Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Events

February 6, 2018 - 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM ET

In this panel session, we will hear from LGBTQIA+ teens in our community. They will bravely share their stories and talk about what they need from us.

February 6, 2018 - 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM ET

Discussants

Rita Chin, Professor of History

Kristin Dickinson, Assistant Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures

Damani Partridge, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Afroamerican and African Studies

In 2010, the leaders of Germany, Britain, and France each declared that multiculturalism had failed in their countries. Over the past decade, a growing consensus in Europe has voiced similar decrees. But what do these ominous proclamations, from across the political spectrum, mean? From the influx of immigrants in the 1950s to contemporary worries about refugees and terrorism, "The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Europe" examines the historical development of multiculturalism on the Continent. Rita Chin argues that there were few efforts to institute state-sponsored policies of multiculturalism, and those that emerged were pronounced failures virtually from their inception. She shows that today's crisis of support for cultural pluralism isn't new but actually has its roots in the 1980s.

Chin looks at the touchstones of European multiculturalism, from the urgent need for laborers after World War II to the public furor over the publication of "The Satanic Verses" and the question of French girls wearing headscarves to school. While many Muslim immigrants had lived in Europe for decades, in the 1980s they came to be defined by their religion and the public's preoccupation with gender relations. Acceptance of sexual equality became the critical gauge of Muslims' compatibility with Western values. The convergence of left and right around the defense of such personal freedoms against a putatively illiberal Islam has threatened to undermine commitment to pluralism as a core ideal. Chin contends that renouncing the principles of diversity brings social costs, particularly for the left, and she considers how Europe might construct an effective political engagement with its varied population.

Challenging the mounting opposition to a diverse society, "The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Europe" presents a historical investigation into one continent's troubled relationship with cultural difference.

Event Accessibility: Ramp and elevator access at the E. Washington Street entrance (by the loading dock). There are accessible restrooms on the south end of Lane Hall, on each floor of the building. A gender neutral restroom is available on the first floor.

February 5, 2018 - 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM ET

Join us as historian Douglas Lewis (Attorney/Director, University of Michigan Student Legal Services) shares stories about the courageous contributions of Blacks in shaping the West. His interactive presentation and larger than life stories will enlighten and inspire us all.

February 5, 2018 - 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM ET

Please join us in welcoming Pidgeon Pagonis (pronouns: they/them) to campus. Pidgeon will be opening the 3rd Annual LGBTQ Health and Wellness Week on Monday, February 5th in the Educational Conference Center in the School of Social Work Building.

Pidgeon (Chicago, IL) is an intersex activist, educator, and filmmaker. They are a leader in the intersex movement’s fight for bodily autonomy and justice. Their goal is to deconstruct the dangerous myths that lead to violations of intersex people’s human rights, including common, irreversible medical procedures performed without consent to make bodies conform to binary sex stereotypes.

Pidgeon has a decade’s worth of experience giving talks and facilitating intersex workshops around the globe. In 2015, they received the LGBT Champion of Change Award from the White House. They can be seen on the cover of National Geographic’s January 2017 issue titled, "Gender Revolution". This past fall, they co-led the #LurieEndSurgery protest outside of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago on Intersex Awareness Day.

This event is free and open to the public.

February 3, 2018 - 9:30 PM to February 4, 2018 1:00 AM ET

A closing night celebration of No Safety Net

Having important, often tough, and constructive conversations is worth celebrating. And after three weeks of No Safety Net, with over 20 performances and many community dialogues and workshops, we all deserve a little self-care. Join us for a relaxed closing night celebration featuring DJs from Detroit’s Seraphine Collective, appearances by No Safety Net artists, mixing and mingling, snacks, and a cash bar. Ages 18+. Free entry with a No Safety Net ticket stub, or $5 cover; cash bar.

February 3, 2018 - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM ET

In the last five years, the visibility of transgender people has increased dramatically. From Laverne Cox's meteoric rise to fame portraying a transgender inmate on "Orange is the New Black" to the high profile gender transition of athlete and television personality Caitlyn Jenner, we've entered into a moment where gender identity is at the forefront of our cultural conversation. This combined lecture and panel will provide a basic primer on preferred language around gender identity, and explore the lived experiences of transgender people in our community.

In collaboration with the U-M Spectrum Center's "My Voice" program, which provides panels of trained LGBTQ+ speakers to share their personal stories with audiences. My Voice panels provide information about LGBTQ+ from personal experiences and facilitate vibrant discussions about topics of attractionality, sexuality, and gender.

Saturday Night Community Dialogues

Post-Performance

UMS will invite a panel of community leaders, thinkers, and activists to engage with audience members around the themes of each performance. The floor will be open to panelists and audience members alike to reflect on, discuss, analyze, and respond to the performance they've just experienced. Panelists to be announced.

February 2, 2018 - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET

This workshop introduces principles and practices for thoughtfully engaging with communities, including motivations, impact of social identities, and strategies for engaging in reciprocal, ethical, and respectful ways. This interactive session engages participants through small and large group activities and discussion, applying principles for effective community engagement to the practice of social work. Offered by Edward Ginsberg Center staff, in partnership with the SSW Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

RSVP here »

January 31, 2018 - 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM ET

Written and performed by Becca Blackwell
Directed by and developed with Ellie Heyman

"The audience emerged from the theater with a greater awareness of a sociocultural transformation underway… from confusion to denial, to reconciliation to who-the-****-cares-let-the- love-in…" (Bomb Magazine)

Part classic standup comedy special, part confessional memoir, and part performance art, They, Themself and Schmerm is Becca Blackwell's disturbingly hilarious personal tale detailing the tragicomic transitions in life, family, sex, and gender while asking what it means to be truly authentic. A New York-based trans actor, performer, and writer, Becca exists between genders and works collaboratively with playwrights and directors to expand our sense of personhood and the body through performance.

Contains adult language and frank discussion of gender and sexuality.

This performance is part of UMS's No Safety Net theater festival - a three-week look at works of theater that embrace contemporary social issues. Details available at ums.org/NoSafetyNet.

Additional Dates:

Wednesday, January 31 // 7:30 pm

Thursday, February 1 // 7:30 pm

Friday, February 2 // 8 pm

Saturday, February 3 // 8 pm

Watch Excerpts from They, Themself and Schmerm.
 

January 30, 2018 - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET

Panel of experts will discuss their experiences in navigating their LGBTQ identities in the academia. Participants will also be given strategies. 

Registration is required: https://secure.rackham.umich.edu/wsEvents/wsreg.php?ws_id=472

January 29, 2018 - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET

The SSW DEI Office will be hosting a movie showing to celebrate MLK Day and the upcoming Black History Month. We will be showing the documentary I am Not Your Negro which explores the history of racism in the United States through James Baldwin's recollections of civil rights leaders and his personal observations of American history. Food will be provided.

RSVP here »

January 27, 2018 - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET

This workshop introduces principles and practices for thoughtfully engaging with communities, including motivations, impact of social identities, and strategies for engaging in reciprocal, ethical, and respectful ways. This interactive session engages participants through small and large group activities and discussion, applying principles for effective community engagement to the practice of social work. Offered by Edward Ginsberg Center staff, in partnership with the SSW Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

RSVP here »

January 26, 2018 - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET

Detroit transgender and gender nonconforming communities are leading a movement to demand safety, opportunity, and access to health and wellness services. This panel will discuss the work being done as part of that movement at the Ruth Ellis Center, a youth social services agency that serves LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness and residential instability. Speakers will include leaders from the Ruth Ellis community, as well as members of the medical and behavioral health teams. This event is part of the University's annual MLK Symposium.

Panelists

Amara Marley

Brandi Smith

Lance Hicks, MSW 

Tyffanie Walton, EIS

Moderator

​Maureen Connolly, MD
Department of Pediatrics
Henry Ford Health System

Venue Accessibility

Accessible entrance with power doors at South side, near the circle drive. Take elevator to 2nd floor. A gender neutral restroom is located on the 3rd floor, room #343T.

Questions? Contact [email protected]

January 25, 2018 - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET

Andy Horning will be speaking about White Fragility, and how a focus on our own process can lead to better more effective steps to undoing racism. A 1997 graduate of the School of Social Work, Andy Horning is a therapist in private practice in Boulder, Colorado. He is on the faculty of the Hoffman Institute, a personal growth retreat site in California and is also the founder and host of Elephant Talk, a podcast on courageous conversation in relationships. Lunch will be provided.

RSVP Here »

January 23, 2018 - 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM ET

In the last few months a series of “culture wars” have been ignited across the country. Activists from all points of the political spectrum, even the President of the United States himself, are turning to beloved cultural objects to stake a claim for their differing beliefs in a politically fraught moment. Black athletes are taking a knee. Anti-immigration voters are rallying for a wall. Long-standing Confederate monuments are coming down.

What is at stake in the ways we understand culture and cultural conflict? High Stakes Culture is a new series, presented by the Institute for the Humanities and the Humanities Collaboratory, that brings humanities perspectives to bear on current debates. Join us as we ask: How and why does culture matter so much now?

Join the conversation as humanities scholars Angela Dillard (Afroamerican and African studies and Residential College), Matthew Countryman (history and American culture), Mark Clague (music), and Kristin Hass (American culture) tackle these questions and others you might have about high stakesculture now.

When did sports and patriotism become so deeply linked?
Has the flag always been viewed as sacred and purely a symbol of the armed forces?
Where did the national anthem come from, and have people always stood when it is played?
Who gets to decide what symbols deserve respect and what counts as a gesture of respect?

January 23, 2018 - 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM ET

How has the modern conservative movement thrived in spite of the lack of harmony among its constituent members? What, and who, holds together its large corporate interests, small-government libertarians, social and racial traditionalists, and evangelical Christians?

In his new book, Raised Right: Fatherhood in Modern American Conservatism (Stanford University Press, 2017), Jeffrey R. Dudas, pursues these questions through a cultural study of three iconic conservative figures: National Review editor William F. Buckley, Jr., President Ronald Reagan, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Examining their papers, writings, and rhetoric, Dudas identifies what he terms a "paternal rights discourse"—the arguments about fatherhood and rights that permeate their personal lives and political visions.

For each, paternal discipline was crucial to producing autonomous citizens worthy and capable of self-governance. This paternalist logic is the cohesive agent for an entire conservative movement, uniting its celebration of "founding fathers," past and present, constitutional and biological. Yet this discourse produces a paradox: When do authoritative fathers transfer their rights to these well-raised citizens? This duality propels conservative politics forward with unruly results. The mythology of these American fathers gives conservatives something, and someone, to believe in—and therein lies its timeless appeal.

Jeffrey R. Dudas is Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliate Faculty of American Studies at the University of Connecticut. He specializes in the areas of American law, politics, and culture and focuses, in particular, on the many facets of the American politics of rights.

Cosponsored by the Department of Sociology, Department of Women's Studies, and History Department

Event Accessibility: Ramp and elevator access at the E. Washington Street entrance (by the loading dock). Power doors are at every accessible entrance. Gender neutral restroom on 1st floor. Questions? Contact [email protected]

Book sales provided by Common Language Bookstore

January 19, 2018 - 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET

Celebrate People’s History
Curated by Josh MacPhee
Exhibition Dates: January 19 - February 25, 2018

The Celebrate People’s History (CPH) posters are rooted in the do-it-yourself tradition of mass-produced and distributed political propaganda. They are detourned to embody principles of democracy, inclusion, and group participation in the writing and interpretation of history. In dark times, it’s rare that a political poster is celebratory, and when it is, it almost always focuses on a small canon of male individuals: MLK, Ghandi, Che, or Mandela. Rather than create another exclusive set of heroes, curator Josh MacPhee decided to generate a diverse set of posters that bring to life successful moments in the history of social justice struggles. To that end, MacPhee asked artists and designers to find events, groups, and people who have moved the collective struggle of humanity forward in order to create a more equitable and just world. The resulting posters tell stories from the subjective position of the artists, and are often the stories of underdogs, those written out of history. The goal of the project is not to tell a definitive history, but to suggest a new relationship to the past.

Today the CPH posters grace the walls of dorm rooms, apartments, community centers, classrooms, and city streets. 115 different designs have been printed in the past 20 years, adding up to over 300,000 total posters. Although MacPhee has organized and funded the posters himself, they have always been a collective project. Over one hundred artists and writers have created posters, multiple printshops have done the printing, dozens of people have run around at night pasting them on the street, and thousands have helped distribute them around the world.

The Celebrate People’s History Poster Series has been organized and curated by Josh MacPhee since 1998.

January 19, 2018 - 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET

This interdisciplinary mini-conference will focus on racial inequality as it manifests in relation to the lived experiences of black Americans. Throughout the day, panelists will discuss the criminal justice system and state violence against black people, economic inequality and immobility, inequities in healthcare and education, and issues pertaining to race and the environment. Registration is required. The event is free and open to the public.

RSVP here »

January 18, 2018 - 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET

Drawing from her recent book, Andrea Ritchie examines how Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color experience racial profiling, police brutality, and immigration enforcement. Placing stories of individual women—such as Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, Dajerria Becton, Monica Jones, and Mya Hall—in the broader context of the twin epidemics of police violence and mass incarceration, Ritchie documents the evolution of movements centering women’s experiences of policing and demands a radical rethinking of our visions of safety and the means we devote to achieving it.

Andrea Ritchie, J.D., is a Black lesbian immigrant whose writing, litigation, and advocacy has focused on policing of women and LGBT people of color for the past two decades. She is currently Researcher in Residence on Race, Gender Sexuality and Criminal Justice at the Barnard Center for Research on Women’s Social Justice Institute, and was a 2014 Senior Soros Justice Fellow. She is the author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color (Beacon Press, 2017), co-author of Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women (African American Policy Forum, July 2015), and Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States (Beacon Press, 2011). Andrea is also an experienced litigator, policy analyst and advocate. Follow her on Twitter: @dreanyc12

Presented with the Departments of Political Science and Women's Studies

January 18, 2018 - 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET

This workshop introduces principles and practices for thoughtfully engaging with communities, including motivations, impact of social identities, and strategies for engaging in reciprocal, ethical, and respectful ways. This interactive session engages participants through small and large group activities and discussion, applying principles for effective community engagement to the practice of social work. Offered by Edward Ginsberg Center staff, in partnership with the SSW Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Food will be provided.

RSVP here »

January 18, 2018 - 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM ET

Macarthur “Genius” Fellow Claudia Rankine and dramaturg P. Carl explore ways that contemporary theater and performance can catalyze and promote social justice in America. Rankine and Carl are currently collaborating on the upcoming world premiere of Rankine’s play The White Card. Claudia Rankine is the author of five collections of poetry, including Citizen: An American Lyric and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely; two plays, including Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue; and numerous video collaborations. She is the editor of several anthologies, including The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind. Rankine is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and teaches at Yale University as the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry. P. Carl is the Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Emerson College and a writer and lecturer on theater, gender, and inclusive practices. He is the former director of HowlRound Theatre Commons and the recipient of the 2017 Art of Change Fellowship from the Ford Foundation.

This Penny Stamps Speaker Series event is the keynote event for No Safety Net, a series by UMS.

Co-presented by the University Musical Society.

January 15, 2018 - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET

On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech "Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence." Exactly one year later, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had been supporting striking sanitation workers. The last year of King's life marked a distinctive period in his career as he allied himself with a broad array of initiatives linking civil rights with antiwar, labor, and antipoverty campaigns. This panel will consider the legacy of that year, stretching from the social justice movements of the late 1960s to causes today such as Black Lives Matter, immigrant rights, and attempts to reverse the growing gap of socioeconomic inequality.

Featuring:

Ruth Feldstein, Rutgers University-Newark

Monica Muñoz Martinez, Brown University

Brenda Tindal, Detroit Historical Society

Ruth Feldstein is professor of history and American studies at Rutgers University-Newark. She is the author of several books and articles, most recently the award-winning book, How It Feels To Be Free: Black Women Entertainers and the Civil Rights Movement; she is also associate producer of How It Feels to Be Free, a forthcoming documentary based on this book. Feldstein's scholarship explores relationships between race and gender relations, and between performance and politics; she works to tell the stories of women whose voices have not been heard, and who are seldom taken seriously as thinkers and activists.

Monica Muñoz Martinez, Carnegie Fellow 2017-2019, received her PhD in American studies from Yale University. At Brown University she offers courses in Latinx studies, immigration, histories of violence, histories of policing, and public memory in US History. Her research has been funded by the Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, the Brown University Office of Vice President of Research, and the Texas State Historical Association. Her first manuscript, The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Texas Borderlands, is under contract with Harvard University Press. She is a faculty fellow at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. Martinez is the primary investigator for Mapping Violence, a digital project that documents histories of racial violence in Texas.

Public historian, archivist, curator, and educator Brenda Tindal joined the Detroit Historical Society as director of education in December 2017. She is the former staff historian and senior vice president of research and collections at Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, NC. In 2005, she was part of the curatorial team that developed Courage: The Carolina Story that Changed America, an exhibit on the region's role in the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which won the National Award for Museum Service-the nation's highest honor awarded to museums and libraries. Tindal recently co-curated the museum's K(NO)W Justice K(NO)W Peace-a rapid-response exhibit that explores the historical roots of the distrust between police and community, tells the human stories beyond the headlines, and engages viewers in creating constructive solutions. Before joining the Levine Museum of the New South in 2015 as staff historian, Tindal was a visiting lecturer in the Department of History and Honors College at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, where she taught a broad range of courses in comparative U.S. and South African history, southern history, African American history, and visual and material culture. A sought after social commentator, convener, and speaker, Tindal has been featured on C-SPAN, the Knight Foundation's Media Learning Seminar, Happenings Magazine, NPR, Pride Magazine, NBC-Today, The Charlotte Observer, and many other local and national news and media outlets.

Free and open to the public.

This event made possible by the Kalt Fund for African American and African History, along with the Department of History and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.

January 15, 2018 - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET

Dean Lynn Videka and Associate Professor Robert Ortega are panelists at the athletic department MLK Town Hall. Sociologist and civil rights activist, Dr. Harry Edwards is the keynote speaker. Edwards has a long and storied history of activism focused upon developments at the interface of sport, race, and society. He may be best known as the architect of the Black Power Salute protest by athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

This town hall and panel discussion will focus on tangible ways in which we can move from protests to progress and how athletes can best use their platforms to help shape change.

January 15, 2018 - 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM ET

Keynote: Hill Harper

Award-winning actor, best-selling author and philanthropist Hill Harper will deliver the keynote address for the 2018 MLK Symposium Lecture. There will be a special guest performance by Aisha Fukushima, singer, public speaker, educator and founder of RAPtivism, a hip-hop centric project that focuses on global efforts for freedom and justice. The event is sponsored by The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with support from the William K. McInally Memorial Lecture Fund, and the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, a unit under the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. For more information about the 2018 MLK Symposium, visit http://oami.umich.edu/um-mlk-symposium/.