Ambassador Kamissa Camara delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan International Institute's International Studies Graduation Ceremony on Thursday evening April 30, 2026, at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.
CLOSUP was established in 2001 to create a bridge between the University of Michigan and Michigan's communities. We are celebrating 25 years of CLOSUP, featuring voices of past and current directors, students, and partners.
The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan has once again earned a top-five ranking among schools of public affairs in the United States, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Lauren Parker (MPP '26) describes the structure and tone of Ford School leadership coaching sessions—sometimes led by the student, sometimes guided by the coach. She explains that you can bring questions, talk through what’s on your mind, or lean on ...
Abu Hasan Sajili (MPP/MA '26) shares a standout moment from his five leadership coaching sessions at the University of Michigan’s Ford School. Guided by his coach, he reframed leadership as asking strong questions and inviting others in—an approach t...
Lauren shares how leadership coaching at the University of Michigan’s Ford School creates space to pause and talk through strengths, leadership traits, and challenges with someone who brings deep expertise. She reflects on how that process helps stud...
Abu Hasan Sajili (MPP/MA '26) explains why leadership coaching helped connect academic learning with real-world leadership. He reflects on developing his identity as a policy leader and how coaching offers guidance—not answers—so students can build c...
Michigan State Senators Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) discuss working together in the Michigan Senate in this latest "Conversations Across Differences" discussion. Feb, 2026.
At a time when many of us are concerned about the strength of democracy in the U.S. and around the world, CLOSUP's research tells us that democracy remains strongest at the local level. Every day, in jurisdictions across the state, local officials in...
Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Wynton Marsalis in conversation reflecting on America at 250, the role of music in our culture and society, and the ways that artists help shape our future.
As a part of our Stacked Deck series, Kristin Seefeldt, faculty director of Poverty Solutions, discusses the complexities of defining poverty, and some realities we as a society need to reckon with in order to truly address inequities in access to op...
A busy life shouldn't push your goals aside. You've been working to create change. It's time to take it to the next level at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy, the Online Master of Public Affairs is here to advance your career...
This Technology Assessment Project report anticipates the social, environmental, ethical, equity, economic, and geopolitical implications of widespread adoption of advanced nuclear energy technologies, especially small modular reactors (SMRs), using ...
Samuel Bagenstos discusses recent events, such as punitive responses to mental illness and homelessness at the state and federal levels, the dramatic retrenchment of Medicaid and other support programs over the past few months, and others, that threa...
Youth Policy Lab worked with the Project AWARE team to design and implement a multifaceted assessment of the five-year initiative’s success in increasing mental health awareness, strengthening interagency collaboration, and streamlining service coord...
From the Panama Papers to China Targets, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gerard Ryle has overseen investigations that exposed how the powerful exploit opaque systems across borders — from tax havens and shell companies to international law enforcem...
Ford School professor of practice Ambassador Susan D. Page and Gerard Ryle will discuss what global investigative journalism reveals about the limits of public policy — particularly when laws fall short, enforcement fails, and bad actors innovate fas...
This inspiring fireside chat features Jennifer Granholm, former U.S. Energy Secretary and Governor of Michigan. Join us as she addresses the urgent sustainability challenges of our time, from clean energy transitions to climate change.
Join Robert Doar, the president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), one of the United States' premier public policy think tanks, for a wide-ranging conversation with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes. September, 2025.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins award-winning journalist Kara Swisher for a discussion on the state of U.S. democracy, politics, and more, at this live taping of the “On with Kara Swisher” podcast.
Since the end of World War II, the United States and Europe have been closely tied together. American security ties with Europe were a fundamental part of overall US security during the Cold War. Europe is the United States’ largest trading partner. ...
