Northwestern accelerates quantum research with NVIDIA technology
September 3, 2025
This week learn from a star NPR reporter, hear an exhibition keynote or tour the Art Institute. As always, all are welcome!
A doctor’s role
Current narratives regarding immigrants often paint a negative picture, depicting their arrival as a “crisis” overwhelming the nation’s resources. Loyola University Chicago’s Mark Kuczewski will examine medicine’s role in advocating for human dignity and equality and consider alternative narratives of immigration available in American history.
The lecture is at noon on Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Searle Seminar Room, Robert Lurie Medical Research Center, 303 E. Superior St., Chicago. A livestream attendance option is also available.
Baroque meets bytes
Music has entered the age of artificial intelligence, and the figure of J. S. Bach is never far away. Harvard’s Alexander Rehding examines how Bach has played a central role in bringing AI to the masses, why this is the case and what exactly “music AI” means.
Rehding speaks at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, in McClintock Choral and Recital Room, Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston.
Into the Institute
Wildcard holders and their guests receive free admission to the Art Institute of Chicago during Northwestern Night at the Art Institute. Enjoy what the museum has to offer through self-guided exploration or one of several exclusive group tours.
The event begins at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Learn more here.
Print and maker
Stanford’s Alexander Nemerov delivers the exhibition keynote for The Block Museum of Art’s “Pouring, Spilling, Bleeding: Helen Frankenthaler and Artists’ Experiments on Paper.” Drawing from his book “Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York,” Nemerov will offer a reflection on the relationship between an artwork and its maker.
The keynote is at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, at The Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. RSVP here.
Thoughtful theater
In “Hang Time,” three men chew the fat under an old wide tree, offering a peek into the great loves and bitter blues of Black men in America. Setting the romantic and the macabre in sharp relief, the work invites the viewer to envisage the living Black body triumphant over the legacy of violence that it holds.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, in Wirtz Theater, Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for Performing and Media Arts, Abbott Hall, 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. Buy tickets here.
Dialogue with the dean
School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson will be in dialogue with University of California, Irvine’s Fan-Gang Zeng. A leader in hearing science and technology, he joins Johnson for the latest in a series of conversations with communicators who are advancing the futures of their fields.
The event is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, in Clara, Lu, ‘n’ Em Theater, Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston. Register here to attend in person or virtually.
Making sense of SCOTUS
Nina Totenberg, an award-winning legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio, delivers the 36th annual Richard W. Leopold Lecture. With more than four decades of experience, Totenberg continues to shine a light on the inner workings of our nation’s highest court and help audiences understand the impact of headline-making judicial cases on America’s future.
Totenberg speaks at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston. Register here.
