The Global Voices Lecture Series presents prominent speakers and organizes round-table discussion groups and special interest conferences and seminars. As a part of this program, leading figures from the world stage come to share their thoughts and exchange ideas with students and members of Chicago’s civic community on major issues facing the country and the world. The Global Voices Program enables International House to continue to strengthen its links with the University of Chicago and the City of Chicago in ways that are commensurate with its institutional position of promoting cross-cultural understanding and respect and the exchange of ideas among people of all nations and backgrounds.

• WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27
  Complicit Destruction: Money Mines and Militarization in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  This panel highlights the growing crisis in Eastern Congo, whose roots must be sought in the complex interplay between non-state actors, like foreign mining multinationals and the local militias they support; foreign political bodies, including the United Nations, the U.S. government, and most notably the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the administrative headquarters responsible for the U.S. Secretary of Defense with fifty-three African countries; and the interests of neighboring states Rwanda and Uganda, and to some extent Tanzania. The exploitation of Congo's vast mineral resources is enabled and perpetuated by the use of rape as a weapon of war that destroys women's bodily integrity, shames communities and nourishes a culture of impunity. This event is intended to break the silence surrounding the conflicts in Congo and to come to terms with the devastating consequences of seemingly benevolent U.S. policies and foreign intervention. Co-sponsored by the Chicago Society and the African and Caribbean Students' Association.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  7:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11
  International Education Conference: Making Your School More International
  Registration required in advance.
  8:00 am – 12:00 pm, Assembly Hall
  

Mini-Conference Series

• WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13
  GLOBAL VOICES DISCUSSION PROGRAM
  Café Society
  Observe and participate in a series of conversations where families, friends, neighbors, and citizens come together to discuss current events and other important political and social issues. By engaging in the meaningful exchange of ideas and perspectives, these conversations enliven the core of democracy and empower the public. Café Society is a project designed to foster a more robust civil society, more cohesive and interactive communities, greater media literacy, and a more informed and engaged citizenry through weekly coffee shop conversations about contemporary social issues. Current media reports (along with ample doses of caffeine) serve as stimulants for the conversations. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council's innovative community discussion program and the Civic Knowledge Project.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Tiffin Boardroom
• WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
  GLOBAL VOICES DISCUSSION PROGRAM
  Café Society
  Observe and participate in a series of conversations where families, friends, neighbors, and citizens come together to discuss current events and other important political and social issues. By engaging in the meaningful exchange of ideas and perspectives, these conversations enliven the core of democracy and empower the public. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council's innovative community discussion program and the Civic Knowledge Project.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Tiffin Boardroom
• WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
  GLOBAL VOICES DISCUSSION PROGRAM
  Café Society
  Observe and participate in a series of conversations where families, friends, neighbors, and citizens come together to discuss current events and other important political and social issues. By engaging in the meaningful exchange of ideas and perspectives, these conversations enliven the core of democracy and empower the public. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council's innovative community discussion program and the Civic Knowledge Project.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Tiffin Boardroom
• WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14
  GLOBAL VOICES DISCUSSION PROGRAM
  Café Society
  Observe and participate in a series of conversations where families, friends, neighbors, and citizens come together to discuss current events and other important political and social issues. By engaging in the meaningful exchange of ideas and perspectives, these conversations enliven the core of democracy and empower the public. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council's innovative community discussion program and the Civic Knowledge Project.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Tiffin Boardroom
• THURSDAY, MAY 6
  Honoring Reproductive Health & Freedom: "A Father's Role from Pregnancy to Adulthood"
  More information will be posted later about this event.
• WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
  GLOBAL VOICES DISCUSSION PROGRAM
  Café Society
  Observe and participate in a series of conversations where families, friends, neighbors, and citizens come together to discuss current events and other important political and social issues. By engaging in the meaningful exchange of ideas and perspectives, these conversations enliven the core of democracy and empower the public. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council's innovative community discussion program and the Civic Knowledge Project.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Tiffin Boardroom

Author Series

• WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
  The Organization of Black American Culture Writers presents Angela Jackson and Haki R. Madhubuti in Honor of Black History Month
  Angela Jackson, a renowned poet, professor, and now novelist has pieced together her experiences over the past forty years to produce an autobiographical first novel titled Where I Must Go. The novel details her upbringing in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, which used to be a bustling neighborhood that is now plagued by rampant poverty and crime. She chronicles her journey from the familiar to the foreign when attending a predominantly white university during the turbulent civil rights movements in the 1960s. Haki R. Madhubuti is a much sought-after poet, author, and educator. He is a major contributor to the Black literary tradition beginning in the mid-60s and continues to have major influences today. He will be speaking on his new book, Liberation Narratives: New And Collected Poems, which provides an overview of emerging black culture as they reflect black consciousness, hip-hop, political speeches, and motivational talks. Co-sponsored by the Organization of Black American Culture Writers, the University of Chicago’s Organization of Black Students, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture (CSRPC), and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6 pm, Home Room
• FRIDAY, MARCH 12
  Chang-rae Lee speaking on his book, The Surrendered
  "I'm fascinated by people who find themselves in positions of alienation or some kind of cultural dissonance," says creative writing professor and novelist Chang-rae Lee of his literary creations. "The characters may not always be Asian Americans, but they will always be people who are thinking about the culture and how they fit or don't fit into it." Lee would certainly be in a good position to understand the outsider's perspective. At age three, he immigrated to the United States from Korea. That experience of crossing a great cultural divide haunts his fiction, which typically explores themes of identity and assimilation. These themes have clearly struck a chord with readers and critics. Native Speaker, his debut novel about a Korean-American outsider who becomes involved in espionage, garnered numerous awards, including the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and the American Book Award. Lee was later named one of the 20 best American writers by The New Yorker for his second novel, A Gesture Life, the tale of a medic who recalls the experience of treating Korean "comfort women" during World War II. Lee will be speaking on his latest book, The Surrendered, a novel about a Korean girl and an American vet whose lives become entangled with the Korean War. Co-sponsored by the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• MONDAY, MAY 10
  Kestenbaum Family Cultural Activities presents Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth
  From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written—that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, and friends and lovers. In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he's harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he's keeping all to himself. In "A Choice of Accommodations," a husband's attempt to turn an old friend's wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In "Only Goodness," a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in "Hema and Kaushik," a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Assembly Hall

The World Beyond the Headlines

This popular public lecture series is a collaborative project with the University of Chicago Center for International Studies, the Seminary Coop Bookstores, and the International Global Voices Program with support from the McCormick Foundation. The program brings scholars and journalists together to consider major international news stories and how these stories are covered. - Can't make it to an event? Streaming and downloadable audio and video are now available from CHIASMOS, the University of Chicago's International and Area Studies Multimedia and Outreach Source.

• THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4
  Deborah Brautigam, The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa
  This well-timed book, by one of the world's leading experts, provides the first comprehensive account of China's aid and economic cooperation overseas. Deborah Brautigam tackles the myths and realities, explaining what the Chinese are doing, how they do it, how much aid they give, and how it all fits into their "going global" strategy. Drawing on three decades of experience in China and Africa, and hundreds of interviews in Africa, China, Europe, and the U.S., Brautigam shines new light on a topic of great interest. China has ended poverty for hundreds of millions of its own citizens. Will Chinese engagement benefit Africa? Using hard data and a series of vivid stories ranging across agriculture, industry, natural resources, and governance, Brautigam’s fascinating book provides an answer. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with China’s rise, and what it might mean for the challenge of ending poverty in Africa. Co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the Center for East Asian Studies and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Home Room
• THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18
  Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
  The current global financial crisis carries a "made in America" label. In this forthright and incisive book, 2001 Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz explains how America exported bad economics, bad policies, and bad behavior to the rest of the world, only to cobble together a haphazard and ineffective response when the markets finally seized up. Drawing on his academic expertise, his years spent shaping policy in the Clinton administration and at the World Bank, and his more recent role as head of a UN Commission charged with reforming the global financial system, Stiglitz then outlines a way forward building on ideas that he has championed his entire career: restoring the balance between markets and government; addressing the inequalities of the global financial system; and demanding more good ideas (and less ideology) from economists. Freefall combines an enthralling account of the current crisis with a bracing discussion of the broader economic issues at stake. Co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Assembly Hall
• TUESDAY, MARCH 2
  Roger Thurow, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty
  For more than thirty years, humankind has known how to grow enough food to end chronic hunger worldwide. Yet while the “Green Revolution” succeeded in South America and Asia, it never reached Africa. More than nine million people every year die of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases every year—most of them in Africa and most of them children. More die of hunger in Africa than from AIDS and malaria combined. Now, an impending global food crisis threatens to make things worse. In the West we think of famine as a natural disaster, brought about by drought or as the legacy of brutal dictators. But in this powerful investigative narrative, Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman show exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European self-interest and neglect have left Africa unable to feed itself. As a new generation of activists work to stop famine from spreading, Enough is essential reading on a humanitarian issue of utmost urgency. Co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the Program on the Global Environment and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm - 7:30 pm, Home Room
• TUESDAY, MARCH 9
  Gilles Dorronsoro, speaking on Afghanistan
  Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the South Asian Language & Area Center, and the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies (CEERES).
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm - 7:30 pm, Home Room


• WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
  Paul Collier, The Plundered Planet: Why We Must - and How We Can - Manage Natural Resources for Global Prosperity
  In The Plundered Planet, Paul Collier builds upon his renowned work on developing countries and the poorest populations to confront the global mismanagement of nature. Proper stewardship of natural assets and liabilities is a matter of planetary urgency: natural resources have the potential either to transform the poorest countries or to tear them apart, while the carbon emissions and agricultural follies of the rich world could further impoverish them. The Plundered Planet charts a course between unchecked profiteering on the one hand and environmental romanticism on the other to offer realistic and sustainable solutions to dauntingly complex issues. Co-sponsored with the Center for International Studies and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm - 7:30 pm, Home Room

The Global Voices Program provides a showcase for all performing arts at the University of Chicago's International House. The International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series has established a vibrant exchange with a wide range of Chicago-area cultural institutions, arts organizations, dance companies, ethnic and folk arts groups, and music and theater groups. Programs showcase individual artists as well as performing arts groups and support educational programs, art exhibitions and cultural celebrations throughout the year. These programs provide substantive interaction between master artists from around the world and the greater community including the University, the City of Chicago and with regional artists throughout Illinois. Programs are also used to raise awareness of important contemporary issues in different regions of the world. Whether it’s a world music, a cultural celebration, visual and performing arts, seminars, dances or recitals International House offers a setting unlike any other in the city.

Winter and Spring 2010 Events

• SUNDAY, JANUARY 17
  Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Concert Series: Music of Turkey
  Under the direction of Issa Boulos, the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble (MEME) at the University of Chicago promotes the exchange of musical ideas and Middle Eastern cultures through a variety of programs and events based in Chicago. The focus of this concert series will be music traditions from Turkey. For more information, please visit http://meme.uchicago.edu/nconcert.htm.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
  Chinese New Year: Celebrating the Year of the Tiger
  Come join us to celebrate the Year of the Tiger! Enjoy performances including traditional and popular Chinese songs, comedies, games, and more. Learn how to make New Year dumplings and sample delicious Chinese dishes from Chinatown. This is a great opportunity to see how the Chinese celebrate the most important traditional Chinese holiday. Performers will be from the University of Chicago, local universities, and the Chinese Oriental Art Institute.
  Registration starts online (website will be available soon) beginning February 1, 2010.
  $3 in advance, $5 otherwise, Free for I-House residents
  5:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19-20
  Law School Musical, All You Need is Law
  The best show you'll see during your law school career is right under your nose. Even law students can have a good time, and the Law School Musical proves that. Original lyrics to familiar tunes supply the structure for a satirical take on life in the Law School. No one is immune from parody, and no one leaves without a roll in the aisles. In past years, the musical has proved to be the humorous highlight of the winter quarter, drawing sold out crowds on opening night. Titles like "Romie and Julio, everything you wanted to know about love in the law school but were afraid to ask", "Law School: Impossible", "Bigelow Nights", and "Lawyers in Love" set the tone, and the students and faculty in the audience bring the show to life as they laugh and applaud the hard work of the students in the cast and crew. The musical is written by students during autumn quarter, then rehearsed and performed in winter quarter. It is a chance for members of all three classes to interact and form lasting friendships. Believe it or not, law students do have time to engage in creative frivolity.
  Ticket information will be posted soon.
  7:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21
  The Chicago Ensemble Concert Series
  Join The Chicago Ensemble for its 33rd season of eclectic classical chamber music performances, featuring Gerald Rizzer, artistic director/piano, and leading Chicago artists. Every concert includes an intimate setting, complimentary reception and informal spoken program notes, providing the perfect chamber music experience.

  Michelle Areyzaga, soprano; Stacy Eckert, mezzo-soprano; Susan Levitin, flute Elizandro Garcia-Montoya, clarinet; Gerald Rizzer, piano
  Bach: Cantata Arias, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, flute and piano
  Mozart: Aria: Parto! Ma tu ben mio from La Clemenza di Tito, for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano
  Copland: As It Fell Upon a Day (1923) for soprano, flute and clarinet
  Roussel: Joueurs de Flûte, op. 27 (1924), for flute and piano
  Berg: Four Pieces, op. 5 (1913) for clarinet and piano
  Arr. M. Valls and L. Algazi: Songs of the Sephardic Jews, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet and piano
  Mendelssohn: Selected Duets for soprano, mezzo-soprano and piano
  Seiber: Drei Morgensternlieder (1929) for mezzo-soprano and clarinet
  Schubert: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D.965, for soprano, clarinet and piano

  For complete information, please visit http://www.thechicagoensemble.org/TCE_Season.html.
  $25 General Admission, $10 Children and Students with ID, Free for I-House residents
  3:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 19-21
  Spring Festival Series: 45th Annual Eastern European Folk Festival of Music and Dance
  Festival featuring the best in Balkan and Eastern European dance, music, and culture through concerts, parties, workshops, and culture sessions. Co-sponsored by the Ensemble Balkanske Igre and the Center for Eastern European and Russian/Eurasian Studies (CEERES).
  Schedule:
  • Friday: Workshops and dance party (8:00 pm- 12:00 am, Assembly Hall)
  • Saturday: Folk Dance and Music Workshops (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Assembly Hall)
    Eastern European Buffet, Performance and Dance Party (6:00 pm- 1:00 am, Assembly Hall)
  • Sunday: Folk Dance and Music Workshop (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Home Room and Coulter Lounge)
• TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23-24
  Kyogen Performance by the Shigeyama School
  Kyogen is Japan's oldest form of spoken drama. It is closely associated with the Noh theater and was originally performed during the intervals between the acts of a Noh play. But while Noh themes are mostly solemn, Kyogen presents a comical or satirical view of everyday situations, making it easier to enjoy. Co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  6:30 pm, Assembly Hall
• FRIDAY-SATRUDAY, APRIL 9-10
  Folk Arts Community Contra Dance Weekend
  Contra Dancing is considered by many to be the one of the friendliest social situations imaginable. The Dance Weekend will draw popular bands not native to the Chicago area to support the local dance community. Elixir, an up and coming band of young, energetic folk musicians, will be headlining the event. For more information, please visit http://fac.uchicago.edu/calendar.html. Co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Folk Arts Community.
  $30 General Admission, $10 Students, Free for I-House residents
  Friday: Evening lesson and performance (7:30 pm, Assembly Hall)
  Saturday: Afternoon dance lesson, dinner, and performance (3:00 pm, Assembly Hall)
• SUNDAY, APRIL 11
  Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Concert Series: Music of Iran
  Under the direction of Issa Boulos, the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble (MEME) at the University of Chicago promotes the exchange of musical ideas and Middle Eastern cultures through a variety of programs and events based in Chicago. The focus of this concert will be music traditions from Iran. For more information, please visit http://meme.uchicago.edu/nconcert.htm.
  6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• SUNDAY, APRIL 18
  The Chicago Ensemble Concert Series
  Join The Chicago Ensemble for its 33rd season of eclectic classical chamber music performances, featuring Gerald Rizzer, artistic director/piano, and leading Chicago artists. Every concert includes an intimate setting, complimentary reception and informal spoken program notes, providing the perfect chamber music experience.

  Elizandro Garcia-Montoya, clarinet
  Jill Dispenza, bassoon
  Neil Kimel, horn
  Gerald Rizzer, piano
  Telemann: Trio-Sonata for flute, oboe, bassoon and piano
  Mozart: Quintet in Eb Major, K. 452, for oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon
  Piston: Three Pieces (1926) for flute, clarinet and bassoon
  Poulenc: Sextet (1932) for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon and piano

  For complete information, please visit http://www.thechicagoensemble.org/TCE_Season.html.
  $25 General Admission, $10 Children and Students with ID, Free for I-House residents
  7:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• TUESDAY, APRIL 20
  Zolotoi Plyos - A Concert of Russian Folk Music
  A talented and prolific trio named Zolotoj Plyos will perform. Zolotoi Plyos consists of three musicians, Alexander Solovov, Elena Sadina, and Sergeui Gratchev, who met at the conservatory in Saratov and who now are students of the Royal Carillon Academy in Mechelen, Belgium. They perform authentic Russian folk music from the villages in costume, both a capella and with instrumental accompaniment on over 20 authentic folk instruments (dutki, treshchetki, lozhki, balalaiki, garmoshki, etc.). The name of the group refers to a stretch on the Volga River. Co-sponsored with the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies.
  This event is free and open to the public.
  7:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• SATURDAY, MAY 1
  Third Coast Percussion
  With Cliff Colnot as the conductor and Greg Bayer on percussion, the Third Coast journeys into new sound of worlds with David Skidmore's Fanfare for a New Audience, Marcos Balter's dark rooms, and the premiere of a new work by Otto Muller. The program will culminate in Wolfgang Rihm's explosive and visceral sextet Tutuguri VI, inspired by Artaud’s writings on the Tarahumara Indians' Rite of the Black Sun. For more information, please visit http://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com/chicago.php.
  Tickets $5-10, Free for I-House residents
  7:30 pm, Assembly Hall
• FRIDAY, MAY 14
  Middle Eastern History and Theory Conference – An Evening of Theatre and Music
  More information will be posted later about this event.
• SUNDAY, MAY 23
  Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Concert Series: Andalucian Music of the Arab World
  Under the direction of Issa Boulos, the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble(MEME) at the University of Chicago promotes the exchange of musical ideas and Middle Eastern cultures through a variety of programs and events based in Chicago. The focus of this concert will be music traditions of Andalucía, a region in Southern Spain with a strong history of Arab culture. For more information, please visit http://meme.uchicago.edu/nconcert.htm.
  6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
• SUNDAY, MAY 23
  Annual International House Festival of Nations
  Food, films, music, and dance from around the world.
  This event is hosted by International House residents.