Past Events Archive

Join Jonathan Van Ness for a live recording of his podcast "Getting Curious," as he comes to University of Michigan to record the episode Getting Out the Vote. A hairstylist by trade turned personality, writer, and comedian, Van Ness will train his sharp wit on voter engagement efforts in a lively and entertaining conversation that will feature U-M scholars and students and prominent public officials. The event is exclusively for the University of Michigan community and will include voices from across campus.

The White House is arguably the most important single organization in U.S. democracy. Why, then, is it often disorganized, inefficient, and scandal-prone? What can be done to make it more effective? To answer these questions, Prof. Kenneth Lowande and Christopher P. Liddell, a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, engage in a conversation that bridges research and practice.

Joe Walsh, Former Tea-Party Congressional Representative (R-IL) and gun-rights supporter, and Fred Guttenberg, a businessman-turned-activist following his daughter’s murder in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, once had a vitriolic relationship on Twitter (now X) and national networks. Recognizing the damage of such divisive posturing, Walsh and Guttenberg began to forge a friendship. Join us to hear how two high-profile advocates from opposite ends of the political spectrum found common ground on contentious issues through respect, understanding, and a willingness to listen and learn.

Through the theme of Climate Civics, the 2024 Michigan Climate Summit will explore the intersections between civic engagement, social justice, and climate action. Goals of this year's gathering include depicting the interlocking crises of democracy and climate justice, empowering lifelong climate voters, and inspiring and sustaining civic engagement in our communities. Keynote speakers include author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Five candidates. One winner. You decide who survives.

On the brink of a presidential election that people on both sides have called the most consequential in history, Belgium’s extraordinary Ontroerend Goed offers a fun and thought-provoking, examination of free will and politics that puts electronic voting devices — and the candidates’ fates — directly into the hands of audience members.

The Ginsberg Center, Michigan Community Scholars Program, and the Washtenaw Regional Organizing Coalition (WeROC) are collaborating to develop a series of campus/community intergenerational dialogues around voting this fall. The goal of these nonpartisan dialogues is to build understanding across generations (and other demographic groups) around attitudes toward voting and other forms of civic engagement. (Image: Unseen Histories on Unsplash)

The University of Michigan is an institution with diverse communities, interests and opinions. This fall, the Faculty Senate Office, supported by Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement, the Michigan in Washington (MIW) program, and the Ginsberg Center, is launching the series – Political Speech and the Public Square – to provide a forum for members of the U-M community to present informed, fact-based perspectives, and to listen to and learn from each other. In his essay, “Education as a Space to Change Your Mind,” philosopher Troy Jollimore reminds us of Socrates’ commitment to open-mindedness: “It requires that we work toward developing a sense of the world as a vast and complex place that we can, and ought to, continue to learn about for the rest of our lives.”

Universities are meant to be havens for the practice of democracy, laboratories for the study of democracy, and vanguards for the advancement of democracy. Recent controversial events on university campuses and disturbing wider trends toward democratic backsliding raise the question of how democracy and the university interact with unprecedented urgency. This roundtable gathers leaders from centers for the study of democracy around the nation to discuss how universities can best live up to their democratic commitments – locally, nationally, and globally.

The Department of Women’s & Gender Studies and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan proudly present Melissa Harris-Perry as the 2024 Vivian R. Shaw Lecturer.

Join the Ford Presidential Foundation and our partners, The Carter Center, More Perfect, and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at University of Michigan, as we examine the inner workings of the election process as well as expectations for staff conduct around elections. This series has been developed in partnership with Principles for Trusted Elections and More Perfect's Sustainable Democracy Goals.