Join Educational Events in Evanston, IL providing educational opportunities for your community. These events offer learning experiences that honor cultural heritage while helping members of the community develop new skills and knowledge.
Come chat in Spanish and practice your language with us in person—everyone is welcome!
Spanish Conversation
Want to practice your Spanish? This meet-up is for you! An in-person space where all levels are welcome to chat, share, and improve their Spanish in a fun and relaxed way. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or already speak quite a bit; the important thing here is to converse and have a good time. Join us and practice with friends!
Wednesday, 01, 18.00 -
Wednesday, 01, 19.00
Chicago,
IL
_$25
Join KMTS for "From 'Byzantine Intrigues' to Civil Byzantium: The Making of Byzantium in Contemporary Turkey" with Koray Durak on April 20.
Join the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program for "From 'Byzantine Intrigues' to Civil Byzantium: The Making of Byzantium in Contemporary Turkey" with Koray Durak, Boğaziçi University, on Monday, April 20 at 12:30pm in Kresge Hall, Room 1515.
“Byzantium” is imagined, circulated, and contested in contemporary Turkey through the interaction of state-managed memory politics, popular culture, and civil and academic initiatives. Approaching Byzantium as a cultural object—whose meanings are constantly produced and reproduced in public discourse, from school textbooks and political rhetoric to museums, exhibitions, the cultural industries (film and television), and digital media—reveals a field of diverse and often competing representations. These representations are shaped by unequal access to cultural authority, shifting ideological agendas, and logics of the media through which Byzantium is represented, in a country that is heir to Constantinople/Istanbul, the former imperial capital.
Combining discourse analysis with an institutional history of Byzantine studies in Turkey, and using the state/civil society divide as a heuristic tool, I argue that modern state ideology has alternately constrained, instrumentalized, or ignoredByzantium, while more plural academic and civic environments have enabled alternative interpretations and new communities of interest to emerge. In this sense, the perception of Byzantium in modern Turkey is not merely a matter of historical knowledge; it is also a mirror of Turkey’s own political and social transformations.
KORAY DURAK is an associate professor in the Department of History at Boğaziçi University (Istanbul) and also the vice-director of the Byzantine Studies Research Center at the same institution. He has been teaching courses on the history of the medieval Mediterranean region, Byzantine history, and Byzantine medicine since 2008. His main areas of research interest include Byzantine-Islamic relations (with a particular focus on their economic dimensions), the commercial history of Byzantine Constantinople, and Byzantine pharmacology. His publications in these fields include “The Commercial History of Trebizond and the Region of Pontos from the Seventh to the Eleventh Centuries: An International Emporium,” (Mediterranean Historical Review, 2021), and “Commercial Constantinople,” in Cambridge Companion to Constantinople (Cambridge University Press, 2022). He has also co-edited several collected volumes, including Mobility and Materiality in Byzantine-Islamic Relations, 7th-12th Centuries (Routledge).
In addition to these research areas, Durak has developed a sustained and widely recognized scholarly engagement with the history of Byzantine studies in modern Turkey, publishing on both the institutional formation of the field and Byzantium’s changing place in public discourse and popular culture. He curated the exhibition “Odyssey of Byzantine Studies in Turkey” at ANAMED (Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations) in Istanbul in 2024, accompanied by the homonymous book he authored. He also co-organized the workshop Rethinking Byzantine Studies in Turkey: Concepts, Terms, and Methods I, held at the Pera Museum in Istanbul in December 2024.
Monday, 20, 12.30 -
Monday, 20, 14.00
Evanston,
IL
_$25
A FREE 2-day Chicago symposium celebrating Katherine Dunham & the Diaspora through a keynote address, performances, panels & workshops!!
Old Town School of Folk Music is hosting its 3rd annual Black History Future Folk Symposium. Produced by our Community Ventures Department, each year this symposium draws inspiration from the definition of folk music provided by Folk Alliance International: “Folk is the music of the people, reflective of any community where they are from.” The theme for 2026 is Katherine Dunham and the African Diaspora.
Focusing on the prolific Chicago legacy of Katherine Dunham, this free two-day Symposium will invite participants of all ages to participate in open, accessible, and rigorous discussions about the intersections of Black history, liberated futures, and folk practices. Through presentations, panel discussions, participatory workshops, and performances, 2026’s Symposium will cultivate fertile ground for deep theoretical and embodied understandings of afro-diasporic dance and music.
SCHEDULE
Friday, April 17, 2026 • 6:00 - 8:30 PM
📍 Old Town School Lincoln Square Campus – Myron R. Szold Concert Hall | 4545 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60625
6:00–7:15 PM • Opening Keynote Speaker: Heather Beal
7:30–8:30 PM • Dunham from Haiti to New Orleans Opening Performance: Featuring Tamboula & the Windy City Ramblers with choreography by Stacy “Jukeboxx” Letrice & Daniel Desir
Friday, 17, 18.00 -
Friday, 17, 20.30
Chicago,
IL
_$25
✈️ CHI bound! Join us at Da Book Joint for a Dear Black Writers screening and networking.
Black Writers Weekend Pop-Up is an intimate creative gathering designed to celebrate and connect Black storytellers across disciplines. This special event features an exclusive screening of Dear Black Writers, a dynamic artist panel with creatives from books, film, and media, and a curated creative mixer for meaningful networking. The pop-up creates space for conversation, collaboration, and community—bringing writers and creatives together to share insights, exchange ideas, and build lasting connections in a supportive, inspiring environment.
Saturday, 23, 17.00 -
Saturday, 23, 21.00
Chicago,
IL
_$25
Join the Block Museum Student Associates in our galleries for a close look at one or two works on view in Hamdia Traoré’s “Des marabouts de Djenné” and Muslim Portraiture in Mali. The exhibition offers perspectives on the storied city of Jenne, a center of Islamic learning, study, and scholarship since the twelfth century, and the hometown of Bamako-based photographer Hamdia Traoré (b. 1992, Mali). Learned and devout, marabouts teach in Jenne’s over 50 Qur’anic schools, offer spiritual guidance, and treat ailments through their knowledge of the Qur’an. Made during a time of political and social upheaval in Mali, the thirty portraits in Traore’s series reflect enduring cultural resilience, and his intimate connections to the city’s people and deep history.
Block Museum Student Associates (BMSAs) are Northwestern undergraduates representing interdisciplinary fields of study from across the university. In the galleries, BMSAs extend welcome to our exhibitions and permanent collection and engage visitors in conversations about artworks that spark their curiosity.
Participation level – medium, participants are encouraged to respectfully share their own perspectives, thoughts, and questions throughout the Art Talk.
Programs are open to all, on a first-come first-served basis. RSVPs not required, but appreciated.
Saturday, 28, 12.30 -
Saturday, 28, 13.30
Evanston,
IL
_$25
Come chat in Spanish and practice your language with us in person—everyone is welcome!
Spanish Conversation
Want to practice your Spanish? This meet-up is for you! An in-person space where all levels are welcome to chat, share, and improve their Spanish in a fun and relaxed way. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or already speak quite a bit; the important thing here is to converse and have a good time. Join us and practice with friends!
Saturday, 28, 12.30 - Saturday, 28, 13.30
Chicago, IL
0.00
Join KMTS for "From 'Byzantine Intrigues' to Civil Byzantium: The Making of Byzantium in Contemporary Turkey" with Koray Durak on April 20.
Join the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program for "From 'Byzantine Intrigues' to Civil Byzantium: The Making of Byzantium in Contemporary Turkey" with Koray Durak, Boğaziçi University, on Monday, April 20 at 12:30pm in Kresge Hall, Room 1515.
“Byzantium” is imagined, circulated, and contested in contemporary Turkey through the interaction of state-managed memory politics, popular culture, and civil and academic initiatives. Approaching Byzantium as a cultural object—whose meanings are constantly produced and reproduced in public discourse, from school textbooks and political rhetoric to museums, exhibitions, the cultural industries (film and television), and digital media—reveals a field of diverse and often competing representations. These representations are shaped by unequal access to cultural authority, shifting ideological agendas, and logics of the media through which Byzantium is represented, in a country that is heir to Constantinople/Istanbul, the former imperial capital.
Combining discourse analysis with an institutional history of Byzantine studies in Turkey, and using the state/civil society divide as a heuristic tool, I argue that modern state ideology has alternately constrained, instrumentalized, or ignoredByzantium, while more plural academic and civic environments have enabled alternative interpretations and new communities of interest to emerge. In this sense, the perception of Byzantium in modern Turkey is not merely a matter of historical knowledge; it is also a mirror of Turkey’s own political and social transformations.
KORAY DURAK is an associate professor in the Department of History at Boğaziçi University (Istanbul) and also the vice-director of the Byzantine Studies Research Center at the same institution. He has been teaching courses on the history of the medieval Mediterranean region, Byzantine history, and Byzantine medicine since 2008. His main areas of research interest include Byzantine-Islamic relations (with a particular focus on their economic dimensions), the commercial history of Byzantine Constantinople, and Byzantine pharmacology. His publications in these fields include “The Commercial History of Trebizond and the Region of Pontos from the Seventh to the Eleventh Centuries: An International Emporium,” (Mediterranean Historical Review, 2021), and “Commercial Constantinople,” in Cambridge Companion to Constantinople (Cambridge University Press, 2022). He has also co-edited several collected volumes, including Mobility and Materiality in Byzantine-Islamic Relations, 7th-12th Centuries (Routledge).
In addition to these research areas, Durak has developed a sustained and widely recognized scholarly engagement with the history of Byzantine studies in modern Turkey, publishing on both the institutional formation of the field and Byzantium’s changing place in public discourse and popular culture. He curated the exhibition “Odyssey of Byzantine Studies in Turkey” at ANAMED (Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations) in Istanbul in 2024, accompanied by the homonymous book he authored. He also co-organized the workshop Rethinking Byzantine Studies in Turkey: Concepts, Terms, and Methods I, held at the Pera Museum in Istanbul in December 2024.
Saturday, 28, 12.30 - Saturday, 28, 13.30
Evanston, IL
0.00
A FREE 2-day Chicago symposium celebrating Katherine Dunham & the Diaspora through a keynote address, performances, panels & workshops!!
Old Town School of Folk Music is hosting its 3rd annual Black History Future Folk Symposium. Produced by our Community Ventures Department, each year this symposium draws inspiration from the definition of folk music provided by Folk Alliance International: “Folk is the music of the people, reflective of any community where they are from.” The theme for 2026 is Katherine Dunham and the African Diaspora.
Focusing on the prolific Chicago legacy of Katherine Dunham, this free two-day Symposium will invite participants of all ages to participate in open, accessible, and rigorous discussions about the intersections of Black history, liberated futures, and folk practices. Through presentations, panel discussions, participatory workshops, and performances, 2026’s Symposium will cultivate fertile ground for deep theoretical and embodied understandings of afro-diasporic dance and music.
SCHEDULE
Friday, April 17, 2026 • 6:00 - 8:30 PM
📍 Old Town School Lincoln Square Campus – Myron R. Szold Concert Hall | 4545 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60625
6:00–7:15 PM • Opening Keynote Speaker: Heather Beal
7:30–8:30 PM • Dunham from Haiti to New Orleans Opening Performance: Featuring Tamboula & the Windy City Ramblers with choreography by Stacy “Jukeboxx” Letrice & Daniel Desir
Saturday, 28, 12.30 - Saturday, 28, 13.30
Chicago, IL
0.00
