Saint Xavier University will be hosting a symposium on Stephen A. Douglas on April 26.
The event will bring together some of the best historical minds from Saint Xavier and from around the Midwest.
The symposium falls right near the bicentennial birth of the famed Illinois senator, and will revolve around lecture panels, historical reenactments, and a documentary film created by Saint Xavier faculty and students.
The symposium itself is offering CPDU credits to those who attend only, and the cost of attendance is 40 dollars. For those not able to attend you can also sign up to stream the event for 20 dollars.
Saint Xavier students are able to stream the event for free off of a link provided on Blackboard. Students are welcome to attend the event as well, but must purchase their seats before the day of the event.
The entire day will be filled with unique activities that will allow attendees to develop a better understanding and knowledge of the famous Illinois senator.
One of the highlights of the event will be a documentary being shown that was created by history professor Dr. Graham Peck, art Professor Nathan Peck and a group of history students at Saint Xavier.
The 50 minute documentary film is entitled, Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy.
The film which took over a semester to create has been a labor of love for Dr. G. Peck who originally started the film as a group project in one of his history courses, until it branched further than a simple assignment.
When speaking with Dr. G.Peck, it was noticeable that there was an excitement and passion for the film being shown and he stated, “A film such as this was not feasible before.”
What Dr. G. Peck meant was that the endeavor of making a full length documentary was out of the realm of possibility for historians before because the time expense, cost, and expertise necessary to produce such films were too much for most people.
Today people have more access to programs such as Adobe Premiere and basic camera equipment that now allows for students and historians to develop documentaries on historic matters.
The film is a great accomplishment and even helped create a new course being offered at Saint Xavier this Fall semester, Historical and Creative Documentary Filmmaking.
The entire symposium will be a showcase of some of the best historical minds on Stephen A. Douglas, as well as show that Saint Xavier University has the ability to host a fantastic academic event such as this.
Another notable event during the symposium will be a keynote featuring WTTW’s very own Andries who will be talking about the challenges of translating history into television programming.
Those interested in further hearing from Dan Andries can pay an additional 35 dollars to participate in a question and answer dinner with the WTTW personality.
This dinner opportunity is quite unique and allows attendees to view how history programming is created for viewers and what implications there may be in translating history from your textbooks to your home entertainment system.
Dr. G. Peck expressed his high hopes for the event and believes there can be a very sizable turnout, he even has additional rooms booked for just such an occurrence.
However, Dr. G. Peck is still urging students to attend the event and take advantage of the opportunity to learn about an often unrecognized figure from Illinois’s past.
Event organizers are even encouraging people to tweet about the event using #sxudouglas, in order to grow the scope of the event.
With so many avenues to stream, attend, and tweet about the event, why not take the time this April 26 to expand your knowledge of Illinois history. And if you are looking to save a few bucks why not use Blackboard to stream the event, it definitely will be worth your time.
Jake Alleruzzo
News Correspondent
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