Blog // Featured Stories

Support City Fellows Students

When Jessica Daniels graduated from Howard University (Washington D.C.) in Spring 2021, she had plans to attend law school with her degree in Political Science and Criminology. She knew she needed an internship to help her law school application stand out, but struggled to find an opportunity that both fit her passion for reforming the…
Read More ➞

2021 Awards Celebration: A Night of Illustrations

    Thank you for joining us for Chicago Semester’s Night of Illustrations! We are so grateful that you spent the evening with us and hope you felt inspired by the work of our students, alumni and partners at Chicago Semester. This work could not be done without your support.   If you are the…
Read More ➞

Chicago Semester's Film Premiere

  Today we presented the premiere of A Chicago Semester Film Featuring Students’ Stories of Hope! We hope our students’ stories inspired you. If you missed the film, you can still watch: click here. (Closed captions are available on this recording. To enable, click the CC button in the bottom right hand corner of the video window.) Chicago…
Read More ➞

August Updates from Chicago Semester

Welcoming Students this Fall We are excited to welcome our Fall 2020 students to Chicago in the coming weeks. This fall we will be utilizing Chicago parks and outdoor spaces for classes and orientation, engaging students in virtual and outdoor fine art events and creating opportunities for internships to be partially completed online. We have…
Read More ➞

Emerging as a Professional

Allison Raddatz ’20, first learned about Chicago Semester when she was a prospective student on a visit to Trinity Christian College (IL). Allison had dreams of attending a school in the city of Chicago, but Trinity’s campus just felt like home. Allison’s admissions counselor told her about Chicago Semester and she loved the idea of…
Read More ➞

Chicago Semester in 2020

Each year Chicago Semester broadens its impact as we serve more students from our growing list of partner colleges and universities. This past year over 125 students embarked on the Chicago Semester experience, emerging as professionals in their chosen fields, pursuing their vocational callings and faithfully engaging their communities. We invite you to share in celebrating their stories by clicking…
Read More ➞

Lydia Stazen’s Chicago Semester Story: Bringing Her Vocational Calling into Razor-sharp Focus

By the end of her sophomore year of college, Lydia Stazen ’04 felt an intense need to expand her horizons beyond her campus experience. As she explored off-campus semester opportunities, she was excited to discover that Chicago Semester met both her personal need for more diverse experiences – and her major’s internship requirements. Before participating…
Read More ➞

October Updates From Chicago Semester

Increasing Program Visibility Chicago Semester staff have been active this fall making presentations as part of our initiative to increase our visibility as a leader in urban experiential education. Staff have presented: “Leadership and Calling: Connecting Experiential Learning with Life’s Big Questions,” CS Faculty, Rebecca Burwell at the National Society of Experiential Education’s Annual Conference…
Read More ➞

September Updates from Chicago Semester

Homegrown Event On Monday, September 16, Chicago Semester hosted Homegrown: Stories From Food Start-Ups in Chicago as part of our ongoing celebration of 45 years as a program. 1871’s auditorium provided a beautiful venue for the event which featured entrepreneurs of color who had built food businesses in neighborhoods across the city. Attendees had an…
Read More ➞

August Updates From Chicago Semester

Our Fall CS’ers Have Arrived! Our fall semester kicked off this past Sunday with the first ever orientation hosted at 1871! Students participated in sessions about navigating the ins and outs of Chicago’s public transportation, engaged in some friendly competition with Chicago trivia, and enjoyed famous Chicago deep dish pizza! Our orientation activities continued into…
Read More ➞