The Illinois gubernatorial race, pitting Governor Pat Quinn against businessman Bruce Rauner is, judging by the latest polls, a statistical dead heat – and may already be the most expensive gubernatorial race in state history.

Hear from experts and other voters as they analyze and break down the commercials and news in the race for governor. Take part in a conversation that will separate fact from fiction and explore larger questions, such as: Does media messaging help to illuminate or distort the facts about policy? As voters and citizens, how do we use media responsibly in order to make informed judgments?

This event is produced by the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) in partnership with Chicago Votes and the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. It is made possible by the McCormick Foundation’s Why News Matters initiative; both the IHC seek to illuminate the power of media today and its role in shaping informed communities and sparking civic engagement.

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About our speakers:

Tom Bevan is the co-founder and Executive Editor of RealClearPolitics. He oversees the editorial staff and writing regular features for RealClearPolitics, Tom’s  work has also appeared in numerous publications and he is featured frequently as a political analyst on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, and the BBC.

Charlene A. Carruthers is the national coordinator of the Black Youth Project 100, an activist member led organization of Black 18 – 35 year olds dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Charlene is a political organizer and writer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, feminist and youth leadership development movement work. Charlene was born and raised on South Side of Chicago where she currently resides.

Cheryl Corley is an NPR Correspondent who works for the National Desk and is based in Chicago. She travels throughout the Midwest covering issues and events throughout the region’s 12 states. In recent years, Cheryl has reported on the campaign and re-election of President Barack Obama, on the efforts by Illinois officials to rethink the state’s Juvenile Justice System, on youth violence in Chicago, and on political turmoil in the Illinois state government.

Madeleine Doubek is the Chief Operating Officer of Reboot Illinois. She previously served as the Assistant Vice President/Executive Editor of the Daily Herald. An award-winning journalist, Madeleine served as the Daily Herald‘s Political Writer and Editor for 10 years and also led the paper’s project and investigative work. A Chicago native who lives in Des Plaines, Doubek holds a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University, where she majored in journalism and minored in political science.

Michael Silverstein is a Professor of Anthropology, Linguistics, and Psychology at the University of Chicago. Michael studies language structure and its functional contextualization, language history, semiotics, and the anthropology of language use, among other linguistic and ethnographic studies. He also investigates language use and textuality as sites of contestation and transformation of cultural value in contemporary American society, reconceptualizing sociocultural and rhetorical practices in light of the semiotic anthropology of communication.

 

             

 

If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580 at least 72 hours prior to the event.

For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.