This session will be offered virtually and is intended for SPH Staff & Faculty Members.
Session Description: Written by guest playwright and U-M alumnx Jordan Harris, this short series of plays illuminates U-M’s complicated relationship to elitism and racial inequity. Using Matthew Johnson’s book Undermining Racial Justice (a historical analysis of the admissions processes at U-M) as an entry point, the play examines how American colleges and universities–and U-M specifically–have perpetuated anti-Blackness while simultaneously benefiting from their association with inclusive values. Through a series of facilitated discussion and activities, participants will wrestle with a central question: with an understanding of our inequitable past and present, how will we imagine and pursue a racially just future?
The theatrical portion of this session deals directly with anti-Black racism in the academy and its disproportionate impacts. In this session, participants will:
- Reflect on their experience, agency, and accountability within this history/present.
- Unpack crucial disconnects between institutional rhetoric and action.
- Practice brainstorming ways to disrupt anti-Black racism in their professional practice.
How Do We Begin: A Historical Reckoning with Anti-Black Racism at U-M (Staff & Faculty Session)
Presented by U-M Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)
November 15, 2022
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Online in Zoom
Sponsored by: SPH Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Leadership team
Contact Information: Mateen Zafer; mzafer@umich.edu
Counts towards DEI continuing professional education
This session will be offered virtually and is intended for SPH Staff & Faculty Members.
Session Description: Written by guest playwright and U-M alumnx Jordan Harris, this short series of plays illuminates U-M’s complicated relationship to elitism and racial inequity. Using Matthew Johnson’s book Undermining Racial Justice (a historical analysis of the admissions processes at U-M) as an entry point, the play examines how American colleges and universities–and U-M specifically–have perpetuated anti-Blackness while simultaneously benefiting from their association with inclusive values. Through a series of facilitated discussion and activities, participants will wrestle with a central question: with an understanding of our inequitable past and present, how will we imagine and pursue a racially just future?
The theatrical portion of this session deals directly with anti-Black racism in the academy and its disproportionate impacts. In this session, participants will:
- Reflect on their experience, agency, and accountability within this history/present.
- Unpack crucial disconnects between institutional rhetoric and action.
- Practice brainstorming ways to disrupt anti-Black racism in their professional practice.
