Ford School

Jeffrey Sachs is one of the world's most influential development economists. He is the author of 'Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet' (2008) and 'The End of Poverty,' his seminal 2005 prescription for ending extreme poverty in the world by 2025.

Lecture by Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Paul Krugman is an economist and prolific writer who divides his energies among many pursuits: he is professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, a centenary professor at the London School of Economics, and, perhaps, his best-known job, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was recently honored for his work on global trade patterns by winning the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

This talk will show how children’s chances of climbing the income ladder vary across neighborhoods, analyze the sources of racial disparities in intergenerational mobility, and discuss the role of higher education in creating greater income mobility. 

What are the ramifications of partisan drawn districts that favor one party over another? Is there a better and fairer way to do this? What are the alternatives? This presentation, hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area, will explore how legislative lines are drawn in Michigan, who draws them and why it is a critically important question for those concerned about fair representation.  

Juan R.I. Cole, Professor of Middle East and South Asian History, University of Michigan. Professor Cole has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Since the 2002 launch of his weblog, 'Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion,' Cole has become a prominent media commentator and has published political writings in The Guardian, the San Jose Mercury News, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Nation.

How is it possible that the United States, which spends more than any other nation on health care and insurance, now has a population markedly less healthy than those of many other nations? Sociologist and public health expert James S. House calls for a complete reorientation of how we think about health.

A presentation and Q&A on the Iran deal featuring two White House officials, including one of the Administration's negotiators.From the speakers: This presentation will lay out the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated between six major world powers and Iran after nearly two years of highly technical and painstaking sessions. Presenters include Paul Irwin, one of the negotiators, who will detail what the deal does and how it addresses international concerns about Iran's nuclear program, and Matt Nosanchuk, Associate Director for Public Engagement and Liaison to the American Jewish Community and on International Issues, and a native Detroiter.

Join us for a book talk with Hendrik Meijer about Arthur Vandenberg, a Republican Senator from Grand Rapids, MI. The event is co-sponsored by the Bentley Library, Ford Library, and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

This one-day symposium aims to grapple with this growing controversy, and explore ways forward for patents and patent systems that maximizes the public interest and social justice. The day will end with a book talk and reception celebrating the publication of Shobita Parthasarathy’s Patent Politics: Life Forms, Markets, and the Public Interest in the United States and Europe (University of Chicago Press, 2017). 

Homecoming is October 9-11! The Ford School invites you to spend Friday afternoon with fellow alumni at Weill Hall. 

Consideration of the the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement has been postponed until after the election, when it may come up for a vote in Congress. Ford School Professor Alan Deardorff will moderate this two-person panel on the pros and cons of the TPP.