With the new millennium on the horizon, America’s cities are faced with many complex issues, from economic development and social policy to immigration and gender differences, to race and ethnicity. Noted sociologist William Julius Wilson is among those experts who will address a DePaul University conference to explore these and other issues affecting the present and future of cities.

Charles Suchar, chair of DePaul’s sociology department, said the conference represents the social science faculty’s contribution to the university’s centennial year. "We wanted to make a contribution in an area that the faculty felt strongest about, one that reflected the university’s mission," said Suchar. "As we face a new millenium, the topic of social justice is one that affects all urban people."

The conference entitled "Towards a Just and Livable City" is free and open to the public, and runs April 22 to April 24 in Schmitt Academic Center (SAC), 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 154. It opens at 7 p.m. on April 22 with an address by Wilson, who is considered to be one of the leading sociologists in America. Currently, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Wilson will lecture on how issues of race and class impact the quality of urban life.

Wilson is director of the Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Program at Harvard’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. Time magazine included him on a list of "America’s 25 Most Influential People" in June 1996. The National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the United States, was bestowed on him in 1998. Wilson is the author of several books on poverty and race including "When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor."

On April 23 the conference addresses "Community/University Relations," from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The discussion will explore successful strategies for university engagement in community outreach. Panelists are: Kenneth Reardon, director, The East St. Louis Action Research Project at University of Illinois-Urbana; William Peterman, professor of geography, Chicago State University and coordinator of the Frederick Blum Neighborhood Assistance Center; Phillip Nyden, director, Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University; Gary Harper, assistant professor of psychology, DePaul; Larry Bennett, moderator and professor of political science, DePaul.

The second session, "Immigrants in the Global City" will run from 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. This panel will consider how global cities live up to their obligation as nuclei of a globalizing economy, and the causes of empowerment or disempowerment of immigrant groups. Panelists are Saskia Sassen, professor of sociology, University of Chicago; and Lisa Sciolaro, DePaul graduate student, International Studies. Fassil Demissie, an associate professor of public policy at DePaul, will moderate.

The conference opens on Saturday, April 24 at 9 a.m. with a keynote address by Uma Narayan, associate professor of philosophy at Vassar College. She is the author of "Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions and Third World Feminism" (Routledge, 1997) and "Reconstructing Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives (Penn State Press, 1997). Narayan will address the conditions and policies affecting the homeless in the contemporary and future city.

A panel discussion on "Economic Development and Urban Change" runs from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The discussion will focus on the creative differences between the private sector’s vision of urban prosperity and the vision of community-based organizations, citizen groups and the city. Panelists are John Monckton, former member of the Chicago Board of Trade; Mark Donovan, a specialist in commercial real estate market research; James Simmons, president, West Humboldt Park Family and Community Development Council. Michael Bennett, director of DePaul’s Egan Urban Center, will moderate.

The afternoon session addresses "Sexual Minorities in the City" from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The panel will explore the role of universities in working with cities to protect and promote the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Panelists are Kevin Cathcart, executive director of the Lambda Defense and Educational Fund; and Mary Morten, director, Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues for the Chicago Commission on Human Rights. Midge Wilson, DePaul professor of psychology, will moderate. A wrap- up session for the conference will be held from 2:45 p.m. to 3 p.m.

"Towards a Just and Livable City" is the centennial theme for DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) spring quarter. For information about other events or to register for the conference, call the LA&S Office at 773/325-1857.