SCS and the Community

For 75 years, the School of Continuing Studies has been inextricably linked to the Chicago area community. The school's Graduate, Undergraduate, and Professional Development programs have given adult learners better opportunities to distinguish themselves within their careers and communities. Now more than ever, SCS is involved with the organizations, people, places, and ideas that fill the city streets and beyond.

Spreading the Word

The School of Continuing Studies' Master of Arts in Creative Writing program actively embraces its role in Chicago's literary community. During the fall, winter, and spring quarters the program hosts readings at local venues in which a member of the MCW faculty reads and discusses selections from a published work. MCW students add to the event by reading selections drawn from their course work.

Past authors include Brock Clarke, Rone Shavers, Naeem Murr, Tara Ison, Reginald Gibbons, John Keene, Sandi Wisenberg, and Michael McColly. Events have been staged at the Hideout, the High Risk Gallery, and the DVA Gallery. Most recently, MacArthur Fellow and MCW faculty member Aleksandar Hemon read at the Chopin Theatre.

The MCW program also reaches out to local writers during the popular Apprentices weekend. One weekend each winter, MCW students, or "apprentices," deliver a series of one-hour workshops that run the gamut of creative writing. Workshops are free and open to the public and are quickly becoming an Evanston tradition.

In addition to these events, SCS offers a noncredit institute designed to congregate the local writing community for a weekend of workshops, panels, and critique. The Northwestern Summer Writers' Conference provides an opportunity for local writers to mingle with their peers, receive constructive criticism on their work, and network with professional writers and publishers. Conference participants have diverse backgrounds and varying degrees of writing experience; students learn from each other as readily as they learn from faculty. The conference fosters an atmosphere of support and inspiration for the writer who is struggling with the first line of a short story as well as the author who is putting the finishing touches on a novel. For one weekend each August, Northwestern becomes the center of the writing community.

Going Green

Every summer, the School of Continuing Studies offers students the opportunity to see the greener side of Chicago through the Green City Summer Institute. This three-day institute explores the methods and facilities utilized by the city to improve its environmental mission, including visits to the rooftop gardens above City Hall and the Center for Green Technology. The Institute not only teaches participants about the latest ideas and technology behind energy conservation, alternative fuels, and urban farming, but also allows them to interact with elements of the local community that actually put these ideas into practice. Click here to view videos of the lecture series from 2007.

Going Corporate

In addition to its interaction with the people and places of the community, the School of Continuing Studies also reaches out to local corporations. The School of Continuing Studies Corporate Education division creates customized programming to meet the educational needs of employees within an organization. Clients range from non-profits to financial service providers to information technology associations. The customized training programs focus on areas like business or leadership skills.

Corporate education utilizes an interactive learning approach and tailors course content to address the specific problems an organization might face. Several prominent businesses within the area have taken advantage of these customized programs, making corporate education one of the fastest-growing areas at SCS.

Helping Teachers

SCS has a tradition of working with local elementary and secondary school teachers. In its first years, teachers comprised a significant portion of the student population. SCS now offers two summer institutes specific to secondary school teachers: the Holocaust and Holocaust Education and Advanced Placement Training.

In the Holocaust Summer Institute, SCS pairs with the Holocaust Educational Foundation to offer a free five-day program in which teachers learn about the Holocaust as well as how to incorporate it into their curriculum. Teachers learn how to present such sensitive material to their students, and they familiarize themselves with the resources available for Holocaust education.

SCS also holds the Advanced Placement Summer Institute. Experienced teachers in various AP subjects lead weeklong workshops for other high school teachers who seek to expand their resources and enhance their teaching acumen. The institute allows teachers to compare experiences and forge connections within their professional community.