Each year the Roger Ebert Symposium focuses on a topical theme and brings together experts in the field to engage in discussion at a public-oriented academic event.
The Ebert Symposium 2019 examines Diversity in Media, celebrates our differences, and brings them forward into the light of communal discourse. The symposium recognizes that the media industry needs a diversity of voices, of faces, of experiences, in order to flourish in the diverse communication ecology of today and tomorrow. A full list of guest panelists as well as the symposium schedule and form for registration can be found here.
"The Drive": A VR Portrayal of Police, Minority Relations
A lunchtime virtual reality experience will be available for attendees. The VR movie "The Drive", by young filmmaker and University of Illinois alumna Jewel Ifeguni, will be shown as an immersive experience intended to portray different perspectives of interactions with police and call attention to the tensions between minorities and law enforcement. "The Drive" has been featured in The Daily Illini, The Chicago Tribune, and The News-Gazette.
Getting to the IHotel from Campus
The IHotel is accessible via CUMTD's 1 Yellow buses to the stop 'First at IHotel'. CUMTD's bus schedules and trip planner can be found here.