Events: The Arts and Humanities in Public Life Series

Inaugurated in 1999, the annual Arts and Humanities in Public Life Conference hosted by The Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago focuses on current and pressing public issues in the arts and culture:

The Future of Public Television (2004)
At this two-day conference at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, academics, industry leaders and media critics from throughout the country critically examined the challenges facing public television at the beginning of the 21^st century. 

Building on the Past: Landmarks Policy and Urban Development (2003)
More than 300 architects, urban planners, economists, policy analysts and activists gathered to discuss issues of landmarks policy and key Chicago cases involving Soldier Field and the South Michigan Avenue historic district. The program was held in collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.

Arts and Community Development: Building the Field (2002)
At this one day-conference, researchers and practitioners examined models, best practices,and research agendas for integrating the arts into community development.

Playing by the Rules: The Cultural Policy Challenges of Video Game (2001)
Following public roundtable discussions at Chicago ’s Museum of Contemporary Art , scholars of policy, education, law and the arts joined experts from the non-profit and corporate sectors to discuss the social impact of video games and ways to encourage innovation and development in positive social directions.

Taking Funds, Giving Offense, Making Money: The Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy and the Dilemmas of Arts Policy (2000)
“On Sept. 22, 1999 , New York ’s Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, strode into a press conference to publicly attack the Brooklyn Museum ’s not-yet-opened show of Charles Saatchi’s collection of British artists. The Mayor’s threats ignited a firestorm of controversy that finally burned itself out six months later, when a settlement was reached in federal court that ended legal hostilities with the museum’s free speech rights affirmed and its funding saved, at least for the immediate future….”

From Unsettling "Sensation": Arts Policy Lessons from the Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy ( Rutgers University Pres, 2001). Excerpt of introduction by Lawrence J. Rothfield, Editor; Faculty Director, Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago.

Toward the Development of a National Cultural Policy Research Agenda (1999)
Scholars from the humanities and social sciences joined artists, museum directors, legal scholars, public policy analysts, and journalists to examine research and the role of the arts and humanities in contemporary civic life.

Cultural Policy Workshops

Working Conferences

The Downtown Forum Series