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Our Retreat to Chicago was full of science and information and fluctuating spring weather.  

We began with an opening dinner and architectural talk at the iconic Drake Hotel, which was our headquarters for this trip.  During dinner, Jane Lepauw detailed the story of Benjamin Marshall, the Chicago-based architect who designed the Drake Hotel and other buildings in and around Chicago.  We spent our three days in Chicago experiencing some well-known locations as well as some of the city’s unknown spots.   

We were treated to a tour of The Newberry Library an independent research library, and we were exposed to its vast collections of ancient maps, letters, postcards, railroad time schedules and art to name a few topics.  Dr. Nora Epstein presented background on Chicago’s history held in the Newberry’s formidable humanities collection of texts, manuscripts and maps.

On Friday, we toured Chicago’s Portal Innovation and heard a very interesting talk from Clarix Imaging and its cutting edge technology now being used in breast cancer surgeries.  We also learned about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is a collaborative biomedical research alliance between universities.  The Chicago Hub opened in March, 2023 charged with building sensors to study inflammation, a major driver of disease.  This presentation told us what the Biohub is doing in science research, nothing short of eliminating diseases.  

The afternoon’s topic of discovery took a new tack with a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We met with Dr. Megan Ross, the director of this free zoo.  She explained to us how the zoo measures animal needs and wants and highlighted work being done towards animal well-being. She brought our human experiences into her talk about sharing our spaces.

Saturday, the group had a full morning presentation from the University of Chicago Crime Lab. Dr. Jens Ludwig, author of Unforgiving Places, explained in an economist’s detail the idea that guns and violence need to be looked at through a different lens: that of using behavioral training, better known as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and high dose tutoring to try to improve lives.  Dr. Ludwig backed his statements up with data showing the difference this approach is making. Dr. Monica Bhatt, the senior director of the Education Lab at the University of Chicago spoke to us about the high dosage tutoring data; Chris Jaffe, developer of community based programs and Brenda Benitez, University of Chicago researcher and program implementer pointed to one of the CBT programs currently being used: ECHO - Every Choice Has Outcomes.

The schedule allowed retreat-goers to explore Chicago on their own and many took in The Art Institute of Chicago and the Architectural Boat Tour on the Chicago River. At the end of the day, many gathered in the bar at the Drake to recap the day's events and share a nightcap.

As a postscript, we learned that ARCS Atlanta is the only chapter that has a bi-annual retreat. So we say, “Here’s to the next one.”

To see more photos of the Chicago Retreat, please visit the Events Highlights page on the ARCS Atlanta website at this link: https://atlanta.arcsfoundation.org/node/5747