As part of Cook County’s work to advance digital equity, especially as COVID-19 continues to disrupt our daily lives and educational opportunities, this summer Cook County was proud to partner with the University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement to launch a new open learning platform for all 5.2 million Cook County resident called – Cook County Presents – Open Lectures for Residents: in partnership with The University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement.
With more than 10,000 views and counting, due to the popularity of the partnership and platform, Cook County is proud to announce a second installment of our Open Lectures for Residents series!
This new 7-week series of engaging lectures has been curated by the University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement and Cook County Offices Under the President and made easily available and accessible on the University of Chicago's Cook County Open Lectures webpage
“We are excited to continue to offer this unique educational opportunity to residents of Cook County and empower learning during this difficult time,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, an alum of the University of Chicago.
The curated educational content will feature a combination of past lectures and interviews by University of Chicago faculty and staff in audio and video formats. Themes for each week of the content include: COVID-19 and Health, Economics, Elections, History, Philosophy, Environment and Racial Bias.
Additionally, several Career Development webinars, initially developed for UChicago students, will now be available free for all Cook County residents during the seven-week period.
“We are proud to partner with President Preckwinkle to extend this educational content to residents of Cook County” said Derek Douglas, Vice President for Civic Engagement and External Affairs. “As winter approaches and the pandemic worsens, our goal is for residents to be able to explore lectures and interviews from a variety of disciplines from across the University. The topics featured are on the minds of many as the country contends with a public health crisis, the racial justice movement and a change in presidential administrations. Our faculty and staff are thrilled to share their research and perspectives with learners in our shared community of Chicago and suburban Cook County.”