Amy and Dave Freeman are the authors of A Year in the Wilderness, a rousing cry of witness activism and a beautifully illustrated account of their year living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to raise awareness about the threats of sulfide-ore copper mining. They have traveled over thirty thousand miles by canoe, kayak, and dogsled through some of the world’s wildest places, from the Amazon to the Arctic. National Geographic named them Adventurers of the Year in 2014, and their images, videos, and articles have been published by a wide range of media sources from the CBC, NBC, and FOX to the Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, Outside, Backpacker, Canoe and Kayak, and Minnesota Public Radio. They also run the ...
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!
November 7th, 2017
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November 3rd, 2017
Born in the former USSR and raised a proud citizen of Chicago, Julia Alekseyeva is an author-illustrator as well as an academic. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard, and currently teaches in the Film Department at Brooklyn College. Soviet Daughter: A Graphic Revolution is her first full-length graphic novel. She has lived in Kiev, Chicago, New York City, Paris, Cambridge, Kanazawa, and Yokohama, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner. Julia will discuss Soviet Daughter on Friday, 11/10, 6pm at the Co-op.
The Bedbug and Selected Poetry, by Vladimir Mayakovsky - My great-...
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October 24th, 2017
Robert B. Pippin is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, the Department of Philosophy, and the College at the University of Chicago. He is the author or editor of many books. Spend Halloween with one of our most penetrating and creative philosophers on the "Master of Suspense," when Robert B. Pippin discusses The Philosophical Hitchcock: Vertigo and the Anxieties of Unknowingness with Dan Morgan; Tuesday...
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October 20th, 2017
Scott Nations is the president of NationsShares, a financial engineer firm. He is a regular contributor to CNBC, where he discusses markets and other investment topics. He is the author of two technical books for option traders, Options Math...
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October 19th, 2017
Ken Klonsky grew up in the Bronx, New York, and on Long Island (Long Beach and mostly Rockville Centre). He and his wife, Mary Ellen Belfiore, moved to Canada in the late 1960’s and, for twenty-seven years, Ken taught high-school in Toronto, mainly in special education classes. In 1983, he co-authored a play, Taking Steam, that was performed in New York (Jewish Repertory Theater) and Toronto. In 1992, a book of short stories, Songs of Aging Children, was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in Vancouver. In 2011, he co-authored the spiritual autobiography of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Eye of the Hurricane. After joining Carter (wrongly convicted of murder in 1966) at Innocence...
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October 8th, 2017
Eli Cook is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Haifa. His forthcoming book on the history of American capitalization is The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life. Eli Cook will discuss The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life on Friday 10/6, 6:30pm at the Co-op.
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October 8th, 2017
One of three children of noted civil rights activist Lloyd A. Barbee, Daphne E. Barbee-Wooten is an attorney specializing in civil rights practicing in Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously she worked as a public defender and trial attorney and was the first senior trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Hawaii. In 2014, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Hawaii NAACP, and in 2016, she received the civil rights attorney of the year award from Sisters Empowering Hawaii. Barbee-Wooten will discuss ...
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September 23rd, 2017
Lori Erickson is one of the country’s top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys. She has published more than a thousand articles in national and regional publications, including National Geographic Traveler, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, and House Beautiful. Visit: http://lorierickson.net. Lori Erickson discusses Holy Rover: Journeys In Search Of Mystery, Miracles, and God...
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September 21st, 2017
Elise Paschen is the author of The Nightlife; Bestiary; Infidelities, winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize; and Houses: Coasts. Her poems have been published in The New Yorker and Poetry Magazine, among other magazines, and in numerous anthologies such as Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writings. Paschen is co-editor of Poetry Speaks and Poetry in Motion, among other anthologies, and editor of The New York Times best-selling anthology ...
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September 15th, 2017
Kate Evans is a radical cartoonist, artist, author and activist. She is the author of numerous books, and zines including Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg, Bump: How to Make, Grow and Birth a Baby, and Funny Weather: Everything You Didn’t Want to Know about Climate Change...
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