Joan and Sanford Weill Hall Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams will address the challenges to American democracy, her work to guarantee voter access, and other civil rights battles facing the United States in 2024.
Democracy around the world is both robust -- two billion people will be able to cast a ballot in 2924 -- and fragile, as threats to the voting process, to the structures of democratic society, and to the voters themselves afflict many nations.
Joan and Sanford Weill Hall
Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
The Honorable Lori Lightfoot, 56th mayor of Chicago, reflects on her background and preparation for public service, the challenges she faced as mayor, and lessons about leading in crises, in conversation with Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes.
Watch live from this page
University of Michigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
Joan and Sanford Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium
(Room 1120)
The Ford School will welcome Montgomery, AL, Mayor Steven Reed to Weill Hall for an event on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Join us for an intimate conversation between two leading voices for rural prosperity as they share experiences visiting rural communities across the country, and highlight inspiring stories from within the state of Michigan.
Art & Architecture Building Auditorium (Room 2104)
Join this virtual mayors panel via livestream or in person at the Watch Party hosted at the University of Michigan's Taubman College.
This annual event brings together mayors from cities across the states of the Big Ten in a conversation around timely topics of national importance that manifest at the municipal level.
Check out the GovFin 2023 Conference in Washington DC on Empowering Governments, Modernizing Reporting on November 9, 2023. https://xbrl.us/events/govfin23/
Join us for our Fall 2023 Democracy in Crisis event, a conversation with Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent, and Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists. Their wide-ranging discussion will cover the state of democracy and the role and responsibility of the press in a democratic society, as well as how Tapper’s experience of being an anchor and correspondent informs his craft of writing fiction.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Conversations Across Differences
Join the Ford School for a Conversations Across Difference event with U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and former U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) for a conversation on the State of the Union and the Congress, civil discourse, and democratic resillience.
Michigan Public Budgeting and Finance Planning class (PubPol 715) invites you to join them for a conversation with guest speaker Robert Widigan, former CFO for the City of Flint and incoming Chief Deputy CFO of Wayne County.
Women make up over 50% of the state’s population, but just 16% of Michigan’s local chief administrative officers. The Michigan Municipal League’s 16/50 Project is transforming this leadership gap – getting more women seated in the municipal top spot in Michigan communities.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will visit campus for a special event alongside CNN Anchor Chris Wallace as part of an ongoing partnership between the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Wallace House Center for Journalists, and U-M Democracy & Debate. The hour-long fireside chat between Governor Whitmer and Wallace will focus on politics, public service, and the media.
University of Michigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
Wallace House Presents journalist and educator Jelani Cobb, in conversation with Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes to look at the historic challenges to democracy that centered around race, the impact of the media, and how this frames and informs the current moment.
Join XBRL US for a session to explore government data standards, find out how governments can create their own machine-readable financial statements, and discover what impact this legislation could have on government entities. Most importantly, discover how machine-readable data standards can benefit state and local government entities by reducing costs and increasing access to time-sensitive information for policy making.
The Center for Racial Justice proudly welcomes Angela Harrelson to the Ford School and the University of Michigan for the Masterclass in Activism. Angela Harrelson is the aunt of George Floyd, as well as the author of Lift Your Voice.
Join us for a conversation hosted at the Ford School by The Carter Center and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation that tackles how to buttress voter confidence in our democracy. Former Michigan U.S. Representatives Andy Levin (D-MI) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) and Amb (ret) Susan D. Page, Michigan Law and Ford School professor from practice and Carter Center trustee, will explore the bipartisan challenge of restoring faith in our democratic systems and highlight ways individuals can be part of the solution as we work together to uphold the standards of our democracy.
CLOSUP Lecture Series,
Policy Talks @ the Ford School
Michigan's new approach to redistricting by an independent citizens commission has now come full circle, from signature gathering for the statewide ballot initiative in 2018, to strong statewide support in that fall's election, creation of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, their work drawing new districts with extraordinary input from Michigan citizens, and now the new districts being used for the first time in the 2022 elections. Join us for a final webinar in our redistricting series, to look back at this consequential change in state policy and to review how this new approach played out this fall, including its impacts on races and election outcomes, and how it compares to experiences in other states.
A conversation between Jeffrey Minear, counselor to Chief Justice John Roberts, and the Hon. Jeffrey Sutton, chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, about the constitutional roles and responsibilities of the U.S. federal courts to American government and its democratic institutions.
This event brings together mayors from cities across the states of the Big Ten in a discussion about how leadership at the city level shapes our national approaches to some of the most pressing issues of the day.
At your polling location or local clerk's office, or by absentee ballot
Michigan will hold its primary election on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, and the Ford School strongly encourages all eligible voters to make their voices heard.
At your polling location or local clerk's office, or by absentee ballot
Michigan will hold a regular election on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, and voters may have measures or candidates on their local ballots. The Ford School strongly encourages all eligible voters to make their voices heard.
Conversations Across Differences,
Policy Talks @ the Ford School
Join us for a conversation with U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell and Liz Cheney with Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr to discuss the role of public service and collaboration beyond party lines to protect democracy under threat.
Pulitzer Prize winning historian, journalist and commentator Anne Applebaum delivers the keynote lecture of the spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series, in conversation with Dean Michael S. Barr.
Hear from Sarah Kendzior, author of Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, as part of the spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.
Join the Michigan Municipal League’s 16/50 Project for an interactive panel experience to meet the force of women leading communities in Michigan, engage with local government challenges, and learn more about the municipal management profession.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Conversations Across Differences
Join us for a special conversation with Governor Jeb Bush and Ford School Dean Michael Barr to discuss the role of public service in these extraordinary times.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Barton Gellman in conversation with Michigan Law Professor from Practice Barbara McQuade, as part of the spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.
This event will explore how individuals can impact public policy by being appointed to advisory boards and commissions specifically focusing on Ann Arbor as an example.
Weill Hall, Betty Ford Classroom (1110)
(Also available virtually)
Join to hear from TIME National Political Correspondent Molly Ball in conversation with longtime political writer Craig Gilbert to kick off the Spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.