State & Hill spring 2023

Ford School writing instructor Molly Spencer's poetry collection, Invitatory, was selected as a 2022 New Measure Poetry Prize Winner. It is Spencer's third collection, joining If the House (University of Wisconsin Press, 2019) and Hinge (SIU Press,...

By Daniel Rivkin Akiho Nagano (MPP '23) and Mayu Ueno (MPP '24) were speaking in a corridor at Weill Hall, sharing thoughts about past jobs, future jobs, and their families. Roaming the halls, you can hear similar conversations, in their case in...

Here are just a few of the international learning opportunities that Ford School undergraduate and graduate students have undertaken since 2020—travel courses, research projects, internships, externships, and simulations—all preparing students for...

Lessons in restorative justice By Miriam Wasserman In spring 2019, Aprisal Malale (MPP '20) found himself at the side of an unmarked grave in Guatemala.  Malale, along with Towsley Policymaker in Residence Hardy Vieux (MPP/JD '97), and...

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...

Ostfeld partners with the University of Puerto Rico to build social science infrastructure By Miriam Wasserman To say that Puerto Rico has faced profound and dramatic challenges over the past two decades is an understatement. Even before...

City of Flint and CLOSUP work toward transparency in municipal financial reporting By Daniel Rivkin When City of Flint CFO Rob Widigan looks at his required annual financial reporting to the state of Michigan, he sighs. His department needs to...

David Fauri leaves a legacy at the Ford School By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09) "What do you most personally want to influence?" That's what David Fauri (MPA '64), a retired professor of social work and policy at Virginia Commonwealth University,...

Betsey Stevenson uses the tools of her trade to empower people and improve lives By Daniel Rivkin An early March ice storm in Michigan caused widespread power outages and disruptions for hundreds of thousands of households. Families had to...

"The Republicans are just in a really difficult situation, because their margin is so small and this bloc is so determined. They want to be able to stymie things if things are not going their way. This is an effort to wield as much power as they can...

For many Fordies, admissions director Beth Soboleski (MPP '89) was the first person they met at Michigan. Beth is retiring this spring after 20 years of recruiting and welcoming new students at the Ford School. State & Hill sat down with her on...

To address our most pressing global challenges, we need professionals with the knowledge and skills to analyze complex problems, build policy coalitions, and advocate effectively" John Ciorciari The Ford School's two internationally-focused...

The FBI does have national security concerns about [TikTok]. Its parent company is controlled by the Chinese government…. It gives them the ability to control the recommendation algorithm, which allows them to manipulate content and—if they want...

Deans on the Hill The Ford School joined U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, then-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, to bring together policy deans Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Trevor Brown (Ohio State), and Maria Cancian (Georgetown) to talk to...

Alan Miller (MPP '74) was a visiting adjunct professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at U-M during the fall semester, teaching a half semester course on adapting to climate change. Steven Mehlman (MPP/JD '80) retired at the end...

Dominique Adams-Santos, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and PhD candidate Kayonne Christy contributed a chapter, "Narratives in Context: Locating Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Health Experiences," to The Routledge Companion to...

A fractured superpower  States have driven important federal policy changes around voting, civil and reproductive rights, environmental protections, and more. What happens when states take it upon themselves to experiment with energy, trade, and...