy fields, and discuss full-time opportunities.

Participating Partners

• 174 Power Global
• Argonne National Laboratory
• Acciona
• Comed/Exelon
• Field Museum
• LanzaTech
• Marathon Capital
• Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
• New Energy Nexus
• The Nature Conservancy
• Urban Rivers
• Valor Infrastructure Partners

Join us for a BA Thesis Alumni Panel to hear directly from recent grads about tackling the thesis process and transitioning to the professional world after college. Alumni will share insights on research, writing strategies, and overcoming common hurdles related to methodologies and data collection. They'll also discuss their career paths since graduation. This is a great chance to get personalized advice and ask questions as you progress through your own thesis and post-graduation journey. Food will be provided!

Panelists

• Ruby Rorty, “Is There a Legal Path to Environmental Justice? Movement-Building, Strategic Litigation, and a Case Study of Chicago’s General Iron Dispute.”
• Kimika Padilla, “Bird’s Eye View: Local Perspective from a Case Study of Aerial Cable Cars in Bogotá, Colombia.”
• Micah Wilcox, “Major ‘L’: How the Chicago Transit Authority Gentrified Its Elevated Trains.”

In December, the Energy Policy Institute at The University of Chicago (EPIC) and The University of Chicago Office of Career Advancement sponsored student delegates from the College, Booth, Harris, and Law School to attend the COP28 international climate change conferencein Dubai.

Join us for an in-depth conversation about COP, the issues, the experiences of our students, and the role you can play as a climate champion.

Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should contact International House in advance of the program at (773) 753-2274 or i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

The summer of 2023 was the hottest ever recorded on planet earth and—wait for it—next summer is expected to be hotter. Seemingly every extreme weather event—be it wildfires, flooding, or heat emergencies—is greeted as the “new normal” instead of what it should be: a clarion call for collective study and action. This event takes up that challenge and creates a CEGU forum for student-driven conversations that grapple with the climate and nature emergency as it is happening. This is an invitation to talk about root causes of the emergency, map efforts underway to address those causes and finally and urgently, imagine alternative futures.

The event will begin with a brief introduction by CEGU faculty + students and will move on to an open discussion and brainstorm about what kinds of student-led CEGU initiatives and events we can develop to address the climate-nature emergency. Come ready to share ideas and get inspired! Snacks and drinks will be provided.

This event is part of the Frizzell Family Learning & Speaker Series.

Join organizers and authors of CEGU's Exposions Magazine for the launch of a special issue in collaboration with the Chicago Studies research project, Century on 55th Street. Hear from contributors, meet the team, pick up a copy, and enjoy some refreshments.

Are you a 4th year thesis or capstone writer interested in using your project to explore a future career? Are you a 3rd year student thinking about the thesis and capstone options? In this workshop, we will discuss how to tailor your BA thesis or capstone to post-graduation pathways related to cities and the environment. While the BA thesis should stand on its own in terms of research and design, it may be useful to orient your paper towards various careers, especially those that might require or allow for the submission of a writing sample. Over the course of an hour, we’ll discuss how to select sources, methods, and visualizations that signal to a given audience your understanding of the field—whether it be urban planning, academic research, policy, consulting, or beyond. The goal will be to identify a strong audience and build some next steps towards putting your thesis or capstone paper in conversation with these careers.

All those currently seeking to earn a CEGU Doctoral Certificate are obliged to attend.  Anyone interested in the CEGU Doctoral Certificate are welcome. Attendance in person is preferred, but if you are unable to attend in person, the meeting will be also available via Zoom. You will receive a link upon submitting the registration form.

CEGU students, faculty, and friends are invited for a night at the museum to discover and engage the work of Ruth Duckworth in the Smart Museum’s exhibition Ruth Duckworth: Life As A Unity.

This is a social event for students and faculty across the University from CEGU to the arts and humanities to the physical and biological sciences to mingle, exchange ideas, and get to know each other as well as one of UChicago’s most influential faculty artists, Ruth Duckworth, who was deeply embedded in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and Hyde Park’s burgeoning climate activist community in the 1960s.

Happy Autumn Quarter! Join us in celebrating the beginning of the academic year with our Fall social event, hiking at the Indiana Dunes. Led by UChicago Alum and President of the Chicago Ornithological Society, Edward Warden, this hike will explore the many ecosystems of the Indiana Dunes including dunes, oak savannas, swamps, marshes, and forests.

We will meet in the outdoor courtyard in front of the 1155 building, located at 1155 E. 60th Street. Our bus will leave promptly at 10:00am, so be sure to be on time!

Participants are expected to wear appropriate clothing for hiking outdoors, preferably long pants and close-toed shoes. Please bring a water bottle and preferred snacks, granola bars and other light refreshments will be provided.

Please contact Tess Conway, student affairs administrator, at tconway@uchicago.edu with any questions.

Expositions Magazine, CEGU’s student publication, is hosting a launch party to celebrate the release of our latest issue on Friday, May 12. Join us in the Urban Lounge to meet and hear from the talented students who contributed to Issue No. 4! If Chicago bike lane inequities, the daily lives of Las Vegans, or the hidden spaces of Hyde Park sound intriguing to you, come join us.

When climate change, aging infrastructure and an affordable housing crisis pose existential threats to our cities and society, why has it become so difficult to get big things done? Are some of the very rules and regulations put in place to solve these sorts of problems getting in the way? A look at the troubled aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York City, at some of the obstacles to addressing homelessness, and at some challenges to the construction of subsidized housing around the country.

Michael Kimmelman is the architecture critic of The New York Times. He has reported from more than 40 countries, was previously The Times's chief art critic and, based in Berlin, created the Abroad column, covering cultural and political affairs across Europe and the Middle East. Twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist, he is the founder and editor-at-large of a new venture focused on global challenges and progress called Headway.

As of Autumn 2023, the Major and Minor in Environmental and Urban Studies will become the Major and Minor in Environment, Geography and Urbanization. We invite all interested students to join us for an information session on these updated program requirements, including the opportunity for Q&A. Lunch will be provided!

This event is open to all UChicago undergraduates. Third- and Fourth-Year ENST majors are encouraged to attend.

Join CEGU research mentors and fellow students to brainstorm together about the BA Thesis in the Environmental and Urban Studies major.

This event is optional (but encouraged) for Third-Year ENST majors.

Join EPIC, CEGU, and UChicago Career Advancement for the annual Energize event to network with professionals from across the sustainability, environmental, and energy fields. You will be able to meet with experienced professionals from organizations and companies such as the Invenergy, Green City Market, Shedd Aquarium, the Delta Institute, and more. Students will speak to panelists in small groups about their career experiences and how to succeed in various fields.

If you have any questions about access or to request any reasonable accommodations that will facilitate your full participation in this event such as ASL interpreting, captioned videos, Braille or electronic text, food options for individuals with dietary restrictions, etc. please contact the event organizer or Career Advancement at careeradvancement@uchicago.edu.↗

Join CEGU staff and fellow students to learn about the newly revised BA Thesis and BA Capstone process in the Environmental and Urban Studies major. Lunch will be provided.

This event is required for Third-Year ENST majors.

This event is open to all UChicago undergraduates. Third- and Fourth-Year ENST majors are encouraged to attend.

Join Research Mentor Kristi Del Vecchio for a 60-minute workshop on the IRB (Institutional Review Board) application process. This session is especially relevant for ENST thesis writers who intend to conduct research with human subjects (e.g. surveys, interviews, participant observation, etc.). The main goal of the workshop is to review the procedures and requirements for the IRB application in order to help students prepare for this process.

This event is open to all current UChicago undergraduates. Snacks will be provided.

Join Research Mentor Kristi del Vecchio and fellow thesis writers for an informal discussion on undergraduate research in Environmental and Urban Studies. Light refreshments will be served, and students will have an opportunity to share ideas and receive feedback on their projects.

This event is for third- and fourth-year ENST majors.

Join CEGU Research Mentor Kristi Del Vecchio for an interactive session on qualitative methods in environmental studies research. Her dissertation focuses on “eco-reproductive ethics," interrogating the ways in which environmental concerns (such as climate change and biodiversity loss) are impacting reproductive choices and kinship practices in the U.S. In this session, Kristi will summarize her process for data collection and analysis, and discuss some of the literature that informs her approach. This lunch-n-learn is especially relevant for students who are interested in qualitative methods in their current or future research.