Haman Cross III and the Out of Eden Walk-Chicago Project

In the Chicago Tribune, Haman Cross III, artist and instructor in the Continuing Studies program is featured for his contributions with the Out of Eden Walk-Chicago project. Initiated in January 2013 by Paul Salopek, Out of Eden Walk is a 21,000-mile trip that explores “experiencing the news as a form of pilgrimage.” Beginning in Herto Bouri, Ethiopia, Salopek crossed the Red Sea into east Asia and continues to travel by foot through central and south Asia. His final destination is Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America. Salopek’s odyssey is a retracing of the migration of homo sapiens out of Africa during the Stone Age. 

In Chicago, Cross engages his students with multiple community walks varying from Pilsen, Logan Square, and North Lawndale to foster insightful experiences of learning about the natural and built environment. In the article, he explains the outcomes of this initiative as “It helped me reframe imagined boundaries and perceptions and redefine my ideas of belonging and community...It helped me realize that we all carry home within ourselves, in strong but unseen connections to our shared past and future.” 

Throughout their meditative and artistic pilgrimages in Chicago’s neighborhoods, students in Cross’ Art and Change on the West Side course will produce multimedia projects such as interviews, writing reports, videos, and photographs. In collaboration with Esri, a digital mapping company, students' immersive experiences seek to consider the collective and individual ideas of home. On October 31, Cross and his students will immerse themselves in neighborhoods on the far South Side.