- Events
- Speaker Series
- Upcoming
Upcoming Events
Each year, the IOP hosts dozens of public Speaker Series events, providing students and the general public direct contact with elected officials, activists, authors, journalists, and other key practitioners in politics and public service.
Jump to
Browse Events
View Speaker Series Events
In his new book, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni examines how perpetual grievance has come to define our political culture on both sides of the aisle. How do we sort grievance as an agent of needed change from invented, ostentatious outrage? Where is the path out of this zero sum game, in[...]
I Find You Dangerous: Sharing Space in a Diverse Society with David Brooks and John Inazu
How do we engage with people whose viewpoints we find wrong, or even dangerous? How can we disagree with people without abandoning our most strongly held beliefs? On the heels of Samar Ali’s exploration of listening techniques, David Brooks, author of How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others[...]
Justice in 2024: A Conversation with Vanita Gupta
Vanita Gupta made history when she became the first civil rights attorney to serve in a top three leadership position at the Department of Justice, a position she left in February after three years. Her portfolio was as high-profile as it was wide-ranging, including civil rights, antitrust, and[...]
We Are the Culture: Black Chicagoans on Black Chicago's Influence on Everything
From the Oprah Winfrey Show to House music, Black Chicago is the birthplace of many cultural currents that have had an indisputable influence on American society and the world. However, credit is not always given where credit is due.
Presented by Chicago Style, this book talk features[...]
IPP: South Africa’s Energy Crisis
South Africa has had an ongoing period of national blackouts due to a rotating electricity supply because there is not enough electricity to meet the demand. Its energy crisis began towards the end of 2007 and continues today. In 2022, the World Bank deemed South Africa to have the highest[...]
How Chicago Shaped Barack and Michelle Obama
Chicago played a vital role in shaping the political identities of Barack and Michelle Obama. This panel will present first person accounts from an oral history project that explores how Chicago's transformation from an industrial hub to a cutting-edge information economy parallels the political[...]