50 years of Making Positive Contributions to Urban Communities!
To celebrate 50 years of Urban Studies at UWM, we presented a year-long celebration of events and activities.
- Anniversary Press Release
2013-2014 Schedule of Events
50th Anniversary Spring Forum and Alumni Reunion
Urban Studies at UWM: 1963-2013 — A Brief History…
As one of the oldest graduate programs at UWM, and an early pioneer in urban affairs, the Master’s program that was housed in the Department of Urban Affairs at UWM was founded in 1963 with a Ford Foundation grant at a time when scholarship on cities and urban development was seen as critical in the context of the civil rights movement and urban decline and crisis. The doctoral program that followed was created in 1977 as an interdepartmental PhD degree, formerly named Urban Social Institutions, with the assumption that in order to examine complex urban problems, students must be literate in a variety of urban-focused disciplines. In the mid-1980s, both degrees were folded into the Urban Studies Programs. More than 500 MS degrees and 100 PhDs have been awarded. We consider this celebratory year of events and reunions as a chance to reflect on (and celebrate!) the past accomplishments of our alumni and faculty, as well as look forward to the future of urban studies as a field, and how best to meet the challenges facing urban communities in the U.S. and around world in the years ahead.
Spring Forum and Alumni Reunion
To mark 50 years of cutting edge urban research at UWM, Urban Studies Programs hosted a Spring Forum and Alumni Reunion on April 25-26, 2014. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni attended a welcome reception on the evening of Friday April 25th hosted at the Brewhouse Inn & Suites as well as an all day forum on Saturday, April 26th on the UWM campus at the Student Union.
The topic of the forum was “City as Solution: Building the New Urban Agenda” and featured panel discussions, a juried student poster session, and a keynote by Dr. Bruce Western, Professor of Sociology at Harvard University.
Events, of Fall 2013
- Thursday, September 19 & Thursday, October 17, 2013
Milwaukee’s Home Grown Initiative
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Riverside Park, Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E Park Place
Learn about this mayoral-led initiative to increase healthy foods in low income neighborhoods.
- Saturday, September 21 – 22, 2013
Doors Open Milwaukee
10 am – 5 pm
Milwaukee features world-class events and attractions, but no single event highlights the often missed parts of the city like this one. On the weekend of September 21st and 22nd, Doors Open Milwaukee will open the doors to over 100 wonderful buildings free-of-charge to the public — buildings that hold hidden treasures and special stories — from churches to office buildings, theaters to work sites, museums to hotels, clubs to universities; all sites of historic, architectural, cultural, or commercial interest. Most of our activities will be indoors, so no need to be concerned about the weather.
- The event has two major components: 1) design your own itinerary to visit over 100 buildings that will open their doors (often with guided tours, no tickets necessary); 2) join one or more of over 40 in-depth tours that are ticketed. Find details on Doors Open Milwaukee, under the “Event Guide – In-Depth Tours” section of the website.
- Saturday, September 21, 2013
Public Education March
At 10:30 am, gather at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, 2300 W. Highland. At 1:00pm, join us for a Rally at Forest Home Ave School, 1516 Forest Home Ave
See the Facebook event page
- Thursday, September 26, 2013
6th Annual Frank P. Zeidler Memorial Lecture,
“The Struggle for Civil & Economic Rights: 50 Years after the March on Washington.”
Milwaukee Public Library, Centennial Hall, 733 N Eighth St
- A Community Activist Interchange:
- Sheila Cochran, Chief Operating Officer/Secretary-Treasurer, Milwaukee Area Labor Council
- Rev. Joseph E. Ellwanger, ELCA & MICAH
As a Pastor, he worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama
- Rev. Dr. Trinette V. McCray, Calvary Baptist Church
Ordained by Rev. Ralph Abernathy, she participated in the 50th Anniversary March
- Moderator: James Causey, Reporter and Columnist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- The 6th Annual Frank P. Zeidler Memorial Lecture celebrates the life, ideals and work of one of Milwaukee’s greatest public servants who served as Mayor of the city from 1948 to 1960. It was Mayor Zeidler’s belief that America’s urban centers like the City of Milwaukee are the best places to advance human progress.
- Contact Information: International Institute of Wisconsin, 414-225-6220
Email: gshellman@aol.com
- September 29, 2013
Fall Social Softball Game
3:00 – 5:00 pm
Attention USP Community, families, and affiliated departments! Please join us for our fall social and a friendly game of softball at the Lake Park diamond, followed by a visit to the new beer garden in Estabrook Park.
- September 30, 2013
Milwaukee Film Festival
Film: “Fatal Assistance”
At 12:30 pm, brownbag discussion with Mark Schuller, assistant professor of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University
Cunnigham 195
- At 4:00 pm, join us for the screening at the Oriental Theater
Tickets at the door: $10 - After the film – Talk Back at Hotel Foster(2028 North Ave, Milwaukee)
- This year USP is a community partner with the Milwaukee Film Festival. We are partners of the documentary film “Fatal Assistance,” along with our colleagues in the Department of Africology. The film follows recovery efforts after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti that killed 250,000 people and left 1.2 million homeless. Although billions of dollars were promised to help with rebuilding, those efforts have failed. Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck tries to find out what went so wrong. Join us for the brown bag with Mark Schuller, an assistant professor of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University, whose own research focuses on Haiti and the earthquake recovery efforts. Dr. Schuller will also help lead the talk back after film.
- Thursday, October 3 – Friday, October 5
Mil-Wonky Style!
Created by Alvaro Saar Rios and UWM students
Synopsis: Drinking, sex, Brewers games, crazy professors and homework. A devised theater piece about the ups and downs of college life in Milwaukee.
UWM Mainstage Theater, 2200 E. Kenwood Boulevard
- As we develop the play in rehearsal, the actors will also be required to interview at least one student on campus. These questions will most likely be related to being a college student at UWM and what that entails. Some ideas that come to mind are: experiences of living away from home, perception of Milwaukee before coming to UWM, etc.
- Friday, October 25 & Saturday, October 26
Live Stream of Creative Time Summit,
“Art, Place and Dislocation in the 21st Century,”
INOVA, Kenilworth Square, 2155 N Prospect Ave
- The 2013 Creative Time Summit sets its sights on the fact that culture, for good or bad, is an active ingredient in the construction and shaping of the contemporary city. Tapping into widespread debate on this issue, this year’s Summit provides a global platform for consideration of the trials, tribulations, artistic practices, campaigns, theories, and practicalities that accompany this phenomenon. As the active role of culture in the city gains traction not only with artists but also with architects, city planners, philanthropists, and developers—from eye-popping monumental sculpture, to arts districts, to battles over eviction and squatting—this year’s Summit provides a timely opportunity to debate and consider a variety of artistic approaches to this contemporary condition.” http://creativetime.org/summit/overview/
- INOVA will be one of over 30 sites from around the world to live stream the 2013 Creative Time Summit. Creative Time is an esteemed organization dedicated to art’s role in shaping public life. This annual conference takes on important topics at the intersection of art and social justice through presentations by artists, thinkers, and activists. This year’s theme is “Art, Place and Dislocation in the 21st Century” and features a fantastic, diverse list of participants including keynotes from Lucy Lippard and Rebecca Solnit. You can find more information here:http://creativetime.org/summit/. INOVA will stream the events over Saturday 10/25 and Sunday 10/26.
- Friday, October 11, 2013
UWM Urban Summit
11 am – 2 pm
Zilber School of Public Health, Collaboration Room
1240 N. 10th Street, Milwaukee WI
RSVP: beranekc@uwm.edu by Oct 4, 2013.
The Urban Summit is about taking stock of urban-focused scholarship and university-community collaborations. The goal for this summit is to bring together faculty and staff from across the university whose research and teaching focus is on urban issues in order to start a new urban network on campus that could lead to research collaborations and community partnerships, as well as a larger goal of helping to reinsert and reinvigorate the “urban” focus at UWM as the state’s largest urban university. Another goal of this workshop will be to contribute to a UW-Milwaukee journal on urban research and scholarship. Milwaukee Summit flyer 10-11-13
- Friday, October 11, 2013
Alumni and Former Student Happy Hour
5 pm – 7 pm
1818 North Hubbard St, Milwaukee WI
Alumni advisory committee chair Phyllis Santacroce and Urban Studies staff cordially invite you to the first ever Alumni and Former Student Happy Hour. We will be meeting at the Wolf Peach. Come join us for a drink and a bite and get reacquainted with urban studies, a great celebratory start to the beginning of our anniversary year (1963/64-2013/14)! Wolf Peach (formerly Roots) is located at 1818 North Hubbard Street Milwaukee, WI. We will have a table on the lower level. Find out more about Wolf Peach at their website, http://www.wolf-peach.com/
- Monday, October 28, 2013
The Milwaukee County Historical Society 2013 Annual Banquet
Reception 6:00 pm
Program 7:00 pm
Pfister Hotel – Milwaukee
Tickets are available through the MCHS at $75
USP will be recognized at the Milwaukee County Historical Society 2013 Annual Banquet at 6pm at the Pfister Hotel
- November 14, 2013
Henry W. Maier State of Milwaukee Summit
“Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability & Outcomes”
3:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Hefter Center
3271 N. Lake Drive
Milwaukee WI
With the recent expansion of school vouchers statewide, and legislative efforts to create accountability measures for all schools that receive public funding, what can we learn from the twenty year history of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program? Join us for a panel discussion and Q&A followed by a reception. Free and open to the public.
Events, of Fall 2013
- Monday, January 20, 2014
Martin Luther King Jr. Day: William Jones
“The March on Washington, Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights”
- Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Workshop on Segregation Project with USP alum Jerome Knapp
UWM, Digital Humanities Lab, 3-5pm
- Friday, March 7, 2014
USP Co-Hosts “First Friday”
With the College of Letters & Science
UWM Northwest Quadrant (NWQ), Greenhouse, 4-6pm
- Thursday, April 10, 2014
USP Hosts MPTV’s 4th Street Forum at UWM
UWM Union, Fireside Lounge, 12pm
- Friday, April 25, 2014 – Saturday, April 26, 2014
USP 50th Anniversary Gala & Conference