Moraine Valley Community College Library Podcast

As part of our series on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this faculty panel brings together historians and political scientists to examine the foundational blueprint of American democracy. We will explore the original assumptions, motivations, and strategic designs of the Framers as they constructed a new republic. Faculty members will evaluate how well our core constitutional mechanisms, including checks and balances, executive power, and legislative authority, are weathering modern political pressures.

This event is part of the Honors Brown Bag series. Kipp Cozad, the college’s Manager of Tutoring and Literacy, will share a talk that reflects on what it meant to leave a familiar American life and live for two years in a rural Yemeni village, often as the first Westerner many residents had ever met. Through moments of loneliness, humor, cultural clash, and connection, the talk explores how immersion in another world reshaped my sense of self and deepened my awareness of how culture, isolation, and power shape the way we see others.

What happens to our health when the nation’s public-health infrastructure is undermined and trust erodes? Dr. Cricel Molina de Mesa, DePaul University, College of Science and Health, surveys the state of U.S. public health.

Does your Zip Code determine how long you live? Join us for a lecture featuring a nursing faculty, Julie Zimmer, who has seen the answers firsthand on the front lines of Chicagoland's hospital system. Dr. Zimmer will share personal stories and eyewitness accounts illustrating the stark disparities right in our own backyard. Students, staff, faculty, and community members are all invited to attend and discover what it really takes to bridge the gap in local healthcare. This event is part of our One Book, One College program on John Green’s book Everything is Tuberculosis.

The free flow of ideas is the very heartbeat of a healthy democracy, but, today, the free flow of ideas is under threat. And it has become the librarians who are standing on the frontlines to protect that essential freedom. Join us for a panel discussion as we examine the critical issues raised by the documentary The Librarians. Experts will unpack how efforts like the Texas Krause List have triggered an unprecedented wave of book challenges targeting race and LGBTQIA+ stories across the United States. We will explore the chilling reality of librarians facing harassment and legal threats simply for defending our First Amendment rights. This event is offered in partnership with the Palos/Orland League of Women Voters and the MVCC Democracy Commitment.

League of Women Voters of Orland/Palos will be coming to hold an "Office Hours" to discuss some of the work they do to inform voters and grassroots activities. They will answer questions regarding civic engagement and the work organizations like theirs engage in.

On July 12, 1979, thousands of fans packed Comiskey Park for what was billed as a between-games promotion during a Chicago White Sox doubleheader. For 98 cents and a disco record, attendees gained admission to "Disco Demolition Night," a stunt orchestrated by White Sox owner Bill Veeck and radio DJ Steve Dahl. When the records were blown up in center field, the spectacle quickly spiraled into a riot, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the second game. Join us as Professor Eric Allen Hall from Northern Illinois University lectures on this historic event. This lecture moves beyond the chaos to ask a larger question: What, exactly, was being destroyed that night?

Moraine Valley faculty will examine the 2026 Election, which party might control the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, key statewide races in Illinois, local races, the Moraine Valley Referendum and any questions you may have about the 2026 Election. This event is open to all and is co-sponsored by the Democracy Commitment and MV library.

We share our bodies and our planet with bacteria that have been here for billions of years and that relationship is far stranger and more intimate than most of us realize. In this panel discussion, our biology faculty ask whether we are truly individuals or walking ecosystems, and trace how our bodies and immune systems coevolved alongside microbes over deep time. They'll untangle our relationship with bacteria, where the line between helpful and harmful is blurrier than you'd think. Join us in the library for a wide-ranging look at the smallest organisms with the largest claim on who we are. This event is part of our One Book, One College program on John Green's Everything Is Tuberculosis.

Democracy Commitment Coordinator Kevin Navratil hosts a discussion with Dr. Josh Fulton, faculty member of history.