Faculty and Alumni Share Their Expertise at Chicago Ideas Week

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern faculty and alumni with very different areas of interest will share their expertise Oct. 14-20 at Chicago Ideas Week (CIW). The annual, weeklong gathering brings together thought leaders from around the world to inspire, collaborate and create new connections with people striving to achieve great things.

Half-price tickets to CIW events -- which take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cadillac Palace Theatre and other Chicago locations -- are available to Northwestern students, faculty and staff. Visit the Chicago Ideas Week website for a complete schedule and use the code NorthwesternCIW2013 at checkout to get the University discount.

Among the Northwestern-related participants in Chicago Ideas Week are:

• Mike Wilbon, Medill alumnus and co- host of the popular ESPN sports show “Pardon the Interruption,” and Feinberg School of Medicine adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences Bruce Perry, who will participate in daylong events called “Edison Talks.”
• Nicolas Cowan, research assistant professor in the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, who will talk about “Scientific Breakthroughs: Infinite Possibilities.”
• Groupon senior vice president and Northwestern alum Jason Harinstein, who will participate in CIW’s Tech Summit.
• Michele Weldon, assistant professor emeritus at Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, who will lead an interactive lab that challenges participants to think more carefully about their knowledge and experience and learn how to share it with others.
• Jeremy Gilbert, assistant professor of multimedia journalism, who will host a session about some of the design-thinking techniques of Northwestern University Knight Lab that brings together journalists and computer science to accelerate local media innovation.

Chicago Ideas Week also will include tours of conservation science centers, including the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Conservation Science Center, where Northwestern graduate students in plant biology and conservation and Chicago Botanic Garden researchers work together to protect endangered plants and ecosystems.

Visit the Chicago Ideas Week website for information about the schedule of events and registration.