Interest Groups
Emeriti have a diverse set of interests and skills that enable them to engage with their various communities and with each other. One way of doing so, is through interest groups. NEO encourages and supports interest groups formed and managed by emeriti. NEO support includes finding suitable space for group events, scheduling, communication, and other logistics. Groups should be otherwise independent in their planned activities and self-governed.
Music Interest Group
The Music Interest group hosted a conversation with conductor Stephen Alltop following the Alice Millar concert on February 10th, 2019, celebrating the 170th birthday of the chapel’s namesake. The concert featured the Chapel Choir and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and included works by Joseph Jongen and Joseph Haydn. Mr. Alltop invited several of the student musicians and singers to participate in the “talk back” which was attended by a sizable number of people, about half of whom were NEO members.
On March 14, 2019, conductor Robert Hasty held a special discussion for NEO members . He talked about the “American Masters” concert performed by the Northwestern Chamber Orchestra in Pick-Staiger Hall.
On January 22, 2020, a group of Emeriti met with clarinetist Steve Cohen for an informal discussion at his studio. Cohen talked about his career as a clarinetist and about the role of the clarinet in chamber music.
Art Interest Group
NEO organized a visit to the special exhibit, “Manet and Modern Beauty” at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday, August 24 at 10 am. Professor S. Hollis Clayson, of the Department of Art History at Northwestern, served as our guide to the exhibit. This is the first Art Institute exhibition devoted exclusively to the work of Édouard Manet(1832–1883) in over 50 years. It focuses on the transformation of the artist’s style in his later years. For more information about the exhibit click here.
Past Tours:
Tour of Block Museum’s “Caravans of Gold” Exhibit, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art offered NEO members a special tour of the new “Block”- buster exhibit, “Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa.” The exhibit was introduced by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, the Block’s Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs–and an expert on African art, having come to Northwestern in 2013 after a long and successful tenure at the Art Institute of Chicago where she curated exhibits such as “Benin–Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria” (2008) .
Please note that The Block Museum continues to offer free tours of this exhibition on Tuesdays at noon (with a member of the curatorial staff) and on Sundays at 3pm (with one of their wonderful undergraduate docents). This is exhibit is open until July 21, 2019.
Tour of the American Writers Museum, (Chicago), Thursday, May 30, 2019, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Opening its doors in 2017, the American Writers Museum celebrates the breadth of American writing through interactive exhibits and programming that honors the past, promotes the present, and inspires the future of writing in the United States.
We will gather at the entrance of the museum no later than 10:30 a.m. A docent (“storyteller”) will take the NEO group around the museum and introduce the exhibits one by one. After this 30-minute tour, individuals can explore whichever exhibits they fancy. All exhibits at the American Writers Museum are interactive and self-guided.
Among the exhibits we will visit: The Mind of a Writer Gallery; Word Play; The Wintrust Chicago Gallery (shown here); The Negaunee Foundation Children’s Literature Gallery; special exhibit “Frederick Douglass: Agitator” (which closes May 31).
Oral History
The oral history interest group works in collaboration with Northwestern University Archives and NU’s Advanced Media Production Studio (NUAMPS) to create a robust program of oral histories chronicling the lives and careers of notable Northwestern faculty. A first prototype–an interview with renowned materials chemist Mark Ratner has been produced and, once edited, will serve as a model for others.
Sign-Up/Propose an Interest Group
To sign-up for an interest group or propose a new interest group, fill out our interest group form.