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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250501T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250501T200000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250501T145605Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T145605Z
UID:20006423-1746126000-1746129600@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH QUESTIONS: A NEW WAY TO THRIVE IN TIMES OF UNCERTANTY
DESCRIPTION:What do you do when faced with a big\, important question that keeps you up at night? Many people\, understandably\, seize answers dispensed by “experts\,” influencers\, gurus\, and more. But these fast\, easy\, one-size-fits-all solutions often fail to satisfy\, and can even cause more pain. \nWhat if our questions—the ones we ask about relationships\, work\, meaning\, identity\, and purpose—are not our tormentors\, but our teachers? Inspired by 150-year-old advice from Austrian poet Rainier Maria Rilke and backed by contemporary science\, Elizabeth Weingarten’s new book\, How to Fall in Love with Questions: A New Way to Thrive in Times of Uncertainty\, offers a fresh approach for dealing with these seemingly unsolvable questions. In her quest\, Weingarten shares her own journey and the stories of many others\, whose lives have transformed through a different\, and better\, relationship with uncertainty. \nDesigned to inspire anyone who feels stuck\, powerless\, and drained\, How to Fall in Love with Questions challenges us to unlock our minds and embark on the kind of self-discovery that’s only possible when we feel most alive—that is\, when we don’t know what will happen next. \nWeingarten is a journalist and applied behavioral scientist who works at the intersection of science and storytelling. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and New Trier High School\, she has worked on the editorial staffs of The Atlantic\, Slate\, and Qatar Today\, and was managing editor of Behavioral Scientist. \nWeingarten will be in conversation with Heather Havrilesky (FAN ’18\, ’22)\, writer of the popular Ask Polly advice column on Substack and is the author of Foreverland\, What If This Were Enough?\, How to Be a Person in the World\, and Disaster Preparedness. \nBONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy How to Fall in Love with Questions from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Weingarten that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/how-to-fall-in-love-with-questions-a-new-way-to-thrive-in-times-of-uncertanty/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250505T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250505T200000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250501T144612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T144612Z
UID:20006422-1746471600-1746475200@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:CHANGE THE WALLPAPER: TRANSFORMING CULTURAL PATTERNS TO BUILD MORE JUST COMMUNITIES
DESCRIPTION:How can ordinary people fight for social justice? Can individual actions change structural inequality? In Change the Wallpaper: Transforming Cultural Patterns to Build More Just Communities\, social psychologist Nilanjana Dasgupta\, Ph.D.\, offers a science-driven approach to achieving social change\, arguing that small changes to the “wallpaper”—the local cultures around us—are far more effective in producing structural change locally than seeking change through bias awareness training\, symbolic acts\, or relying solely on good intentions. \nBy integrating knowledge across diverse fields—including psychology\, neuroscience\, education\, sociology\, economics\, public health\, urban studies\, cultural geography\, and landscape architecture—Dasgupta shows how attitudes and beliefs take root in our mind based on what we see and hear every day. This wallpaper nudges our behavior to create or reinforce small inequalities that go unnoticed and accumulate over time. Disrupting these patterns and habits requires creating opportunities for social mixing across lines of difference\, allowing new relationships to form\, and promoting a better understanding of unfamiliar others’ experiences\, followed by organizing and collective action. Together\, these types of experiences and actions bring real change within our reach—in workplaces\, in neighborhoods\, in cities and towns. Dasgupta provides fresh\, actionable approaches for everyone interested in working toward justice for all. \nDasgupta is a Provost Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She will be in conversation with Jerry Kang\, the Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Distinguished Professor of Law and Distinguished Professor of Asian American Studies at the UCLA School of Law. \nBONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy Change the Wallpaper from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Dasgupta that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/change-the-wallpaper-transforming-cultural-patterns-to-build-more-just-communities/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250506T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250506T130000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250501T142848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T142848Z
UID:20006421-1746532800-1746536400@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:GRAND ROUNDS: SHIFT: MANAGING YOUR EMOTIONS — SO THEY DON'T MANAGE YOU
DESCRIPTION:Whether it’s anxiety about going to the doctor\, boiling rage when we’re stuck in traffic\, or devastation after a painful break-up\, our lives are filled with situations that send us spiraling. But as difficult as our emotions can be\, they are also a superpower. Far from being “good” or “bad\,” emotions are information. When they’re activated in the right ways and at the right time\, they function like an immune system\, alerting us to our surroundings\, telling us how to react to a situation\, and helping us make the right choices. \nBut how do we make our emotions work for us rather than against us? Acclaimed psychologist Ethan Kross\, Ph.D.\, has devoted his scientific career to answering this question. In his new bestselling book Shift: Managing Your Emotions — So They Don’t Manage You\, he dispels common myths—for instance\, that avoidance is always toxic or that we should always strive to live in the moment—and provides a new framework for shifting our emotions so they don’t take over our lives. \nShift weaves groundbreaking research with riveting stories of people struggling and succeeding to manage their emotions—from a mother whose fear prompted her to make a spur-of-the-moment decision that would save her daughter’s life mid-flight to a nuclear code-carrying Navy SEAL who learned how to embrace both joy and pain during a hellish training activity. Kross spotlights a wide array of tools that we already have access to—in our bodies and minds\, our relationships with other people\, and the cultures and physical spaces we inhabit—and shows us how to harness them to be healthier and more successful. \nKross is the director of the Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory at the University of Michigan and professor in its top ranked psychology department and Ross School of Business. His book Chatter: The Voice in Our Head\, Why it Matters\, and How to Harness It was an international bestseller. \nKross will be in conversation with David Schreiber\, MD\, a psychiatrist specializing in child\, adolescent\, and adult crisis care. Dr. Schreiber is the CEO and co-founder of Compass Health Center (CHC) and Compass Virtual. \nBONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN and Compass Health Center are giving away copies of Shift to randomly selected Zoom attendees who are also clinicians. Details on the webinar registration page. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/grand-rounds-shift-managing-your-emotions-so-they-dont-manage-you/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250512T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250512T200000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250501T132306Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T132306Z
UID:20006420-1747076400-1747080000@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:THE AI CON: HOW TO FIGHT BIG TECH'S HYPE AND CREATE THE FUTURE WE WANT
DESCRIPTION:Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Have big tech scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to put authors\, artists\, and others out of business? Are we about to enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything? \nThe answer to these questions\, linguist Emily M. Bender\, Ph.D.\, and sociologist Alex Hanna\, Ph.D.\, make clear\, is “no\,” “they wish\,” “LOL\,” and “definitely not.” This kind of thinking is a symptom of a phenomenon known as “AI hype.” Hype looks and smells fishy: It twists words and helps the rich get richer by justifying data theft\, motivating surveillance capitalism\, and devaluing human creativity to replace meaningful work with jobs that treat people like machines. In The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want\, Bender and Hanna offer a sharp\, witty\, and wide-ranging take-down of AI hype across its many forms. \nBender and Hanna show you how to spot AI hype\, how to deconstruct it\, and how to expose the power grabs it aims to hide. Armed with these tools\, you will be prepared to push back against AI hype at work\, as a consumer in the marketplace\, as a skeptical newsreader\, and as a citizen holding policymakers to account. Together\, Bender and Hanna expose AI hype for what it is: a mask for Big Tech’s drive for profit\, with little concern for who it affects. \nBender\, a professor of linguistics at the University of Washington\, and Hanna\, director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)\, will be in conversation with Timnit Gebru\, Ph.D.\, founder and executive director of DAIR. DAIR is an interdisciplinary and globally distributed AI research institute rooted in the belief that AI is not inevitable\, its harms are preventable\, and when its production and deployment include diverse perspectives and deliberate processes it can be beneficial. \nBONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy The AI Con from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Bender and Hanna that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/the-ai-con-how-to-fight-big-techs-hype-and-create-the-future-we-want/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250513T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250513T200000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250505T133256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250505T133256Z
UID:20006425-1747162800-1747166400@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:THE FAMILY DYNAMIC: A JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF SIBLING SUCCESS
DESCRIPTION:An Olympic athlete. An award-winning novelist. A successful entrepreneur. All raised under one roof. What can we learn from those families whose children aim high and succeed\, sometimes in widely varied fields? Just as important: What were the costs along the way\, and what can we glean from their travails and triumphs? \nIn her new book\, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success\, the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Susan Dominus offers compelling profiles of six such families in search of the factors that led to their success—was it an inherited quality\, a specific way of parenting\, the influence of a sibling\, or a twist of luck? Inspired by the iconic Brontë sisters\, whose remarkable literary success prompted endless speculation\, Dominus\, the mother of twin teenagers\, sought out contemporary high-achieving families who shared intimate stories of their upbringing. She introduces us to the Chens\, young parents who fled their country’s one-child policy to open a Chinese restaurant in Appalachia—then sent four children to elite colleges and on to careers that give back in technology and medicine; the Groffs\, whose claim to fame is not just an award-winning novelist but an Olympic athlete and a notable entrepreneur; the Wojcickis\, whose daughters made inroads as STEM pioneers in Silicon Valley; and the Murguias\, who rose from exceptionally humble origins to become powerful jurists and civil rights champions. Woven into these and other stories is an account of centuries of scientific research into the ongoing question of nature versus nurture. \nElegantly written and extensively researched\, The Family Dynamic is more than a checklist of how-to’s. It’s a deep and moving exploration of the complexity of family life and the rewards—and burdens—of ambition. \nDominus will be in conversation with Lisa Damour\, Ph.D. (FAN ’19\, ’20\, ’21\, ’23)\, the author of three New York Times best sellers: Untangled\, Under Pressure\, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers\, which have been translated into twenty-three languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast\, works in collaboration with UNICEF\, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Damour authored the monthly Adolescence column for The New York Times\, is a regular contributor to CBS News\, and created Untangling 10to20\, a digital library of premium content to support teens and those who care for them. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/the-family-dynamic-a-journey-into-the-mystery-of-sibling-success/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250514T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250514T203000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250505T133939Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250505T133939Z
UID:20006426-1747249200-1747254600@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:UNFORGIVING PLACES: THE UNEXPECTED ORIGINS OF AMERICAN GUN VIOLENCE
DESCRIPTION:In 2007\, economist Jens Ludwig\, Ph.D.\, moved to the South Side of Chicago to research two big questions: Why does gun violence happen\, and is there anything we can do about it? Almost two decades later\, the answers aren’t what he expected. Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence is Ludwig’s revelatory portrait of gun violence in America’s most famously maligned city. \nDisproving the popular narrative that shootings are the calculated acts of malicious or desperate people\, Ludwig shows how most shootings grow out of a more fleeting source: interpersonal conflict\, especially arguments. By examining why some arguments turn tragic while others don’t\, Ludwig shows gun violence to be more circumstantial—and more solvable—than our traditional approaches lead us to believe. \nDrawing on decades of research and Ludwig’s immersive fieldwork in Chicago\, Unforgiving Places is a breakthrough work at the cutting edge of behavioral economics. As Ludwig shows\, progress on gun violence doesn’t require America to solve every other social problem first; it only requires that we find ways to intervene in the places and the ten-minute windows where human behaviors predictably go haywire. \nLudwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He is the Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab\, codirector of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime\, elected member of the National Academy of Medicine\, and a member of the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academies of Science. His work has been featured in leading peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as national media like the New York Times\, Washington Post\, Wall Street Journal\, NPR\, and PBS NewsHour\, among other outlets. \nLudwig will be in conversation with Christian Mitchell\, Vice President for Civic Engagement for the University of Chicago\, overseeing the Office of Civic Engagement\, including state and local government relations\, as well as the Office of Business Diversity and Commercial Real Estate Operations. \nThis event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded but not live streamed and will be available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/unforgiving-places-the-unexpected-origins-of-american-gun-violence/
LOCATION:Evanston Township High School Auditorium\, 1600 Dodge Ave\, Evanston\, IL\, 60201\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250521T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250521T200000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050441
CREATED:20250509T134028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250521T190539Z
UID:20006428-1747854000-1747857600@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:HOW TO STOP TRYING: AN OVERACHIEVER'S GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE\, LETTING GO\, AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE THINGS
DESCRIPTION:Have you ever heard someone say\, “I’m trying to make it work\,” and thought\, “That sounds like a great idea”? Probably not. Because the thing about trying is that it’s tiring; it’s labor. Anyone who has tried to have fun or to relax or to fall asleep knows this to be true. \nAnd yet: we exist within a culture that encourages us—often with a frantic urgency—to try\, and try harder. We are told to try a different approach\, try to do or be better\, try to squeeze in a little bit more. This is especially true of women\, who not only have to try harder than men to receive access to the same opportunities and resources\, but who are also conditioned to try in the name of meeting others’ needs and expectations\, often at the expense of their own well-being. \nIn her new book\, How to Stop Trying: An Overachiever’s Guide to Self-Acceptance\, Letting Go\, and Other Impossible Things\, writer Kate Williams tackles hustle culture head-on\, exploring the ways in which women are primed to become relentless strivers. From the workplace to motherhood\, from relationships to “self-care”—no arena of a woman’s life is safe from the pressure to exceed expectations. This conflation of self-worth with achievement\, she argues\, is both toxic and counterproductive\, as the qualities we most seek—happiness\, meaning\, purpose—are not earned but rather owned. \nKnown for her astute cultural analysis and pitch-perfect observations of generational trends\, Williams takes readers on a journey rooted in her own struggle to divest from an overachieving identity\, including the realizations that came in the wake of a painful fertility challenge. Deeply felt\, passionately argued\, and often laugh-out-loud funny\, this is a book for every woman who has ever wondered what would happen if she stopped trying so hard—and just let go. \nWilliams will be in conversation with Jennifer Mathieu\, the critically acclaimed author of seven novels for young adults including Moxie\, which is now a major motion picture directed by Amy Poehler (Netflix). Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. A former journalist\, Mathieu is a graduate of Northwestern University and has been a teacher for nearly twenty years. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/how-to-stop-trying-an-overachievers-guide-to-self-acceptance-letting-go-and-other-impossible-things/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250522T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250522T130000
DTSTAMP:20260628T050442
CREATED:20250509T134754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250521T191217Z
UID:20006429-1747915200-1747918800@gortoncenter.org
SUMMARY:ORIGINAL SINS: THE (MIS)EDUCATION OF BLACK AND NATIVE CHILDREN AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICAN RACISM
DESCRIPTION:If all children could just get an education\, the logic goes\, they would have the same opportunities later in life. But this historical tour de force makes it clear that the opposite is true: The U.S. school system has played an instrumental role in creating and upholding racial hierarchies and racism\, preparing children to expect unequal treatment throughout their lives. \nIn her new bestselling book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism\, Eve L. Ewing\, Ed.D. (FAN ’18) demonstrates that our schools were designed to propagate the idea of white intellectual superiority\, to “civilize” Native students and to prepare Black students for menial labor. Education was not an afterthought for the Founding Fathers; it was envisioned by Thomas Jefferson as an institution that would fortify the country’s racial hierarchy. Ewing argues that these dynamics persist in a curriculum that continues to minimize the horrors of American history. The most insidious aspects of this system fall below the radar in the forms of standardized testing\, academic tracking\, disciplinary policies\, and uneven access to resources. \nBy demonstrating that it’s in the DNA of American schools to serve as an effective and underacknowledged mechanism maintaining inequality in this country today\, Ewing makes the case that we need a profound reevaluation of what schools are supposed to do\, and for whom. This book will change the way people understand the place we send our children for eight hours a day. \nEwing is an associate professor in the Department of Race\, Diaspora\, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago and the author of four books\, including Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side. Her work has been published in The New Yorker\, The Atlantic\, The New York Times\, and many other venues. \nEwing will be in conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates (FAN ’17\, ’19)\, author of The Beautiful Struggle\, We Were Eight Years in Power\, The Water Dancer\, The Message\, and Between the World and Me\, which won the National Book Award in 2015. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. \nBONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Original Sins to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page. \nThis event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
URL:https://gortoncenter.org/event/original-sins-the-miseducation-of-black-and-native-children-and-the-construction-of-american-racism/
LOCATION:On Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events,Family Action Network
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