On Thursday, March 30 at 4pm, the Center for Racial Justice invites you to attend our CRJ Visiting Fellows Spring Showcase featuring the work of our inaugural cohort of visiting fellows: sociologist and legal scholar, Dr. Atinuke (Tinu) Adediran; freelance journalist, Makeda Easter; and writer and filmmaker, Julian Brave NoiseCat. Fellows will present their racial justice catalyst projects to the U-M community, followed by remarks from U-M community members: Vikramaditya S. Khanna (U-M Law), Srimoyee Mitra (U-M Stamps), and Forrest Cox (BA '13 and U-M Ross). A post-event reception will be held in the Rebecca M. Blank Great Hall. Please register here!
Join us as we welcome Dr. Ruha Benjamin to campus to discuss her newest book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want. In this talk, Dr. Benjamin draws on the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and introduces a micro-vision of change—a way of looking at the everyday ways people are working to combat unjust systems and build alternatives to the oppressive status quo.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on creative practices for authentic community building with Holly Bass, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this workshop, we will explore the differences between activism, organizing, and culture shift work. We will explore how to build authentic relationships with those most affected by potential policy changes and those in the best position to bring about legal and social change. We will also explore how creativity and joy can guide our social justice work as individuals and collectives.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on changemaking from the inside with Gabrielle Wyatt, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this virtual workshop, we will collectively visit frameworks and strategies for affecting change as institutional insiders. Specifically, we will discuss strategies for building and sustaining multi-generational change by exploring power, structural change, and leadership.
The Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley presents a special event to discuss the future of public policy in higher education featuring Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes among other Deans of Public Policy schools.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on decolonizing development with Farah Mahesri, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this interactive 3-hour session, we will collectively explore what a decolonized space or a decolonized approach for global development actually look like. How can we structure our organizations and our programs to draw to center more liberatory practices and help us radically re-imagine global development?
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on racial equity impact assessment with Niketa Brar (MPP '15), part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners.
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.
Diversifying the teaching force could be a key step to closing student achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. In their book, Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom, Seth Gershenson, Brookings Senior Fellow Michael Hansen, and Constance Lindsay present nuanced policy recommendations to increase teacher diversity in classrooms and promote more inclusive schools.
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.
University of Michigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
Wallace House presents educator and writer for The New York Times Magazine, Linda Villarosa, as she examines racial health disparities in America and the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation.
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.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series
Come and meet the leaders of some of the top public policy schools in the country in a special event hosted by U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and sociologist Celeste Watkins-Hayes, interim dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Josh Rosenthal Education Fund Lecture
Join communities across the United States in a national conversation on China by joining us for an on-site webcast presentation by Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., former US Ambassador to Russia, China and Singapore, followed by a local panel discussion.
Watch Party: Weill Hall
Betty Ford Auditorium (Room 1110)
The Center for Racial Justice, Ford School, and Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity present Bianca Wilson, in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes on LGBTQ rights.
Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Paula Lantz discuss the devastating structural inequities exposed by the COVID pandemic—and why all policymakers must now be equipped with a toolkit for navigating pandemics.
Students, faculty, and staff: Join the entire Ford School community in celebrating the beginning of the year and welcoming both old and new faces to our community.
The final event in our COVID-19 reflections series will feature Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at CVS Health and former Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes, the Director of the Center for Racial Justice.
The second event in our COVID-19 reflections series will feature Dr. Cameron Webb, senior policy advisor for COVID-19 Equity on the White House COVID-19 Response Team, in conversation with Dr. Luke Shaefer, the director of Poverty Solutions.
Fordies: Join Students of Color in Public Policy and the Center for Racial Justice for an end-of-year celebration honoring and celebrating our graduates of all degree levels.
Join us for a special pair of discussions on foreign policy priorities and global challenges with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), facilitated by Ford School Dean Michael Barr.