The University of Illinois Springfield will host five Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series events during fall 2026. The series presents events that promote and adhere to the value of engaged citizenship, cultural awareness and respect for diversity.

All ECCE Speaker Series events are free and open to the public.

• “The Art of The Personal Essay”
  6 p.m. Sept. 23 in Brookens Auditorium
  Andrew Bertaina, a professorial lecturer at American University, will explore the mechanics of what makes for a great personal essay by exploring a variety of different ways of representing the self and finding pathways into essay writing in this writing workshop.
  
  
• “Political Violence and Tolerance in Modern American Politics”
  6 p.m. Oct. 7 in Brookens Auditorium
  Alexandra Filindra, a professor of political science and psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago, and John Transue, an associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield, will explore the causes and consequences of modern political violence in American politics.
  
  
• “Confronting the Environmental Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Development”
  6 p.m. Oct. 21 in Brookens Auditorium
  Mary D. Willis, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, will investigate the local effects of data centers built in the United States and propose policy solutions to help mitigate environmental impacts and protect local communities.
  
  
• “Community Is Power: Art and Activism”
  6 p.m. Nov. 4 in Brookens Auditorium
  Chicago-based artist Aram Han Sifuentes works across fiber, social practice and collaborative, community-based projects to explore themes of labor, migration and belonging. In this artist lecture, Sifuentes will share images and discuss her practice, with a focus on her Protest Banner Lending Library. This ongoing project brings people together to create handmade banners that can be used in demonstrations and other forms of public protest, making space for different forms of participation and expression.

• “Greenwashed or Groundbreaking? Charting 15 Years of Green IS Research from Hype to Impact”
  6 p.m. Nov. 18 in Brookens Auditorium
  Roya Gholami, an associate professor of management information systems at the University of Illinois Springfield, will present four transformative pathways: mainstreaming sustainability matters in IS research; dismantling academic silos by advancing transdisciplinary reform; scaling up collaboration with natural and social sciences and rethinking business education by utilizing action-oriented pedagogies that cultivate critical thinking, systems awareness and hopeful agency to drive purposeful social change.

For further details on the event, visit the ECCE Speaker Series website.