Program Meetings
The monthly Program Meetings are held on the third Wednesday at 1:30 p.m and are a joint committee effort. The House Committee hosts the monthly meetings, the Program Committee schedules the programs and refreshments are provided by our generous members.
2017 - 2018
October - Bill Speilberger will share his experiences in making the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
December - Holiday Music: Le Cantati di Chicago - Singing Us into the Holidays.
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January - Carey Cranston, president of the new American Writers Museum discusses its dynamic exhibits and programming.
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February - Claire Hartfield talks about her most recent book "A Few Red Drops" and how she became a writer.
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March - Barbara Flynn Currie, Illinois' 25th District Representative in the General Assembly reflects on her years of service and Illinois government and politics.
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April - Karen Szyjka speaks about the history and renovation of Jackson Park's Japanese Garden, now called the Garden of the Phoenix.
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May - Pamela Toler speaks about her new book: Women Warriors: An Unexpected History, from the Second Milenium BCE to the Day Before Yesterday
2016 - 2017
Holiday Music: Oak Park Recorder Society
2009 - 2010
October - Robert Richards spoke on Darwin's Biology of Intelligent Design
December - Marge Benson introduced singers Nicholas Harkness, tenor, and Laura Kubelka, contralto, who performed for the holiday concert. Marie Schilling thanks the performers.
February - Ann Marie Lipinski gave an update from the University. Charlotte Johnston served tea at the refreshment table
March - Professor Dan Fisher presents the discovery of the baby mammoth Lyuba in Siberia during expedition
April - Julia Bachrach, Chicago Park District Historian and Author of The City in a Garden: A Photographic History of Chicago's Parks discussed The Life and Legacy of Jens Jensen on the 150th birthday of Chicago's revered landscape architect
May - Melissa Cook (right) introduced Judith Heineman, who presented Tea with Muriel Beadle
2008 - 2009
October - Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid spoke before a full house of members at the meeting on the topic Being American Muslims.
December - Charlotte Johnston directs caroling and pianist Janet Underhill played a program of Chopin and Liszt at Montgomery Place.
February - Karen Thomsen listens as Pam Bozeman of the Blue Gargoyle answers questions about literacy
March - Richard Gunderman spoke on Giving in Ida Noyes. The Political Affairs and Computer groups presented a St. Patrick's Day theme
April - Connie Spreen (left) spoke about the Experimental Station, including the Blackstone Bicycle Works, the Backstory Cafe and the synergies effected when people come together under one roof. Sarah Bank (right) of the Material Exchange, housed at the Experimental Station spoke about the various projects completed in collaboration with her group
2007 - 2008
Arne Duncan, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and a Hyde Parker himself, spoke to us in February 2008 on the Chicago Public School Initiative, outlining all the programs he has initiated to benefit the public schools.
2005 - 2006
October - John E Carlstrom, Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute and the College, Director of the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica, dazzled us with views of the universe viewed from the University of Chicago's telescopes in Antarctica. He gave us insights into the Big Bang, the expanding universe, the emergence of dark matter and dark energy as occupying most of the universe
February - James Cappleman, chair of the Family Advisory Board and pediatric Family Advocate at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital spoke to us on Family Advocacy: A Systems Approach to Providing Care to Families
March - Joseph M Williams of the Oriental Institue and Emeritus Professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Chicago, co-founder of the University of Chicago's Little Red Schoolhouse writing program, author of The Origins of the English Language, companion book to the PBS series, The Story of English, spoke to us on the topic "The Little Red Schoolhouse Grows Up
At the April 19, 2006 meeting at the Oriental Institute, Geoff Emberling, Director of the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago, took us on aTour of Ancient Nubia, the fruits of 100 years of exploration and research into the poorly understood region that straddles the southern third of modern Egypt and the northern third of present-day Sudan. The works on display are culled from the museum's 15,000 Nubian pieces. The Oriental Institute has been involved in Nubian studies since 1905, when its founder, University of Chicago archaeologist James Henry Breasted, led the first of his two expeditions into the area and began the scientific study of Nubia. Previous visits by Europeans and Americans had focused on looting pyramids for gold.
2006 - 2007
Emily Teeter, Research Associate at the Oriental Institute, spoke to us about Tutankamun: Treasures and Tombs, at the October 18, 2006 Members' Meeting at Ida Noyes. Using photos from the original Carter expedition, she led us down the steps and into the chambers, recreating all the excitement of the original discovery.
Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Founding Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology, DePaul College of Law, spoke to us on the topic "It Isn't Just about Money: Protecting Inspiration and Innovation Through Copyright Laws" on April 18, 2007 at Ida Noyes.
2004 - 2005
October - Speaker Clemens D Reichel, PhD, (left) is a research associate in Mesopotamian Archeology at the Oriental Insitute. The title of his talk was "Counting the Losses - Archaeology in Iraq after the War"
December - Our holiday concert featured flutist Rachel Blumenthal playing Mozart and the UHigh Bel Canto choir singing holiday songs, directed by Katie Sinclair
January - Cindy Levitt (left) of Not In My Name, spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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February - renowned Shakespeare scholar David Bevington (right) spoke on Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare's Late Plays.
March - Music Historian Berthold Hoeckner (right) of the Department of Music and Humanities at the University of Chicago, spoke at the Members Meeting at Ida Noyes. He showed how music can be used to transport memory in films.
Attendees enjoying the luncheon after the February Program Meeting
April - Janet Rowley, MD, (left) of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago Medical Center and recipient of the National Medal of Science (the nation's highest scientific honor, "America's equivalent of the Nobel Prize"), and a member of President George W Bush's Council on Bioethics spoke to us on the Controversy of Human Stem Cell Research.
2003-2004
October - About 75 guests toured the new Mesopotamian gallery at the Oriental Institute and attended a presentation.
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December - We enjoyed a program of Holiday Music at Montgomery Place.
January - John Mearsheimer (left) drew a large crowd to Ida Noyes for his talk on our country's Mideast policies and the war in Iraq
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February - The Philanthropy Committee offered a program on the Blue Gargoyle
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March - Kitty Picken presented a program on Queen Elizabeth I
April - Michael Diamond (right) spoke on the topic "Chicago's Future is Global" at Montgomery Place
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May - The program meetings concluded with the Drama Section's offering of its "favorite play of the year" - Feydeau's Wooed and Viewed
