Important Notice

The Institute will not be offering faculty fellowships or student internships during 2005 while it focuses on producing a tool for developing Participatory Action Research (PAR) strategies that are useful to community based organizations and that create sustainable links between University faculty and such organizations.

The Center for Cultural Understanding and Change's Urban Research and Curriculum Transformation Institute seeks to further the rich tradition of urban research in Chicago by documenting and analyzing the social and cultural processes occurring in the city.Through partnerships with Chicago community based organizations and research institutions, we facilitate dialogue and interaction among researchers and practitioners, and develop innovative and effective avenues for public education around urban issues.

Chicago is a young city by world standards. It reinvented itself after the Great Fire and has been going strong ever since. Known for its nourishment of the arts, industry and architecture, it is also the site of some of the best social science research on urban life. It was in Chicago that the first empirical sociological studies were done of social structure and patterns of organization in American city life. More recently, Chicago was the site of research for William Julius Wilson, a leading sociologist whose model of the underclass and the conditions of poverty have guided debate in this field.

Yet, the city is rapidly transforming, adjusting to the forces of globalization. New approaches are needed to understand the complex processes and patterns that are merging in these times of transition from an industrial economy to an information-based economy. Anthropology offers a fresh perspective on urbanism, one that draws on its cross-cultural comparative method and its ability to integrate knowledge about the span of human accomplishments over time. The Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, with generous support from The Ford Foundation, has formed the Urban Research and Curriculum Transformation Institute to bring the museum's resources and research expertise to bear on developing new understandings of city life and providing information to the museum's audiences about this vital and ever-changing metropolis. Some of the questions we are asking or hope to ask as the project develops are:

1. What types of communities are residents forming, and how are they reflected in demographic, geographic and spatial arrangements? How are they reflected in the material culture of everyday life?

2. What are the ways in which Chicago's residents shape and interact with the natural environment?

3.What are the sources of civic activism? Empirical research has identified the sources for tangible and intangible assets, such as social institutions, social networks, and historical memory. Building on this research, we can now document community and culture building practices.

4.What are the insights into Chicago's history that can be gained from the archeological record?

As we undertake research and public programming to explore these questions, CCUC is working to form new collaborations with area universities and civic organizations. It is our hope that Chicago's residents will rediscover anthropology at The Field Museum and find that there is whole lot more here about themselves.

Also, check out our Resources section to review past CCUC urban projects, and a map of field sites.

Generous support for the 2003-2004 Urban Research and Curriculum Transformation Institute has been provided by The Ford Foundation. The Field Museum salutes the people of Chicago for their longstanding support through the Chicago Park District.

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