Listening for the Long Haul: Oral History and Becoming Historians of Our Own Lives
When
Mar 4, 2026
3:30pm–6:00pm
Cost
Free. Registration is required.
Hybrid: In-person & Livestreamed via YouTube
LAS Distinguished Professor Talk featuring Jennifer Brier
This event is presented by UIC's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will bestow upon Illinois Humanities Board Member Jennifer Brier the Distinguished Professor Award!
Afterwards, Jennifer Brier will talk about her 30+ years of experience as an oral historian, which focused mostly on talking with and listening to people living with HIV and Long COVID.
Professor Brier will introduce listeningforthelonghaul.org, a Long COVID Oral History Project website that she and her team recently launched. The audience will hear examples of the narratives collected from people living with Long COVID.
A reception will follow the award ceremony and talk.
About Jennifer Brier
Jennifer Brier is a professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and History at UIC. She is the author of Infectious Ideas: U.S. Political Response to the AIDS Crisis (UNC, 2009) and is the founder of History Moves. This public history project seeks to make people historians of their own lives.
Professor Brier has curated numerous historical exhibitions, including Out in Chicago for the Chicago History Museum and "I’m Still Surviving," a transmedia living women’s history of HIV/AIDS. In 2026, History Moves launched "Listening for the Long Haul: A Long COVID Oral History Project" in partnership with Brooklyn-based Long COVID Justice.
Professor Brier has received funding from the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities Without Walls Consortium, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation.
Schedule:
- Award Ceremony and Talk: 3:30 - 5:00 PM
- Reception: 5:00 - 6:00 PM
For more information about this event, visit las.uic.edu, email LASEvents@uic.edu, or call (312) 355-0646.