Friday / October 7
We’ve all been through orientation (and disorientation) at the U of C; today, experience another twist on the word with REorientation. Chicago Weekly hosts the event, featuring music by Bang! Bang!, Small Change, and Michael Columbia; art showcases from Midway Studios; film screenings by Fire Escape Films; and free food from Hyde Park restaurants such as the Snail, the Nile, Orly’s, and Rajun Cajun. You might also get your hands on giveaways from the Art Institute, the MCA, and Newcity. (6:30–9:30 p.m., free, Hutch Commons)
If you liked Hero or Kung Fu Hustle, you might want to check out Come Drink with Me (Da Zui Xia), directed by King Hu. It’s the first movie of “Body, Technology, Allegory: Chinese Martial Arts Cinema, 1965–2005,” a Friday noon film series presented by the Center for East Asian Studies. All the movies have English subtitles. (12:40 p.m., Judd 302, free)
Interested in dark matter, galaxy clusters, and star stuff as a whole? The Enrico Fermi Institute is holding a mini-symposium, “Cosmology with Galaxy Clusters,” all afternoon. Lunch, with refreshments and box lunches, takes place before the lectures, from 11:45 to 12:10 p.m. (12:10–5:45 p.m., free, 5640 South Ellis Avenue)
CUSA is throwing a welcome party with free Chinese food, music, and games. You can also sign up for the CUSA show. (7 p.m., free, Ida Noyes Third Floor Theater)
Saturday / October 8
Show your Chicago spirit at the men’s and women’s soccer games today, as the Maroons face off against Emory. The men’s game is at 11 a.m., the women’s at 1:30 p.m.. (Stagg Field, free)
In honor of its Beyond Green exhibit, the Smart Museum has organized “Art and Sustainability Laboratory: Community Design Workshop.” There is no cost for admission, but pre-registration is required. Buy a boxed lunch in advance for $10 or bring your own. (10 a.m.–6:30 p.m., free, Midway Studios at 6016 South Ingleside Avenue)
Sunday / October 9
Today is the day about 40,000 runners have been waiting for—and training for—for months: the day of the Chicago Marathon, starting at 8 a.m. The course winds its way from downtown northward to Addison Street and Lark Shore Drive and south to 35th Street. Chicago runners, I applaud you.
Monday / October 10
Chances are you didn’t get a say in the matter the last time the University chose its president. This time around, you have a chance to offer your input. This past July, President Randel announced he will leave the school in summer 2006 to become president of the Mellon Foundation, and the board is searching for potential replacements. This evening, SG is sponsoring an open student forum, where you can suggest both general characteristics and specific nominees for our next president. A second forum takes place Friday at 12:30. (6 p.m., free, Reynolds Club McCormick Tribune Lounge)
Tuesday / October 11
The Metro is holding a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina called Rock and Rebuild. The line-up includes the Redwalls, the Changes, the M’s, Bumpus, and Abstract Giants. The event also features a silent auction and merchandise donated from Chicago record labels and artists. (6:30 p.m., $10, 3730 North Clark Street)
Check out the SCC’s “Cancer Awareness Month” tent event on the main quad from noon to 2 p.m., then swing by Pierce’s lobby for “Healthy Halls 2005,” which dispenses gifts and information on college health issues. Healthy Halls repeats tomorrow in Bartlett’s lobby and on Thursday in B-J’s lobby.
Vanderbilt University professor Jonathan Lamb delivers, “Still Life and The Rape of the Lock.” For 18th-century literature, it sounds a little risqué. A reception follows. (4:30 p.m., Classics 10, free)
Join professors Michael Fishbane, Paul Mendes-Flohr, and Josef Stern at Hillel for “My Teshuvah: Contemporary Perspectives on Repentance,” and the reception afterward. It’s just in time (of course) for Yom Kippur, starting at sundown tomorrow. (7 p.m., free, Hillel Center at 5715 South Woodlawn Avenue)
Thursday / October 13
The Illinois Humanities Council is sponsoring a panel discussion on hip-hop activism, featuring Jeff Chang, winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation; UIC assistant professor David Stoval; and founder of the University of Hip Hop Lavie Raven. (6 p.m., 6400 South Kedzie Avenue)
The only things I know about associate history professor Rachel Fulton are that she taught a great class on Tolkien last spring—and that she’s the speaker for “What Matters to Me and Why,” an ongoing brownbag talk in which various University people talk about that very topic. (12 p.m., free, Reynolds Club 2nd floor lounge)
Get ready for a night of music at the Empty Bottle with the Mountain Goats, with opening act The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. (10 p.m., $13, 1035 North Western Avenue)
