[Imc] searching for guests-in-residence

[Haber, Laura]

Do you know of any great scholars, activists, artists, performers, writers,
composers, experimenters, musicians, or all-around fascinating people that
you would like to see come to campus next academic year? The Unit One/Allen
Hall Guest-in-Residence Program is seeking applicants for the 02-03 academic
year. 

The residency is part of Unit One, an academic program based in a University
residence hall.  Unit One was founded in the early 1970's as an alternative
to standard educational models.  Many of our courses and extracurricular
programs emphasize ideas and activities which challenge the status quo.
Guests who have been in residence in the past have played a major role in
helping our students become critical thinkers and agents for social change.
In talking about their lives as well as their work, guests function as
short-term mentors who can speak to students about making life choices which
benefit society rather than exploit it.

Guests stay in an apartment in the residence hall for 1-2 weeks and conduct
workshops, discussions, performances, screenings, in the evenings. Our
program is very open-ended.  Many of our guests have valued their Unit One
residency as an opportunity to work with young adults and to experiment with
new ideas and new ways of interacting.  

If you know of any people who you think would make excellent
guests-in-residence, please send me their names (and contact information if
you have it) or ask them to apply. Below you will find a more detailed
description of the program and application procedures or check out our home
page at http://www.housing.uiuc.edu/academics/unit1. The application
deadline is March 31st but it can be extended if we know someone is
interested in applying and needs more time.

Laura Haber
Assistant Program Director of Unit One
University of Illinois
68 Allen Hall (MC 050)
1005 W. Gregory
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 244-2317
l-haber at uiuc.edu

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THE GUEST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM AT UNIT ONE/ALLEN HALL

The In-Residence Program is a unique feature of Unit One. Each year this
program features six to eight guests whose 1-2 week residencies engage
students in many different content areas and in a wide variety of formats.

A sample of past visitors includes: 

*David Dellinger, peace activist, Chicago 7 *Harry Edwards, sports
sociologist, University of California *Michael Colgrass, composer *Barbara
Trent, film maker, The Panama Deception *Ellen Willis, film & music critic
for Rolling Stone *Steven Carothers, environmental biologist *The Otrabanda
Theatre Co., theatre performers *Edwin Schlossberg, environmental design
*Norman Soloman, journalist, media critic *Patch Adams, M.D., free health
care advocate *Vernon Bellecort, Native American activist *Nancy Thies
Marshall, Olympian, TV commentator *Roscoe Mitchell, jazz musician, composer
*Robert Schrum, journalist, speech writer for Jimmy Carter *Sylvia Woods,
union organizer, Union Maids film *Mark Rogovin, muralist, Director, Chicago
Peace Museum *Jerry Mander, television critic *Lorna Goodison, Caribbean
poet *Bernard Second, Mescalaro Apache spiritual leader *Fred Marx, film
maker, Hoop Dreams *Jean Redpath, Scottish folksinger *Sheila Tobias,
educator, women in math & technology *Erwin Knoll, Editor, The Progressive
*Cindy Patton, activist, author, politics of AIDS *David Feldman, author,
Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? *Karl Hess, political commentator, speech
writer *John B. Anderson, congressman & Presidential candidate *Michael
LeRoy, dispute arbitrator *Laurie Dunphy, prize-winning film maker
*Spiderwoman Theater, Native American theater group *Kathy Long, world
champion kickboxer *Conrad Lynn, civil rights lawyer *Mark Weisbrot,
economist *Ray Moseley, medical ethicist *Bill Ehrhart, Vietnam veteran,
poet *Magdalena Campos-Pons, Cuban Renaissance artist *Fred Ho, composer,
Afro-Asian Music Ensemble 


To be In-Residence at Unit One is a demanding position. The purpose of
In-Residence visits is to bring students in contact with people whose work,
ideas, or lives are somewhat unusual. People, in other words, who have
avoided fitting into one of society's ready-made molds. A residency such as
we offer will appeal to you only if you enjoy initiating interaction with
undergraduate students, and if you are capable of working with students who
may know little, or nothing, about the subject matter you choose to present.

Guests conduct at least one event (1-3 hours) per day. Because getting
students to commit to long-term projects can be difficult, most events are
self-contained programs, with possible follow- up. These programs
(workshops, exercises, discussions, films, field trips, etc.) take place
weekday evenings and sometimes on weekends. If you need to be gone during a
weekend, we will work around your schedule.

As visitors live in the residence hall, they can bring about additional
meetings during meals and at odd hours with individual students or with
small groups. Such meetings have proved to be an important part of the
residency, and students frequently report that they learn most from guests
in these informal interactions. Guests are also sometimes invited to take
part in ongoing courses at Unit One or elsewhere in the University. These
courses meet during the day or early evening. Radio interviews and lectures
outside the hall are also possible. These activities are all optional parts
of the residency.

Students are not required to attend any In-Residence activity, so attracting
and holding students attention (and fitting their schedules) is not always
easy. Although the coordinator of the program is there to help, guests
usually end up doing a good deal of self-promoting (e.g., introducing
themselves to students, encouraging students to attend workshops, inviting
students to stop by and talk further about a subject, etc). Guests who have
been most satisfied with their visits seem to be those who both engage
students at their current level of awareness (social, political, emotional,
artistic, etc.) and prod, provoke, challenge, and entice students to new
understandings.

Transportation within the U.S., an honorarium of $1000 per week, plus room
and board are available for this position. Visitors live in the guest suite
at Allen Hall. Meals are provided in the dining room. In some cases,
additional funding for a residency can be obtained from other University
departments. If you require a larger honorarium, please include a note
indicating which University departments you think might be interested in
co-sponsoring your visit. Inform us as soon as possible if you are intrigued
by the program but require additional compensation. We need time to solicit
additional funds from the resources available. 


APPLICATION INFORMATION

If you are interested in being In-Residence at Unit One sometime during the
upcoming academic year, you should apply by sending, no later than March 31,
the following: 

1) A proposal of ideas and envisioned activities for such a visit. Your
proposal should indicate the variety of themes or issues you would like to
address while you are here and a variety of possible formats for sharing
those ideas. You do not need to be an expert on a subject to include it in
your proposal, as long as you are able and willing to guide students through
a discussion or experiment related to that subject. 

2) Materials about yourself and your previous activities--a resume and/or
documentation of your work.

3) A one-paragraph summary of your life/work of 80 words or less written in
third person--a publicity blurb.

4) Any questions, comments or special requests that you have. 
Please send all of the above items and any other information you feel is
relevant to:

Laura Haber, Assistant Program Director
Unit One/Allen Hall
1005 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
phone: (217) 244-2317   fax: (217) 265-0222
email: l-haber at uiuc.edu


Your proposal will be best understood by our students if you acknowledge the
programs settings, restrictions and potentials in your description of your
abilities and proposed activities.  Please feel free to call Laura Haber
before applying if you have questions. Past applicants have found it helpful
to talk to someone from our program before solidifying their proposals.

Each spring semester a committee of Unit One students and staff decide who
will be In-Residence for the upcoming academic year. This committee bases
its decisions on an all-hall advisory vote, careful reading of applications,
and a desire to have a wide variety of subject matter addressed during the
year. Invitations will be made in late April. 


FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT  UNIT ONE/ALLEN HALL

Unit One is a living and learning program housed in Allen Residence Hall on
the Urbana- Champaign campus of the University of Illinois.

Unit One is best described as a resource that has many components. In
addition to a Guest-In- Residence program we offer credit courses, academic
support services, special facilities, non- credit music lessons,
film/discussion series, field trips, and other educationally-oriented
activities. The Unit One program s goal is to provide undergraduates with an
atmosphere that is intellectually and personally challenging.

At Unit One, we encourage students to participate actively in defining and
constructing their education. Residents of Allen Hall can create, design,
and direct almost all aspects of the Unit One program including credit
course offerings and non-credit workshops.

Allen Hall is a University of Illinois residence hall that houses about 650
students. These students are about 40% freshmen, 40% sophomores, and 20%
juniors/seniors. Their majors, grade points, ethnic backgrounds, etc.,
reflect the general University of Illinois profile. They tend to be a
highly-motivated group, interested in activism, involved in active learning
strategies, and involved in curricular and extracurricular pursuits. 

Allen Hall has its own distinctive personality. Residents characterize it as
a friendly, community- oriented hall which is intellectually stimulating,
forward-thinking, and highly accepting of diversity among students. Allen
Hall programs, many of which deal with contemporary political and social
issues, add dimensions of controversy, activism, and social awareness to
students lives as an integral part of the educational goals of the program. 

Allen Hall is a newly-remodeled facility. It has several noteworthy
features: 
Allen Tour 

*a large guest suite with a bedroom, private bathroom, living room,
kitchenette *a small library with news-matter, reference materials, and
recreational reading *six seminar-style classrooms and several larger
lounge/performance areas *photography and ceramics studios *a computer lab
with PCs, MACs, and laser printers *sound-proof music practice rooms, all
with pianos *a newly remodeled, carpeted dining hall with small tables and
booths, salad bar, and vegetarian entrees *on-site parking; immediate access
to campus bus service *nearby tennis courts, swimming pool, and gym 



UNIT ONE COURSES & SEMINARS

Classes taught at Allen Hall are all accredited University courses taught by
departmental instructors. On student transcripts these courses are
indistinguishable from other University courses. What distinguishes the
classes is the small class size, personal classroom settings (seminar rooms
and lounges), availability of instructors, and greater in-class and
out-of-class interaction with classmates than in most U of I classes. Music
and art courses are designed for non-art majors, and all seminars are
designed for freshmen and sophomores. Some of the undergraduate seminars
offered at Unit One are not offered elsewhere in the University. Courses at
Unit One vary from year to year, but the following courses tend to be
repeated frequently:

Ceramics
Dance Performance
Photography I & II
Economics
Video Production I
Issues in Medicine
Drawing I
Calculus I & II
American History
Statistics
Masterpieces in Western Culture
Electronic Music
Masterpieces in Non-Western Culture
Psychology
Introduction to FictionSpeech Communication
Political Science
Rhetoric
Drug Use and Abuse
Creative Writing
Human Sexuality
Aerobics 
Women's Studies Seminar
Introduction to Ethics
Introduction to Philosophy
International Relations
Foundations of American Education
Classical Civilization
History of Western Civilization
Asian Mythology

The Unit One Extra Option is another unique Unit One academic program. Extra
Option seminars are ungraded, one-credit classes that are meant to be
supplements and complements to other Unit One courses. Although the titles
change every semester, the following titles illustrate some recent
offerings: 

*Vietnam at the Movies: Images of the Vietnam War in Film *The Hero Across
Cultures from Then to Now *The Politics and Rhetoric of News Media
*Extemporaneous Speaking: Communication in a Changing World *Writing for the
Screen *Asian-American Literature and its Popular Context *Close Encounters
of the Western World *Communities of Women in Literature and Film *Searching
for a Contemporary Ethics: The Quest for Meaning *Science and Society 

In-Residence guests frequently take part in Unit One classes and seminars.
Participation in these classes is an optional part of the residency.