Chicago Semester

Reading the City: A Conversation with Dr. Gideon Strauss

Posted by Rebecca Burwell in CS Seminars in Guest Speakers | Oct 06, 2010

I was not quite sure of what to expect from Dr. Strauss’s talk to the combined Metro seminars last week. Each semester, we bring a distinguished guest speaker (or multiple speakers) to talk about issues pertinent to urban life – immigration, asset-based community development, globalization. But the topics we discussed as a staff that we wanted to bring to the attention of students seemed a little more obtuse – a talk on “Reading the city” and integrating a “Christian Worldview” into the curriculum. Those are mouthfuls that can mean various things to various people. I was quite pleased and moved, though, by Dr. Strauss’s thoughtful reflections on his experiences in various cities, cities whose characters, heartbreaks, and people shaped the person that he is today.

That’s what surprised me about his talk. He spoke of his experience and didn’t cloak it in anything but the plain language of someone who speaks from the pained realization of a fallen world. He narrated his experience of growing up a young white man of privilege in a South Africa torn apart by the racism of apartheid. And, the experience of realizing his own privilege and being shaped by the pain of it.

But, he also spoke of the beauty of resistance. That silence and shame don’t have to be the response of people of conscience. Dr. Strauss offered a new way of thinking about the Psalms as reminders of our need to mourn injustice, seek justice, and celebrate cities as places where the promise of justice is taking root. That’s what I took away from the meeting last week, the wonder, heartbreak, and hope of communities and the faithfulness of those that guard their memories.