The program provides a stipend of $3,000 to cover travel, ground and local transportation, luggage fees, some meals, and other personal expenses you may incur during the two-week stay. The program covers lodging and most of the meals.

Please note UIC only processes stipends at the end of the Institute with payment scheduled in late July or the first days of August.

Arriving in Chicago:

You will fly into Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) or Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). Both are served by public transportation such as CTA trains: MDW by the Orange Line and ORD by the Blue Line.

Participants should arrive at UIC between 1:00 to 6:00 pm. If you have a later flight, please let us know. You should go to:

Thomas Beckham Hall
The University of Illinois at Chicago
1250 South Halstead Street
Chicago, IL

Going to UIC Thomas Beckham Hall from ORD:

If you are arriving at ORD and want to take the CTA Blue Line train, it will take about 35 minutes (depending on the time of day) to reach the UIC stop:  UIC-Halstead. The station is 0.7 miles, or a 14-minute walk to Thomas Beckham Hall on the South side of campus, where the apartments are located on 1250 South Halstead Street.

Going to UIC Thomas Beckham Hall from MDW:

If you are arriving at MDW and want to take the CTA Orange Line train, you will need to transfer to the Blue Line-Forest Park to the UIC stop: UIC-Halstead. The station is 0.7 miles, or a 14-minute walk to Thomas Beckham Hall on the South side of campus, where the apartments are located on 1250 South Halstead Street.

See: CTA Bus and Rail Map   Cost of tickets vary but are most likely about $5 +

Taxis and Rideshare: About $38-$50+ for Taxis, Uber, or Lyft. Please use apps to check prices.

Due to an unexpected closure of two residential buildings at UIC this summer, we have been re-assigned to four-private room apartments. Most likely, among your apartment-mates, there will be members of the working group you have been assigned.

CHECK-IN

Apartment Check-in: Thomas Beckham Hall Front Desk (TBH) at 1250 South Halstead Street.

During your two-week stay at UIC, you will be staying at Thomas Beckham Hall in a fully-furnished suite/apartment with four private bedrooms, two bathrooms, a shared living room and sitting area, and a kitchen. You will be assigned a private bedroom in a four-bedroom apartment. All apartments have linens (pillow, blanket, flat sheet, fitted sheet and pillowcase, bath towel, and washcloth), furniture, and high-speed internet connection. In addition, the building offers free laundry, a computer lab, lounges, and common areas.

Please do a visual inventory of the condition of the premises and items. If you encounter any problems, please report them to the program staff.

CHECK-OUT

All linens must be left in rooms upon final departure from the apartment for collection. You are responsible for lost keys/access cards.

Dress Code: Casual and comfortable. Bring walking shoes as we walk across campus and do sound and art tours in Pilsen and Humboldt Park neighborhoods. It is summer and we will be in air-conditioned rooms. We suggest you bring a sweater, jacket, hoodie, etc.

For our site visits: Chicago's sun in the summer can get very strong. We suggest you bring a baseball cap/hat, sunglasses, and a water bottle.

What to bring: Toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, soap/body wash, shampoo, etc.), seasonal clothing, cell phone, cell phone charger, laptops and accessories, medication, photo ID, masks (yes, COVID-19 is still around us), hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, water bottle, and anything that will make your ten-day stay more comfortable. If you are interested in visiting one of Chicago's 24 beaches, bring your swimsuit.  Chicago's summer sun tends to be very strong, please bring a baseball cap/hat and again a water bottle.

Where to buy nearby: There are stores within walking distance: 7-Eleven, Marshalls, Walgreens, Target

Institute Daily Schedule

The Summer Institute program is intense, with a fantastic lineup of instructors and panelists.

At 8:30 am, we will offer coffee/breakfast and will start the day at 9:00 am and go to 4:00 pm with a few after-hour activities.

Please be on time.

Dress Code is casual. Bring walking shoes as we walk across campus and do sound and art tours in Pilsen and Humboldt Park neighborhoods.

Classroom Spaces

Sessions meet at:

Thomas Beckham Hall, Room 180 F/G

Student Center East Tower, Room 613

Institute Meals

We will provide coffee/breakfast and boxed lunches when the Institute is in session. In addition, a few dinners are planned for June 27, July 5, and July 7.

You will be asked to introduce yourself a few times. We would like you to prepare an elevator speech/pitch short enough for a 30-second introduction - who you are, what you do, and your research interests/dissertation topic. Keep it short; focus on the essentials; be positive and upbeat; and practice!

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/elevator-speech-examples-and-writing-tips-2061976

This is a great exercise you can fine-tune as your research and interests evolve and is helpful for networking. See some templates here:

https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/elevator-pitch-examples

We require that you submit a two-page single-space narrative about your dissertation proposal.  

Please include what you are proposing to investigate, possible research questions your dissertation project will answer, how you are going to go about researching it - archival research, interviews, ethnographic work, textual analysis, etc.; possible theoretical frameworks; and how would you develop the project in terms of themes that can become chapters.

We will create three groups among the 32 and assign you one of our UIC instructors Dr. Daniel Bozutzky, Esther Díaz-Martín, and Deanna Ledezma.

They will read your document and provide feedback, which will be discussed during the workshop. You already have a great head start as you submitted some of these ideas as part of your application to the Summer Institute. You can use that and expand it to two pages.

The deadline for submission is June 26, 2022.

This third-largest city in the U.S., Chicago features 77 community neighborhoods with many ethnicities; 600 parks; more than 24 beaches; and an incredible array of cultural attractions. Crossing Latinidades staff will be sharing their favorite places to visit in the city. See this website for more details.