Abstract This event begins with a guided bus tour of the City of Detroit, to provide a first hand look at areas of the city that demonstrate the wide range of neighborhood experiences, from those in stress to those already undergoing extensive revitalization. After the tour, the panel discussion will focus on the Detroit Works Project, and the role of community groups in efforts to revitalize the city.
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Betty Ford Classroom
Abstract Over the past two decades, many urban school districts have restructured large, traditional high schools into smaller learning communities. The idea behind this movement is that small schools provide a more personalized learning environment that allows teachers to more effectively address the multi-faceted needs of disadvantaged students. Despite mixed evidence on the efficacy of such reforms in practice, Detroit and other high-poverty districts have pressed forward with the creation of smaller high schools.
Sujatha Jesudason is the founder and Executive Director of Generations Ahead (http://www.generations- ahead.org/), an organization that seeks to advance a social justice perspective in the public policy debates on genetic technologies. She began working at the intersection of race, reproduction, and genetics at the Center for Genetics and Society in 2004, and has been active as an organizer, advocate, and researcher in communities of color and on women's liberation issues for over 19 years.
For-profit colleges are under fire. Critics point to students' low earnings and high debt loads as evidence that these schools do not provide a quality education. Defenders of the sector note that the schools serve a population of low-skilled, low-income students that traditional colleges ignore. Congress is now considering legislation that would bar from the federal aid programs any schools whose graduates' earnings fall below a minimum threshold.
Abstract: This paper shows that the mortgage credit boom has significantly affected urban and school racial segregation from 1995 to 2007. We develop a model of urban segregation with credit constraints that shows that easier credit can either increase or decrease segregation, depending on the race of the marginal consumer who benefits from the expansion of credit. We then use school demographics from 1995 to 2007, matched to a national comprehensive dataset of mortgage originations, to document the link between credit supply and schools' racial demographics.
David R. Harris is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He leads the Office of Human Services Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). About the Lecture Harris shares reflections from his six months as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy.
Free and open to the public. Panelists: Moderator: Jeffrey D. Padden, President of Public Policy Associates, Inc. Patricia L. Caruso, Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, 2003-present; Peter Luke, Lansing correspondent for Booth Newspapers; John Proos, State Representative (R-St.
Free and open to the public. John A. Garcia is Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona and Visiting Research Professor and Director of the Resource Center for Minority Data at ICPSR. Professor Garcia's research interests include the acquisition and utilization of social capital for political engagement, coalition formation among minority communities; and the social construction of ethnic and racial identity and political involvement.
Pharmacogenomic research offers the potential benefits of personalized medicine and targeted therapies, but it also raises the risk of reinforcing racial differences and stereotypes. Will pharmacogenomics increase the importance of race in American society? This panel explores how racial concepts and categories are influencing scientific, medical, and industrial development in this arena.
Reception to follow. Immigration is increasingly changing the composition of the American population. From 1970 to 2003, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population increased from less than 5% to more than 12%. Though this dramatic increase has occurred disproportionately in a few regions, the effects of immigration are increasingly felt across the country. Alongside this rapid increase, debate regarding the effects of immigration has also ramped up.
School of Social Work, Educational Conference Center, Room 1840.
1080 S. University Street, Ann Arbor 48109
Mary Jo Bane is the Thornton Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Management and Academic Dean, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is also the Chair of the Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences (MLD) and Leadership at the Kennedy School. Prior to that she was Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This panel discussion will present a number of different approaches to urban food retail in the city of Detroit, including: a program that touches on the conventional grocery industry; a program to develop grocery sector entrepreneurs; a new model for community grocery stores; and alternative formats/vehicles for urban residents to get fresh food. Moderator: Larissa Larsen, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, the University of Michigan Panelists: Fresh Food Access Initiative
Watch video. Abstract This panel discussion will present a number of different approaches to urban food retail in the city of Detroit, including: a program that touches on the conventional grocery industry; a program to develop grocery sector entrepreneurs; a new model for community grocery stores; and alternative formats/vehicles for urban residents to get fresh food. Mo
Professor Danziger is the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Research Professor at the Population Studies Center. His research focuses on social welfare policies and on the effects of economic, demographic, and public policy changes on trends in poverty and inequality. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Director of the National Poverty Center, and Director of the Research and Training Program on Poverty and Public Policy.
Sheldon H. Danziger Professor Danziger is the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Research Professor at the Population Studies Center. His research focuses on social welfare policies and on the effects of economic, demographic, and public policy changes on trends in poverty and inequality.
The Algebra Project was founded in 1982 by a Harlem-born and Harvard-educated Civil Rights' leader, Dr. Robert P. Moses through the use of his MacArthur Fellowship award. AP's unique approach to school reform intentionally develops sustainable, student-centered models by building coalitions of stakeholders within the local communities, particularly the historically underserved population.
More low-income families now need assistance on how to find financial vehicles that will allow them to more effectively manage debt, savings and their financial lives. A recently released book edited by Rebecca M. Blank and Michael S. Barr, Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit, and Banking among Low-Income Households (Russell Sage Press, 2009) discusses the problems and suggests how to bring more low-income families into the formal financial sector by offering them better financial service products.
Abstract In developing countries, rising incomes, increased demand for more skilled labor, and government investments of considerable resources on building and equipping schools and paying teachers have contributed to some global convergence in enrollment rates and completed years of schooling but substantial education gaps persist, such as between rural and urban households and also between males and females, in some settings. To address these gaps, some governments have introduced school vouchers or cash transfers programs that are targeted to disadvantaged children.
Abstract Current and former Corrections Department leaders will discuss changes in Michigan's crime and corrections policies and how they have affected the state's prison population over time. PanelistsPatricia L.
David Deming will present his study of the implementation of an open enrollment public school choice plan in Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district (CMS) in 2002. Students were guaranteed admission to their home school but could apply to as many as 3 other public schools in the district. Where demand for slots exceeded supply, assignment was determined by randomized lottery. Deming finds significant benefits of school choice for students who come from neighborhoods that are assigned to very low performing schools.
featuring William Julius Wilson, Harvard University Keynote speaker for the Interdisciplinary Group on Poverty and Inequality conference 'Emerging Issues in Poverty and Inequality' March 6, 2009 4:00 - 5:30PM Rackham Auditorium 915 East Washington Street Ann Arbor, MI There is no admission fee for this lecture and refreshments will be provided.
Allan Stam, U-M Professor of Political Science and Faculty Associate at the Center for Political Studies, will discuss the genocide, civil war, vendetta killings and random violence that took place in Rwanda in 1994. In their recent NSF-funded work, Stam and his colleagues drew from a number of data sources, and their conclusions call into question much of the conventional wisdom about the the violence.
STPP 2009 Winter Lecture Series Tania SimoncelliScience Advisor, American Civil Liberties Union Commentator: Eve Brensike Primus, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School Co-Sponsored by the University of Michigan Life Sciences and Society Program 4:00-5:30pm in the Betty Ford Classroom (1110 Weill Hall) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Reception and booksigning to follow. Kristin Seefeldt, a Research Investigator at the Ford School and Assistant Director of the National Poverty Center, will speak from her new book, published December, 2008 by the W.E.
