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October 15, 2026

Flourishing in Action: The Politics of Social Justice

Join us for the first Flourishing in Action event, co-hosted with our ENGAGE Office. The event will feature panelists Justin Hodge, Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, and Victoria Genetin.

October 16, 2026

2026 Michigan Social Work Homecoming and Reunion

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October 16, 2026

2026 Homecoming Dessert & Networking Social

The SSW community is invited to join us for a Networking & Dessert Social during Homecoming! At this event, attendees will have an opportunity to connect with alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students while enjoying some yummy treats. We hope you can join us!

October 17, 2026

Staff Art Meetup | UMS Presents: Lupita Infante y su Mariachi

Interested in attending a concert with a small group of like-minded staff? Attendees will receive free tickets to the performance and Michigan Arts Festival swag!

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Artwork at the SSW

Memento

Ruth Weisberg (American) , b. 1940

1997
Lithograph
99.11

SSWB 2823

Ruth Weisberg relies on her knowledge of art and art history (UM Stamps BFA 1963 and MA 1965; Academia di Belle Arti, Perugia, Italy; Stanley William Hayter's printmaking Atelier 17) for inspiration and source material. She quotes works by Venetian painters, French Impressionists, and historical photographs. She is not a copyist, however, creating new glosses on traditional themes which encourage us to reconsider the past and what we can learn from it now. Weisberg inserts contemporary details, images of family members, and icons that modify the meaning of the original. History, memory, beliefs, and heritage are central to Weisberg’s career. She believes they can be deployed to create new kinds of imagination for viewers in which they can “project their own struggles, stories, and desires.”

Memento, a lithograph based on a pre-Holocaust class picture of Jewish students in Germany does this. It is redolent of Holocaust stories of loss and survival, of the mystery of missing family members. We see a happy group of students but know their tragic future from our past. Weisberg’s lithograph shows a soft image lifted out of the specific details of the original photograph. We do not see the particular architectural setting but a non-descript smudgy background that casts a poignant atmosphere around the students. Weisberg has given flowers to all students who hold them in their hands. By minimizing the details and specificity, Weisberg allows the print to be a warning to our current situation. The title, Memento comes from Latin and is literally ‘remember!’ the imperative of meminisse, an injunction not to repeat the inhumane acts of the past.