Departments and Research Centers

Center for Racial Justice

The Center for Racial Justice is an innovative and cross-disciplinary hub in which social/racial justice changemakers, scholars, and students work collaboratively to develop new tools and strategies in the pursuit of racial justice.

Showing 31 - 60 of 225 results

Publication

Dean Watkins-Hayes salutes her mentor, editing the Speechifying compendium

Aug 30, 2023

Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes is honoring one of her great mentors, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole — noted Black feminist anthropologist, the first Black female president of Spelman College, former director of the Smithsonian Institution's...

Speechifying Book Cover featuring Dr. Cole

News

Meet our new faculty: Mo Torres

Aug 25, 2023

Mo Torres returns to the Ford School (he graduated with his MPP in 2015) as one of six University of Michigan Society of Fellows for a three-year appointment. He will work closely with the Center for Racial Justice. Torres is a historical...

News

The Ford School, LSA, and Wallace House Partner for Public Discourse

Aug 25, 2023

On a Monday evening in late November, throngs of University of Michigan students, faculty, staff, and Ann Arbor residents waited expectantly outside the Michigan Theater to attend the premier showing of the film, “She Said.” The movie chronicles...

News

Inaugural ASPIRE cohort enjoys rewarding summer research experience with the Youth Policy Lab

Aug 24, 2023

Summer 2023 proved to be eventful and rewarding for the inaugural Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE) cohort. The program, a collaboration between the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Spelman College, provided...

News

Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

Aug 21, 2023

A former foreign minister to Mali, a leading educational economist, a tech entrepreneur who explores indigenous technoscience are among the outstanding new faculty that add depth to the Ford School and connect student education, rigorous academic...

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

Group of PPIA students posing in front of Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy courtyard

News

CLOSUP and Poverty Solutions to examine Michigan’s approach to criminal justice reform

Jul 20, 2023

In the wake of racial justice movements across the country, the State of Michigan and some of its communities have been implementing new public safety and criminal justice policies. The perspective of Michigan's local government, public safety, and...

News

Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

Jun 29, 2023

During the Winter Term 2023, Ford School students were involved in projects with federal, state, county, city, and township governments, school districts, non-profit organizations, and commissions. They worked with the school’s numerous research...

Weill Hall entrance with "Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy" etched into the glass

News

Ford School welcomes PPIA 2023 cohort

Jun 19, 2023

The 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI) has welcomed 23 students from 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s cohort will spend seven weeks taking classes, participating in...

News

Watkins-Hayes recommended new dean of Ford School

Jun 2, 2023

Celeste M. Watkins-Hayes, interim dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a scholar known for her research on the organizational implementation of social policy and societal safety nets, has been recommended as the school’s next Joan...

News

Racial justice practitioners help policy students apply new skills

May 5, 2023

How do policy professionals apply racial justice in practice? This semester, the Ford School’s Center of Racial Justice hosted a series of workshops to explore different dimensions of justice, from antiracism and global development to community...

Racial Justice in Practice news item featured image - winter 2023

State & Hill

Catalysts for racial justice

May 3, 2023

Three inaugural Center for Racial Justice visiting fellows—Julian Brave NoiseCat, Makeda Easter, and Atinuke (Tinu) O. Adediran—reflect on the work they've pursued during their year at the Ford School. By Lillian Chen and Rebecca Cohen (MPP...

News

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

Apr 18, 2023

The Center for Racial Justice, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, and Poverty Solutions released a new report detailing Detroiters’ opinions on reparations and racial inequity in March 2023. Since its release, multiple news outlets picked up...

News

Mo Torres to join Ford School as Michigan Society of Fellows scholar

Apr 17, 2023

Sociologist Mo Torres (MPP ‘15) will join the Ford School faculty for a three-year appointment as a postdoctoral scholar with the Michigan Society of Fellows, serving as an assistant professor of public policy and sociology. He will work closely...

News

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

Mar 29, 2023

Detroiters' perceptions of the racial wealth gap, the legacy of slavery and other forms of racial inequity are strongly connected to their support for reparations and policies that address racial inequity. Overall, 63% of Detroit residents...

Detroiters Reparations Racial Inequality March 2023 policy brief image

News

We must change hearts to achieve equality - Alemu

Mar 19, 2023

What is the best way to combat racism -- change policies or change hearts? That is the question Matthew Alemu (MPP '09, PhD) contends with in an essay for Bridge Detroit. "Racism resides where society and policy have yet to tackle it directly,...

News

Poverty Solutions marks impact of action-based research in 2022

Mar 15, 2023

From informing how the U.S. Census estimates populations to reimagining land contracts as a path to homeownership and inspiring state legislation that would aid homeless youths, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan continued to tackle the...

News

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

Feb 16, 2023

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students. Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

Local Public Officials at the Ford School

News

Poverty Solutions report on police reform widely referenced in wake of recent alleged police abuse

Jan 31, 2023

Following the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis police, national attention is once again focused on the use of force by police. The Detroit Free Press, among other outlets, turned to a report written by Trevor Bechtel, Mara C....

News

Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

Jan 27, 2023

With the guidance and support of the Ford School’s research centers, graduate and undergraduate students are creating a real-life impact in a range of areas by working with external partners. The Ford School is deeply integrated with a wide range of...

News

Gun control measures associated with reduced police use of force

Jan 24, 2023

As police departments and activists look for strategies to reduce excessive use of force by police, new research from the University of Michigan shows limited data, lack of transparency and irregular implementation of reforms make it difficult to...

News

Announcing winter 2023 Ford School events

Jan 11, 2023

The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for the winter 2023 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise...

Headshots of Peter Meijer, Jelani Cobb, Jeh Johnson, Andy Levin, and Angela Harrelson

News

Puerto Rican Opinion Lab: Understanding how U.S. policies affect islanders

Jan 5, 2023

Mara Ostfeld, PhD, associate faculty director at Poverty Solutions, assistant research scientist at the Ford School of Public Policy, research director at the Center for Racial Justice, and faculty lead for the Detroit Metro Area Community Study,...

News

Lewis to moderate U-M Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture

Dec 20, 2022

The theme of the 37th University of Michigan Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture is “The (R)evolution of MLK: from Segregation to Elevation,” which will explore King’s activism after 1964, highlighting the evolution of King’s primary...

Key illustrated art for the MLK Symposium, featuring a vectorized illustration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, combined with chunks of solid color and large words strewn artfully in the background

State & Hill

Diversity, equity, and inclusion highlights

Dec 19, 2022

The University of Michigan is currently in an interim period between its strategic plans for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with the next plan set to launch in early fall 2023. The Ford School community did not pause, however, and is hard...

Photo of DeAndré Calvert addressing a room of attendees at the Ford School reunion in 2019

State & Hill

Meet interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes

Dec 19, 2022

Distinguished sociologist Celeste Watkins-Hayes works at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and institutions, with a special focus on urban poverty and race, class, and gender studies. She’s particularly interested in the lived...

News

Making the case for public policy education

Dec 14, 2022

In an event on December 5, 2022, Ford School interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes told a group of Capitol Hill staffers and other DC professionals that a public policy education can lead to community impact. “I'm a firm believer in the idea that...

Photo of Hardy Vieux, Maria Cancian, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and Trevor Brown posed in front of a screen with a slide that says "Public Policy Panel for Prospective Policy Makers"

News

Students find inspiration from racial justice changemakers

Dec 7, 2022

In October 2022, students from the Ford School and members of the greater University of Michigan community gathered together to hear “Racial Justice Changemakers”—social justice leaders, artists, and advocates—share their diverse journeys into...

Masterclass in Activism panelists' Brar, Bass, and Wyatt conversing together

News

Ostfeld appointed research director of the Center for Racial Justice

Dec 5, 2022

Political scientist Dr. Mara Celicia Ostfeld has been named the inaugural research director of the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. In this role, Ostfeld will lead the development of the...

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

News

Ford School faculty flex expertise in analysis of midterm elections

Nov 11, 2022

Leading up to and following the midterm elections, Ford School faculty provided their expertise on pertinent issues, ranging from redistricting to the economy to voter priorities. Justin Wolfers discussed the logic behind betting on elections in...