Khaled A. Beydoun is an...
Reading Is Critical
Reading is critical, in both senses of the word. Crucial, of course, insofar as it is a cornerstone of communication, a primary means by which we receive information. But it is also an active form of resistance, a tactic in the struggle against ignorance, misinformation, and manipulation. To read is to become knowledgeable; to become knowledgeable is to become powerful. We invite visiting authors, booksellers, and members of our community to submit "Critical Reading" lists featuring books that are, in these senses, “critical.” Submit yours by emailing events@semcoop.com, and check each post for details on related events!
April 24th, 2018
Paul Poast is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he is also a research affiliate of the Pearson Institute for the Study of Global Conflicts and a member of the Center for International Social Science Research advisory board. He studies international relations, with a focus on international security. He is the author of two books, The Economics of War (McGraw Hill-Irwin, 2006), which was translated into French, Japanese, and Chinese, and Organizing Democracy (...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 20th, 2018
Curtis White has published seven earlier books of fiction, including Memories of My Father Watching TV. His non-fiction includes The Middle Mind, The Science Delusion, and We, Robots. His essays have appeared in Harper’s, Village Voice, Orion...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 16th, 2018
Ryan Lugalia-Hollon, Ph.D. has worked in the youth development field for over twenty years, with a focus on restorative justice, violence prevention, and trauma-informed care. In Chicago, he worked for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the Center for Urban Economic Development, and Northwestern University, and received his Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ryan currently leads an education network in San Antonio,Texas. Ryan will discuss The War on Neighborhoods with co-author Dan Cooper on ...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 12th, 2018
J. Weintraub is a writer, dramatist, poet, and translator based in Chicago. He holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Chicago. Weintraub was scheduled to discuss his translation of Briffault's Paris à Table on ...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 6th, 2018
J.R. Osborn is a scholar and experimentalist of communication. His work explores media history, semiotics, communication technologies, and design aesthetics with a regional focus of the Middle East and Africa. Dr. Osborn is currently Assistant Professor of Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) and Co-Director of the Technology Design Studio at Georgetown University. His 2017 book Letters of Light: Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design (Harvard University Press) follows the story of Arabic script and technology, from the advent of calligraphic tradition through the...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 6th, 2018
David Grubbs is Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and author of Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage, the Sixties, and Sound Recording, also published by Duke University Press...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 4th, 2018
David Faris is the author of Dissent and Revolution in a Digital Age: Social Media, Blogging and Activism in Egypt, the co-editor of Social Media in Iran: Politics and Society After 2009, and a regular contributor to The Week. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and is associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago. David will discuss ...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
April 3rd, 2018
Valerie Wallace is the author of House of McQueen, selected by Vievee Francis for the Four Way Books Intro Prize in Poetry, and the chapbook The Dictators’ Guide to Good Housekeeping (dancing girl press 2011). Her work was chosen by Margaret Atwood for the 2012 Atty Award, and she has received an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award and the San Miguel de Allende Writers Conference Award in Poetry. She earned her MFA from the...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical
March 24th, 2018
Pat Thomas is the author of the book Did It! Jerry Rubin: An American Revolutionary an oral & visual history of the infamous and ubiquitous Rubin – the first ever biography of the co-founder of the Yippies, Anti-Vietnam War radical, Chicago 8 defendant, New Age/Self Help proponent, and social-networking pioneer.
Thomas is also the author of Listen, Whitey! The sights & sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 and the co-curator of Invitation to Openness: The Jazz &...
Posted in: Reading Is Critical