Free Educational Topics in Chicago
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3: Browse for a topic, Click the orange request button, Fill out the contact form.
Now the speaker will contact you in the next few days to coordinate details.
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Rising Economic Inequality: how much, why it happens, why it matters, and what we can do about it.
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechEconomic inequality has been rising in the US for decades, damaging our economy and society in the process. This presentation will discuss how high it has become, why it happens, how it damages our country, and what we can do about it.
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Teaching civics – how are we doing – how can we do better
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechOur national report card shows that we are not doing a good job teaching US history and civics, and that is not preparing our students to be active citizens, helping to guide our nation in directions that are useful for them. MORE >
This presentation looks into these issues, and focuses on the newly created Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, which points the way to improving this important area of education. -
Democracy Under Duress
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechRight-wing populism is rising in many western nations, but here in the US it is beginning to actually threaten our democracy. This presentation points out why this is happening uniquely here in the US: Because the country is becoming a true multi-racial democracy, a transformation that no other country is undergoing. And the US constitution actually empowers the minority that wishes to stop this transition. MORE >
We will discuss why this is happening, and what we need to change in our governmental structures to alleviate this attack on our democracy.And we must address these very thorny issues, starting now. Because the US will become a multi-racial democracy - or it won't be a democracy any more.
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Congress Doesn’t Care What You Think
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free Speechthis presentation addresses the problem of unlimited political money corrupting our democracy. We explain the problem clearly, and discuss the causes and possible solutions, including steps that we can take in our own communities to begin addressing this structural problem in our country. The presentation is non-partisan and brings issues to light which are of concern across the aisle. MORE >
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Our Antiquated Electoral College
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechLearn why we elect the US president via the Electoral College, how our Electoral College damages our demcoracy - and what we can do about it.
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Increasing Political Polarization and what we can do about it
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechEvery decade, increasing gerrymandering has created more and more "safe seats", which have resulted in more and more extreme legislators on both sides of the aisle - creating a legislature where compromise is impossible, and very little legislative progress ensures. This presentation shows why this happens, and what we can do about it, using the recent example of the Alaska special election, utilizing a nonpartisan primary and a ranked choice voting general election, as an example of how to promote more moderate legislators and a more productive legislature. MORE >
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How to Create Resilient Equitable Communities in a COVID-19 World
Kelwin Harris, Diversity, Equity and Civic Engagement Speaker
Request This Free SpeechOur cities face serious threats; growth is uneven; neighborhoods are struggling; and streets are erupting in protest as COVID-19 has made existing inequalities worse. Now more than ever, we must address racial equity and provide strategies for prosperity for the good of everyone. Drawing from his experience as a community leader on the South Side of Chicago and as an urban planner, Kelwin Harris uses an equity lens to discuss multiple facets of systemic racism that persist and offers strategies and interventions for the road ahead. MORE >
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What’s an Assault Weapon, and why are they so deadly?
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechThere's been a lot of discussion lately about tighter regulations on assault weapons like the AR-15. If we are going to regulate these weapons, we will need a legal definition describing them. And instead of a definition that depends upon specific configurations or cosmetic appearance, we propose a definition based on the factors that make this class of weapons so deadly. MORE >
This presentation focuses on the development of this class of weapons, the factors that make them so deadly, and how we can use those factors to legally define an "assault weapon" for future regulation thereof. -
Can we print fake mail ballots? (not really)
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechThere's lots of talk about how easy it would be to flood an election with fake mail ballots. Let's take a look at what it would take to do that...
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Illinois permanent vote by mail list
Ed Spire, Co-lead, Restore our Democracy Project, NWSOFA-Indivisible
Request This Free SpeechThis presentation reviews the 2021 laws establishing a permanent vote by mail list in Illinois, with special attention to how this new list relates to voter registration activities.