Student Life
MAPH students are as diverse as the paths of humanistic inquiry. Our students have included recent college graduates, professionals at mid-career, and those seeking new challenges during retirement. They have had undergraduate degrees from public and private institutions throughout the world in disciplines ranging from biology to art history to marketing. A number have come with experience in nonacademic fields, including independent filmmaking, industrial design, politics, science, foundation work, and business.
MAPH sponsors events of specific interest to our students, ranging from MAPH social hours to special writing seminars
In addition to the numerous talks, workshops, conferences, and screenings held throughout the year at the University of Chicago, MAPH sponsors events of specific interest to our students, ranging from MAPH social hours to special writing seminars. We encourage our students to organize student-run committees that work in conjunction with the University Graduate Student Council.
During autumn quarter 2006-2007, MAPH students organized social and cultural committees, as well as a writing group. Fall quarter events included a barbeque in the quads, a Halloween party, a boat tour of Chicago architecture, a Pub Night, and—for the first time ever—the enthusiastically received Lawn Games (bocci, badminton, beanbag toss, foam bowling). An open mic night and a "high school dance" took place in the winter and spring quarters.
In past years, groups of MAPHers have attended Court Theatre productions, organized bonfires at the Point on Lake Michigan, taken trips to the Museum of Contemporary Art and to the Hancock Building, organized readings by novelists, seen the Chicago Blackhawks play hockey and the White Sox play ball, and enjoyed one another's culinary inspirations at potluck luncheons. Activities vary by year, according to the interests of the current students. Karaoke Night is always popular, as are trips to the Chicago Aquarium, wine tasting dinners, playreading groups, and poetry readings.
Whether you want to wind down, meet friends, or just have some fun, an extracurricular life is crucial to productive graduate study
MAPH is more demanding than any other first-year graduate program in the Humanities Division. All that work, in turn, requires balance—some combination of social life, casual conversation, cultural outings, and play. Whether you want to wind down, meet friends, or just have some fun, an extracurricular life is crucial to productive graduate study.
The following links and suggestions are meant to introduce you to some of the social, cultural and entertainment possibilities on and off-campus. However, since Chicago offers all of the resources of a major metropolitan center with its commitment to the arts, its music and literary scenes, its cultural institutions, sports teams, street festivals, and diverse neighborhoods, here we can only offer a small sampling of the city's year-round opportunities and activities.
At the University
On campus, students can take in a film at DOC, a play at the Court Theatre, concerts at Mandel Hall, or the current exhibitions at the Smart Museum and Renaissance Society gallery. The University Theater offers student productions each term; Off-Off-Campus offers Friday evenings of comedy improv with the organization that gave birth to Second City. And any evening you'll doubtless find people you know having a drink at the Pub in Ida Noyes Hall, downstairs from DOC's Max Palevsky Cinema.
Want more? Learn about sports and social clubs at the Student Activities website. Or, follow the student life links to learn about religious services on campus, Major Activities Board (MAB) events, the campus radio station, student media, visiting dignitaries, community service programs, the Council on University Programming's schedule of festivals, feasts, performances and parties, and more.
The Franke Institute for the Humanities sponsors conferences and public lectures, as do the University's interdivisional centers, projects, and programs. Follow the links to their websites to learn about current and coming events.
Some, but not all, of the doings on campus are announced university-wide in the official Events Calendar, on the calendar page of The University of Chicago Chronicle, and on the MAPH website calendar.
Life in Hyde Park
Hyde Park functions as a very small town oriented to university life, carved out and maintained as an enclave in a great city
Hyde Park is a small, relatively quiet urban neighborhood bordered by Lake Michigan to the east, Washington Park to the west, the Midway Plaisance to the south, and Madison Park to the north. Most University of Chicago students live in Hyde Park, as do most faculty. It is a bit like a village—you run into people you know regularly at the Hyde Park Co-op Supermarket, the Seminary Co-op bookstores, Powell's used bookstore, Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap, and the Medici, Edwardo's, Florian, and Salonica restaurants. Hyde Park residents make extensive use of the lakefront when the weather is warm, and tend to walk the tree-lined streets while going about their lives in the neighborhood. Hyde Park functions as a very small town oriented to university life, carved out and maintained as an enclave in a great city. You can get a fairly comprehensive overview of what the neighborhood has to offer by exploring the University's Hyde Park guide.
Hyde Park has its restaurants, hardware stores, pet shops, drug stores, toy store, bars, banks, second-hand shops, barbers, and beauty salons. It is home to one of the best academic bookstores in the United States, the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, which is located in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary. It is possible to pass an entire academic year without leaving the neighborhood. But don't do that. The whole city is right at your doorstep, a short train trip, bus ride, or drive away.
Chicago
Chicago is a vast city of neighborhoods with a real downtown—the Loop—just 15-20 minutes away from Hyde Park. The Museum of the Art Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art are in the Loop, as are the Lyric Opera, and the Orchestra Hall-Symphony Center.
The Jazz Institute of Chicago maintains a calendar of jazz events, the Jazz Hotline (312-427-3300) an even more extensive calendar. Centerstage Chicago Music gives brief descriptions of more than 1,000 local bands, and keeps track of their gigs for you. Their Art Guide has excellent information on more than 100 Chicago galleries. Their guide to Chicago Theater gives you articles, reviews, and listings for more than 130 Chicago theaters.
For movies, check out Metromix for a concise description of what's playing where, and the Chicago Reader for listings and reviews. The Reader also maintains listings for Dance, Music, Performance, and Theater.
Chicago is a vast city of neighborhoods with a real downtown—the Loop—just 15-20 minutes away from Hyde Park
Chicago has thousands of restaurants, thousands of small shops, and a network of distinctive neighborhoods. You can start online exploration of city guides by following the U of C Student Life links.
You might want to visit Chinatown on the South Side, close to Hyde Park along Cermak Road and Wentworth Avenue, as far south as 24th Place. Pilsen, also on the South Side, centered at Halsted and 18th Street, is the hub of Chicago's Mexican heritage community, and the home of a budding artists' colony. Korea Town is farther north, concentrated between the 2700 and 3700 blocks of North Lawrence Avenue. Devon Avenue on the North Side from Damen to Kedzie is home to the largest East Indian communities in the United States, a Hasidic community, the Chicago Assyrian community, and others.
Boystown, a vibrant center of Chicago's gay and lesbian community, is located on North Halsted Street, between Belmont and Addison. Some of the best known gay, lesbian, and bisexual bars and dance clubs are clustered around that area, right on Halsted, or along Belmont or Clark. Andersonville, Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park/Bucktown are gay-, lesbian-, transgender- and bisexual-friendly neighborhoods, and a lot of U of C people hang out in those areas. Andersonville, the least accessible and most affordable, is taking up some of the current slack, and won recent 'Best of the City' competitions for gay-, lesbian-, transgender- and bisexual-friendly businesses. Andersonville lacks the shabby charm and potential risk that gave Boystown its edge, but it's lively and growing. Some of the events in these areas are listed in publications like Outlines, Blacklines, The Windy City Times, and New City, available in the Barnes & Noble Café at the University of Chicago Bookstore. All list clubs and shows, and the advertisers are gay- and lesbian-friendly businesses. And the U of C Center for Gender Studies keeps track of a range of academic and nonacademic events around the City as well.
Nearly every weekend in spring and summer brings one or another neighborhood festival. Fall and winter are filled with special events as well. Check out the Official City of Chicago site for a sprawling introduction to the doings in the city. Yahoo Chicago maintains scores of well organized links, and offers its own guide to the Windy City.
Writers and Writing in Chicago
The Writing Life
Chicago offers lots of opportunities for MAPH's writers to supplement their courses with rich experiences outside of the classroom.
The University of Chicago is home to many publications that offer MAPH students an opportunity to either publish their work or to acquire skills in editing and publishing. These include newspapers such as the Chicago Maroon and Chicago Weekly, literary magazines such as Otium, Euphony, and the Chicago Review. Some MAPH students find work with the University of Chicago Press, widely regarded as one of the nation's finest academic presses.
In the past, MAPH's social and cultural committees have invited writers and scholars to speak to their MAPH class. Past speakers have included Nobel prize winner J.M. Coetzee and humanities scholar Stanley Fish. Chicago's Committee on Creative Writing hosts readings and other literary events on an almost weekly basis. The committee maintains a list of other literary organizations and publications in Chicago.
Meeting Writers
There are a lot of literary venues in Chicago. The Guild Complex sponsors a full calendar of high-toned literary events. For a quick thumbnail sketch of a variety of less formal literary venues in the city, including 57th Street Books, browse the Metromix Guide, or the Chicago Reader online guide to spoken word events or literary readings
