Teaching Resource

Sharing nature’s beauty through touch, smell and sound

stuxbury — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 13:58:18 +0000

Sharing nature’s beauty through touch, smell and sound stuxbury Wed, 10/16/2024 - 09:58

Standing on a cruise ship deck recently, Donna Posont felt the wind in her hair, heard the crashes of the waves and enjoyed how the sun felt as it warmed her. Traveling with a group of nearly 25 friends, Posont says she did a lot of observing along the Canadian Atlantic coastline — and she credits her keen senses and a handy tool for giving her the ability to experience it differently than many others.

“Being a blind person, I don’t have the inconvenience of having sight dull my other senses. I’m lucky to appreciate things differently,” says Posont, who always has her white cane to help her navigate new and familiar spaces. Recalling her adventure, she then laughed: “Yes, I got lost on the ship. I should have had the crew take me on a tour first so I got more familiar with the layout. But my sighted friends were lost all the time too, so I don’t think it had to do with blindness.”

“People are people and we just have differing abilities from one another. Some of us need to plan differently. Just because you can’t see doesn’t mean you have a lack of vision.”

EIC naturalist Donna Posont

She’s right. And many people have called her work visionary. Environmental Interpretive Center staff member Posont, a 2015 College of Arts, Sciences and Letters alum, is a winner of the 2024 National Federation of the Blind’s Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award, which honors individuals and organizations that are a positive force in the lives of blind people. And earlier this month, Posont traveled to Grand Rapids to accept the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education’s Merit Recognition Award. She also was featured in the latest issue of Audubon magazine.

The second blind person in the United States to become recognized as a certified interpretive guide by the National Association for Interpretation, Posont started a birding program at ��-Dearborn for individuals with low-to-no vision in 2009. Birding by Ear and Beyond, an all-ages bird walk, takes place from 9 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month and begins at the EIC. Posont says sighted friends and family members are also welcome to attend and learn ways to experience their environment without using vision.

“The warmth from the sun on your shoes tells you that you are walking into a clearing. You can identify plants by smell,” says Posont. “You know a bird is a mourning dove by the way the wind whistles through their wings when they are taking off.”

Posont, a retired social worker who supported school-aged kids with visual impairments for many decades, enrolled in college at ��-Dearborn in 2008. Posont says she always wanted to be a scientist. But in the 1970s, when she first attended a university in her home state of West Virginia with the goal of studying biology, the school could not accommodate her in science labs and classes. So she found a fulfilling career in social work. Experience taught Posont — who progressively lost vision beginning around age 8 due to retinitis pigmentosa — that she could appreciate science outside of a lab. She’d go the nature route.

While on hikes with a friend at the Environmental Interpretive Center prior to enrolling at ��-Dearborn, Posont — who can see light, so she knows if it is night or day, but does not have usable vision — experienced the campus and the natural environment it offers. It was also close to her Dearborn home, where she moved decades earlier when her husband’s career transferred the family to Michigan. Learning about the strong environmental sciences programs, Posont knew ��-Dearborn would be the right fit for her.

She first got the idea to focus on birds when she was a ��-Dearborn student completing an internship at Camp Tuhsmeheta, a west Michigan outdoor education facility established by the Michigan School for the Blind. To help the children experience nature, Posont got an idea: She’d use bird songs as an entry point. She ordered plush birds that played recorded sounds. They’d listen to bird calls together and she’d make them relatable by assigning English-sounding words or phrases to them. For example, a translated cardinal sound is “Wit, wit! Cheer, cheer cheer!”

Posont says her ��-Dearborn professors also inspired her. As time went on, they became mentors and then friends. Her field biology professor, Orin Gelderloos — or Dr. G as generations of students have called him — taught her about the differences in tree bark and Posont would feel every trunk. She, in many ways, modeled her teaching style after his go-out-and-do lessons.

Later, as Gelderloos neared retirement, he and Posont worked together as a team . “He was my eyes and I was his ears. For example, when looking for birds with students, I’d tell the class what bird they were hearing because his hearing wasn’t as strong. He’d see it, point it out and tell them about it,” Posont says. “We were a great team then and when I see him, we’re still a good team.”

Posont says she’s proud of the connections she made on campus and her ��-Dearborn degree in environmental sciences with a naturalist concentration, and a biology minor. “Nearly 40 years later, I got that biology education I always wanted,” she says. “I also learned that I am a teacher — I didn’t realize that before — and how much I sincerely appreciate the beauty in our world.”

But birding and the great outdoors is about much more than nature to Posont. It’s a way to showcase blind people’s unique abilities in a way that increases confidence through experience and education.

“Through the years, I have had the pleasure of witnessing people once inhibited by their unique abilities turn into scientists taking off down the path using their canes. There have been some people who have been afraid to touch new things. Then, all of a sudden, they would be shaping bird beaks with homemade play-doh. And I’ve seen people who were afraid of speaking in front of others eventually learn to write Braille so they could have notes and share information,” she says.

Posont continues to explain that it’s not just learning about the birds — it’s about knowing what tools are available and becoming comfortable using them. “I always have my cane. I didn’t want to use it when I began losing my sight because acceptance is a process. But once I did, I learned this cane is my freedom. It allows me to travel and to ask for help. People who see it are more likely to stop since they realize that I’m blind. I’ve been able to do so much because of what’s available. I want others to know tools like canes aren’t a sign of weakness — they are the way to independence.”

Posont says knowing what’s available — she started receiving the support she needed after joining the National Federation of the Blind in 1979 — and learning from others is essential. Once concerned about the safety issues that might arise with parenting, Posont, a mother of five, learned from her NFB peers how bells on shoes and ultra-specific communication make the job much easier.

Now the grandma of 14 watches her grandchildren and plays games like Braille Uno with them. “I just need to remind them that they need to use their words. I can’t see if they are shaking their heads yes or no,” she explains.

Looking at her life, her travels and the recent awards, Posont says she didn’t know what was possible when she started losing her vision. What she once saw as a disability she now sees as a sense enhancer. She acknowledges that not having sight is frustrating at times, but wants others with vision impairments — when they are willing and ready to accept it — to realize how much can be done without sight.

“The younger person I once was — who cried and cried and cried because she couldn’t fit in — would be amazed at where this difference in ability has brought us,” Posont says. “You can still get married and have kids if that’s what you want. You can identify birds. You can be a scientist. You can be a teacher. You can experience the world through your other senses. That young person I once was would be amazed at what was possible. And now it’s her turn to let others see what’s possible for them.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury

Faculty and Staff

Inclusion or Diversity

Teaching Resource

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Wed, 10/16/2024 - 13:50

National and statewide awards honor EIC staff member and ’15 alum Donna Posont for her work as an inclusive naturalist educator and advocate.

Donna Posont, right, leads monthly bird walks for people with visual impairments once a month on ��-Dearborn's campus. Photo by Michael Solomon

‘The only winning move is not to play’

stuxbury — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:47:38 +0000

‘The only winning move is not to play’ stuxbury Mon, 06/05/2023 - 11:47

Turnitin – the plagiarism-detecting software used by ��-Dearborn and thousands of other schools and universities worldwide – made a big announcement in February: it would soon integrate an AI-writing detector into its platform. The rationale for the add-on was clear. Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI tools have taken off. Like the advent of the World Wide Web in 1990, this potentially society-altering technology was released into the world before regulators could formulate or coordinate responses. The implications for higher education were obvious. Reports of students using generators to write exam answers, or even entire essays, soon followed.

Still, when ��-Dearborn Director of Digital Education Christopher Casey saw Turnitin’s announcement, his first instinct was, “Whoa.” Like the technology it was designed to catch, the AI-detection software was being rolled out quickly and would inevitably have flaws. Indeed, the company’s own press release stated the software had a one percent error rate. The Office of the Provost estimates that ��-Dearborn faculty run 20,000 student writing samples through Turnitin each semester. This would mean up to 200 of these assignments could be incorrectly flagged for an academic infraction – and that was if the company’s projection was accurate.

What’s more, the “black box” nature of the detector means that the software does not explain how it arrives at its conclusions. For any student whose work was called out, it would be their word against the machine’s. “There's no hard evidence,” said Casey. “It’s just this mystery. If a student says, ‘No, I didn't do that,’ how do they refute that? It is just a student versus this detector.”

Director of Digital Education Christopher Casey

Casey’s colleagues in the Office of the Provost and the Hub for Teaching and Learning shared his concerns. So, when the add-on launched in April, ��-Dearborn joined several universities across the U.S. and internationally in requesting an opt-out. Turnitin did not grant every opt-out request, but it did ��-Dearborn’s – in part, Casey believes, because the university was proactive and persistent. The move garnered national media attention, with Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs and Integrative Learning Mitchel Sollenberger quoted in a Washington Post article that made the issue clear right in its headline: “We tested a new ChatGPT-detector for teachers. It flagged an innocent student.”

This was not the first time ��-Dearborn made news for being out front in protecting students’ digital rights. As online exams proliferated during the pandemic, the university received attention for being one of the first to issue a policy prohibiting the use of remote proctoring software. That decision was based on a range of concerns, including unequal access to the necessary technologies, privacy issues and growing evidence that algorithm-based proctoring was discriminatory. For instance, it sometimes flagged eye and head movements as suspicious when they were not (this has particular implications for students with certain disabilities) and it could have trouble recognizing darker skin tones.

Ultimately, the Office of the Provost determined that online proctoring ran counter to the university’s student-focused mission. “It's like immediately going and creating this conflict between students and the university,” Casey said. “We're not starting from a place of being partners in learning. We're starting from a place of being adversaries and that's not the place we want to start from.” After the policy took effect, Casey and his colleagues at the Hub published a research paper sharing what they’d learned.

The university’s stances on AI detection and online proctoring were informed by growing concern nationally and internationally about the algorithmic tools designed to catch academic infractions. In 2020, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading organizations working to protect citizens’ digital rights, noted that most remote proctoring tools were “effectively indistinguishable from spyware, which is malware that is commonly used to track unsuspecting users’ actions on their devices and across the Internet.”

That same year, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal led an inquiry into three of the largest virtual testing companies after receiving reports of “alarming equity, accessibility and privacy issues faced by students using the platforms.” Last year, a federal judge ruled in favor of a student who sued Cleveland State University, alleging that a room scan taken as part of online proctoring was unconstitutional.

Casey said the Office of the Provost recognizes the extreme challenges faculty face in the current digital environment and that the Office of the Provost and the Hub are working swiftly to provide guidance and support. In February, the Hub released a Generative AI at ��-Dearborn guide outlining some of the benefits and concerns that ��-Dearborn identified early on. Currently, Casey is leading a ��-Dearborn task force on generative AI composed of faculty and staff representing all four colleges. The task force is meeting every other week and expects to release a report later this summer. Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Paul Watta represents ��-Dearborn on a tri-campus U-M task force on generative AI, which is also expected to release a report this summer. In addition, faculty and staff are welcome to join several cross-campus learning communities on this topic .

Casey acknowledges that, with the technology evolving so quickly, as soon as ��-Dearborn’s report is issued, it will be outdated. The key, he said, will be facing that reality. “Those generative AI services are here. They’re not going away,” he said. “We're beyond the point of blocking it. You're standing in front of a rising tide and you think you're going to stop the rising tide? You're not. So that's what our task force is really now grappling with.”

One strategy Casey anticipates the task force will recommend is redesigning assignments so that, for instance, students don’t just answer questions or respond to prompts but show how they arrived at their conclusions. The Hub has been supporting faculty with such redesigns since the start of the pandemic and the more hands-on, show-your-work approaches the Hub recommends are inherent in the university’s practice-based learning model.

It’s important to recognize that generative AI has great potential to be used as a learning tool, Casey stressed. For instance, in coding, it might take over basic functions and free up users for more complex tasks. (Read three campus experts’ thoughts on generative AI.)

Developing a thoughtful, coordinated response to higher ed’s new digital reality will be a process, Casey said. “It's not going to be an instantaneous change,” he explained. “Instead of doing these stop-gap, quick measures that really aren't super effective in the immediate term and definitely don't have a lot of benefit long term, we're looking to the future and saying, ‘What should this look like? And let’s just start moving there.’ We need to go toward the end game.”

“Much like the AI in the 1983 movie ‘Wargames’ figured out about global thermonuclear war, we continue to believe that when it comes to AI detection, the only winning move is not to play,” he added.

One thing Casey now knows for sure: the university’s concerns about Turnitin’s AI-detector were on point. Two weeks ago, the company issued an update on the software. Among the flaws the company has identified since the roll-out? Higher than estimated incidences of false positives in certain scenarios.

Article by Kristin Palm.

Teaching Resource

Technology

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Hub for Teaching and Learning Resources

Off

Mon, 06/05/2023 - 15:44

��-Dearborn’s decision to opt out of a controversial AI-writing detector earlier this year was not the first time the university was a leader in protecting students’ digital rights.

Students often gather in the CASL Atrium to work on final projects and papers.

'Pay attention to the world around you'

stuxbury — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 02:57:36 +0000

'Pay attention to the world around you' stuxbury Wed, 01/18/2023 - 21:57

International Holocaust Remembrance Day takes place annually on Jan. 27 — it’s the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

When a survivor spoke to ��-Dearborn’s Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, they said, “If the oceans were ink and the skies were paper, there would not be enough ink or paper to tell of one hour in Auschwitz.”

Campus’ Voice/Vision archive, which began in 1981, has more than 250 first-hand accounts of life during World War II’s systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jewish men, women and children.

History Lecturer and Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive Director Jamie Wraight understands that a multitude of voices is needed to better understand the Holocaust and knows it will never be fully covered or understood. But he continues to look for ways to bring awareness to the Holocaust, now 78 years past the 1945 liberation date.

Wraight brings experts to speak to the campus community. He does this annually for Holocaust Remembrance Day — Manhattan College’s Mehnaz Afridi will give a talk called “Muslims and the Holocaust” on Jan .24 — and finds ways to share ��-Dearborn’s archive and his decades of professional connections with Dearborn Wolverine students.

Through a Ravitz Foundation grant, Wraight recently finished creating a full-feature online experience for his “History 387: Aspects of the Holocaust” course by sharing recorded Holocaust survivor testimony from ��-Dearborn’s archive collection and bringing in renowned experts like U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Historian Rebecca Erbelding, Nipissing University History Professor Hilary Earl —who focuses on war crimes —and ��-Dearborn faculty members Kristin Poling and Anna Müller.

“There are things I am not an expert in, but there are people out there who are. I want the best information presented to the class so our students can learn about the Holocaust and analyze why this happened, how it happened and find ways they can continue to stay aware to prevent it from happening again,” he said. “Students can watch the recordings at their own pace and every week we meet in person to discuss what they’ve watched. That way they can process what they watched and come to class with any questions they might have.”

The class, previously offered once a year, will now be offered more frequently thanks to the grant. Wraight said he did a “soft opening” last semester with the new format, but considers the format’s debut this winter.

Wraight took over directing the Voice/Vision archive from Professor Emeritus Sidney Bolkosky, who was among the first researchers to interview Holocaust survivors in an effort to document their experiences.

Bolkosky, who taught on campus from 1972-2012, was a campus pioneer in remote learning — sending videos of his lectures to students in ��-Dearborn’s REACH program, a distance-learning initiative that started in the late 1980s. Wraight said some of Bolkosky’s recorded lectures are included in the 2023 course. And, to bring it full circle, the person who recorded the original Bolkosky lectures — College of Arts, Sciences, & Letters Senior Television Engineer Greg Taylor — also recorded the recent talks and lectures and helped make this new version of the class a reality.

“Greg had inside information from when some of these lectures were recorded decades ago. This evolution of the campus’ Holocaust course couldn’t have happened without his knowledge and expertise,” Wraight said. “It’s also important to say that Sid was an amazing teacher — no one could give a lecture like Sid Bolkosky. So it’s important to pay homage to his work by sharing his words and lessons in an updated way.”

As the Day of Remembrance approaches, Wraight suggested finding a talk to attend, listening to Holocaust experiences on the archive site or participating in a community event. He said it's crucial to stay vigilant and to continue seeking out information. Lessons from Holocaust education aren’t uplifting; but they are important, he said.

“Take 30 seconds out of your day to really pay attention to the world or around you. Read headlines. Ask questions,” he said. “Having a healthy dose of skepticism about the information you receive is a good thing. The more we know, the more we can rely on our knowledge to stand up to injustices we may see.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Academic Excellence

Teaching Resource

Technology

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Institutional Advancement

Voice / Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Off

Thu, 01/19/2023 - 02:56

A new full-feature online experience for ��-Dearborn’s “History 387: Aspects of the Holocaust” course — made possible by a Ravitz Foundation grant — includes recorded Holocaust survivor testimony from ��-Dearborn’s archive collection, renowned expert talks and more.

How a campus storytelling project builds community

stuxbury — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 02:18:53 +0000

How a campus storytelling project builds community stuxbury Mon, 10/17/2022 - 22:18

Communities are built upon shared experiences. Knowing the power of a personal story, a campuswide project focuses on the impact narratives have on the people who tell them — and on those who listen.

“More Than A Single Story: ��-Dearborn Speaks,” now in its second year, documents personal experiences, like nonlinear paths to deciding a major, what it’s like to be a student at “the other Michigan” and dispelling stereotypes. So far 11 students have participated.

People need a multitude of stories to properly engage with a place. So “More Than a Single Story” is providing students, who are compensated for their critical thinking and creative work, with a way to share their stories while challenging the myths about Dearborn, the Detroit Metropolitan area, regional commuter campuses, the surrounding Muslim-American community, and other social divisions between the city of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs.

A mix of oral history and digital media, “More Than A Single Story: ��-Dearborn Speaks” allows people curious about campus to see authentic experiences, and gives Dearborn Wolverines the opportunity to learn digital storytelling while discovering what drives them and shapes their purpose.

“This goes beyond being a project. It has made an impact on my life by creating a positive change in me and helping me with social responsibility,” said Robotics Engineering graduate student Ruthvik Sankar, who is an international student. “And it’s teaching me about the community I’m in and the impact I can have on it.”

Sankar’s digital storytelling video focused on international community perspectives of Detroit and Black Americans. “I was told to be afraid, even before arriving in the U.S., about people I had never met. I learned quickly that this fear was very wrong. I want to take accountability and dispel rumors. I had a team member, who is Black, and her dad watched my video before it was posted and her dad said he appreciated what I put out there.”

The 2021-2022 cohort of students, which included Sankar, created short three-to-five-minute videos with narrative, visuals, music and more. You can see their videos.

Now that the first group has completed their work, they are mentoring a second group of students who started this fall. On Fridays, all students meet to discuss their ideas, share updates, give each other constructive criticism, and listen to guidance from campus faculty and staff.

In order to make the project as inclusive as possible, video editing experience isn’t required, and neither is a communications background. To get everyone up to a professional level, ��-Dearborn staff — led by Mardigian Library Associate Director Holly Sorcher and Library Research Center Head Christopher Spilker — teach these skills. Faculty members with storytelling expertise also provide guidance.

“More Than A Single Story” is supported by a Coalition for Life-Transformative Education (CLTE) grant to expand existing campus resources and technologies to teach digital storytelling to a closely mentored cohort. The grant was matched by the Chancellor’s office. This Experience Plus partnership program involved Mardigian Library, Career Services and Global Education.

“It’s great watching the dynamics of our returning students offer new students sound advice and share the value of their experience,” said Spilker, who became a StoryCenter-certified facilitator prior to leading the project. “Our first group says that they surprised themselves with what they are capable of, production aside, because they really allowed themselves to be vulnerable. They learned what they were capable of when it comes to creating meaning out of their own experiences and sharing it in a real and engaging way. There’s power in that.”

College of Business sophomore Carlos Gonzalez, who was part of the first cohort, said reflecting on his own experience for his video made him realize that he’s exactly where he should be. Graduating at the top of his high school, Gonzalez planned to go to ��-Ann Arbor. But, when he was waitlisted, he made a decision to attend ��-Dearborn with a plan to transfer. In his digital story, he explores the conflict he felt when he recognized that he no longer intended on transferring.

“The project was a reflection period for me. There was pressure to go to Ann Arbor from friends. However, I realized that I had everything I wanted right here. I could still go to football games in the Big House and hang out in Ann Arbor, but still save money by living at home when I’m earning a Michigan degree,” he said. "Plus, my professors are great and I really like it here. After I shared my story, I heard from other students who felt the same pressure from outside sources — when you realize that you aren’t alone in something, it opens up a conversation and helps create another layer of community.”

Spilker said community building is a major objective for this initiative. And he’s pleased to see how students picked up on that, along with crafting a compelling narrative and gracefully receiving criticism.

“No matter what you do, there will be criticism, change suggestions and feedback. If you can handle feedback on something that’s so personal like these videos, you will be able to handle anything,” he said. “Storytelling, flexibility and community-building are valuable skills to have now and long after graduation. These are important and transferable skills regardless of career field — engineering, healthcare, business, communications, anything. But don’t just take my word for it, our students are the project’s best ambassadors.”

Sankar, who is now mentoring sophomore Kylie Martin, is helping her hone in on her experience growing up as a child with a parent in the military. He said he enjoys his new role because he knows the impact this digital storytelling project had on him and he’s looking forward to seeing what Martin learns.

“It really has changed how I see myself and how I see the world. In classes, I get lessons about computer science and robotics. Here, I get to learn about myself and how I connect to other people,” he said. “I came to ��-Dearborn for the graduate program, but I’ll leave here with a stronger sense of who I am and how I can contribute to the world — not just as a robotics engineer, but as a human.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Student Success

Teaching Resource

University-wide

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

College of Business

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Student Engagement

Off

Tue, 10/18/2022 - 02:16

“More Than A Single Story: ��-Dearborn Speaks,” now in its second year, documents unique experiences and reflections of ��-Dearborn students.

"More than a Single Story" student participants Ruthvik Sankar and Kylie Martin are working together to create a digital video.

A natural way to learn: ��-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center educators offer summer programs

rudmehta — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 22:25:18 +0000

A natural way to learn: ��-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center educators offer summer programs rudmehta Thu, 09/22/2022 - 18:25

This article was originally published on May 17, 2019.

Some associate summer with “school’s out.” ��-Dearborn senior Griffin Bray agrees in part. But to get him fully behind the statement, he insists on an edit — he sees summer as a time when school’s outside.

Bray’s classroom for learning and teaching this summer is the ��-Dearborn Environmental Study Area’s 300-plus acres. And his students will range from the young to the young at heart.

Majoring in environmental studies, Bray — along with Environmental Interpretive Center staff and naturalist students — will lead community nature-focused lessons on identifying native trees, the evolution of the local land, child-friendly gardening and more.

Bray knows the importance of community programs; he started coming to the Environmental Interpretive Center programs at age 10.

“The education I got as a kid, the land that’s here to learn from, and the resources available to me were factored in when deciding on which college to attend.”

Exploring the areas around the EIC inspired a strong love of nature and teaching for Bray; his goal is to work as a conservationist educator with the Department of Natural Resources. But before he reaches that goal, he needs to gain experience — experience he’s getting at the EIC as a trained student employee.

Animated at times — the gusto he shows over the vertical, bumpy covering of the shagbark hickory keeps that tree ID info top of mind — Bray keeps people engaged.

Other moments, he’s quiet and observant; his long-legged strides can quickly transform into a statue-like stillness when sighting a rare bird resting on a branch. Bray also shows a reverence toward his lecture materials.

And it’s this balance of enthusiasm and respect he and the other EIC staff and students want to share with you over the summer.

Here are upcoming EIC community programs

Bird Watching
8 to 10 a.m. May 25

May isn’t just a month for flowers — it’s also the peak month for spring bird migration in the region. And the EIC’s natural areas attract a variety of feathered friends. Natural Areas Manager Rick Simek leads the free moderately-paced walk where you will hear and see colorful birds, many who are just stopping over before heading to their next destination. Please bring binoculars. Ages 12 to adult.

Identifying Local Trees
1 to 2:30 p.m. June 1

Senior Griffin Bray — who is working on a campus tree survey project — takes community members for a walk around the Environmental Study Area to get better acquainted with different species of local trees. During the free program, he’ll give helpful identification tips that will help you identify trees on your own too. Ages 10 to adult.

A Nature Walk Through Time
10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22

This free tour uses today’s technology to get a look at the past and see how human activities on the land have influenced what we see now. During the walk, participants will use provided iPads that have archive photos of the Environmental Study Area’s landscape — the images go back to 1937, when it was still part of Henry and Clara Ford’s estate—so participants can compare those to real-time GPS points from the exact same locations in the present. Ages 12 to adult.

Children's Gardening Program
6 to 7:30 p.m. June 4, 11, 18; July 2, 23; August 6, 20, 27

This eight-session program involves children ages 6 to 8 in a whole growing season — from sowing and planting, to tending, to harvesting the vegetables that are grown in the ��-Dearborn Community Organic Garden. In addition to hands-on education, there will be garden-focused crafts and music. $35 for the eight sessions. Each child must be accompanied by an adult guardian.

Summer Young Naturalist Programs
For ages 7 to 9: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 8, 9, 10, 11
For ages 10-11: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 15, 16, 17, 18

For four consecutive days, children will explore nature with their peers. Each session — led by trained ��-Dearborn student — will have a different theme: Pond exploration, insects and spiders, creatures of the soil, and reptiles and amphibians. $30 per child.

Nature or Environment

Teaching Resource

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Fri, 05/17/2019 - 05:00

Taught by staff and students, the line-up includes bird watching, tree identification, gardening and more.

Office of Research update: September 2022

stuxbury — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 22:39:24 +0000

Office of Research update: September 2022 stuxbury Mon, 09/05/2022 - 18:39

The Office of Research is pleased to announce and would like to congratulate our Dearborn faculty members on receipt of the following external funding:

Aditya Viswanathan, assistant professor of Mathematics, was awarded a grant of $93,600 by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in support of his collaborative project (with Dartmouth College) "Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imaging with Phase Retrieval and Uncertainty Quantification". SAR imaging - which has been used in applications such as remote sensing, sea ice monitoring, disaster relief, defense and intelligence gathering, and archaeology - allows us to build detailed and accurate images of a scene of interest by transmitting pulses of radio waves from a moving platform (such as an aircraft or satellite) and processing their delayed and attenuated echos. The process of constructing these images, however, is challenging - with the acquired data often being highly incomplete, corrupted by high levels of measurement error, and subject to artifacts such as motion and out-of-focus blurs. This project seeks to utilize contemporary mathematical and statistical techniques to develop new state-of-the-art SAR image reconstruction algorithms which are computationally efficient, robust to errors and artifacts, and compatible with the next generation of enhanced, extreme-scale imaging hardware.

Shan Bao, associate professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, received $65,794 from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America for her project “How to Improve the Safety of Children on the U.S. Road? Insights from a Crash Data Analysis.” Injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in children and adolescents, and this problem has become an increasing concern for U.S. society with a growing trend. This project is designed to perform a comprehensive analysis on identifying typical children-involved crash scenarios and examining the relevant factors describing the context and potential causes of these crashes on the U.S. road when the involved child(ren) was either a passenger in a motor vehicle or a pedestrian/cyclist on the road. The results of this study will provide a systematic summary of the typical crash scenarios involving children and the relevant causation factors, as well as potential crash mitigation technology design recommendations.

Matthew Heinicke, associate professor of Biology, received $20,238 for his project Assessing the systematics and diversity of Haemosporida in African reptiles. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation and awarded through a collaboration with Villanova University, will study how host/parasite interactions affect the biodiversity of a particular type of parasitic organism and a major host organism it commonly affects. Haemosporidians are microscopic single-celled organisms that live as symbionts or parasites infecting a wide variety of vertebrates. A few types that cause diseases are well-known, including those causing malaria in humans. However, the group is otherwise poorly studied. This project will study interactions between haemosporidians and a major group of host organisms, reptiles in Angola. Angola is the focal region because it has a wide range of environments from desert to rainforest, and many species of reptile live there. Work at ��-Dearborn will focus on the reptile side of this relationship. DNA samples obtained from Angolan reptiles will be used to determine the evolutionary history, levels of genetic diversity, and number of unique species of Angolan reptiles. Colleagues at other universities will generate complementary data for the haemosporidians that infect these reptiles. With data from both groups the researchers can test whether unique haemosporidian strains infect each reptile species, and whether the two groups are co-evolving, meaning that closely related reptile species have closely related haemosporidian parasites.

Hugo Casquero, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $70,000 by Honda Motor Co., Ltd for his study “Crashworthiness simulations using thin-walled solid BEXT meshes.” Dr. Casquero-Penelas will work to develop isogeometric analysis to achieve a seamless integration between computer-aided design and finite-element analysis. This fundamental research will be applied to the design and analysis of the structural skeleton of vehicles to maximize occupant safety.

Announcements

Competitive Campus Grants Fall Cycle Applications

The first cycle of the Competitive Campus Grants for fiscal year 2023 are available to apply to by ��-Dearborn tenured/tenure-track faculty. The following Competitive Campus Grant applications are due by 5 p.m., Oct. 17, 2022:

Research Initiation and Development (RID) Grants provide financial support of up to $25,000 for research projects. This program supports projects designed to lead to a proposal for external funding with a strong potential of being awarded.
- Budget floor: $10,000; Budget ceiling: $25,000.
��-Dearborn Scholars (SCH) Grants are intended to support research and scholarship, including creative activities in the arts. This program is primarily for projects with funding needs not addressed by other support programs within or outside the University.
- Budget floor: $8,000; Budget ceiling: $15,000.
Thematic Research Planning (TRP) Grants will support the development of collaborative cross-disciplinary research proposals that address the FY 23 priority research areas:
- - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  - Sustainability
  - Biomedical, Health and Healthcare
- Budget floor: $15,000; Budget ceiling: $30,000.

More information about the campus grants program and eligibility can be found on our Campus Grants webpage.

Research Events in September & October:

MICHR, “Conducting and Obtaining Valid Informed Consent” - Thursday, Sept. 15, 12 - 2 p.m., virtual
Teaching and Technology Collaborative, “Crafting Research Impact Statements” - Friday, Sept. 16, 12 - 1 p.m., virtual
RDSI, “Research Data Stewardship Initiative Informational Webinar” - Wednesday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m., virtual
Mardigian Library, “Using Library Materials in Your Classroom” - Thursday, September 22, 1PM and Monday, Sept. 26, 2 p.m., in-person located in Mardigian Library, ML 1211. Registration not required
Research Data Stewardship Initiative Fall 2022 Seminar Series, “RDSI October Seminar” - Friday, Oct. 7, 12 - 1 p.m., virtual
MICHR, “MICHR Mock Study Section” - Wednesday, Oct. 19, 3 - 5:30 p.m., virtual. Registration closes on Sept. 26.

Research Resource Highlight: The Office of Research

Every month, the Office of Research will feature a resource and/or tool that is available for researchers!

This month we are featuring our very own ��-Dearborn Office of Research website to remind you of the information and services available to ��-Dearborn faculty.

Over the past year, the Office of Research has reorganized and updated many of our webpages with updated information, services and new initiatives. We encourage all faculty to familiarize themselves with the different resources and sections of our website, including:

Research Development Services: The Research Development team and services aim to connect researchers to resources and increase the investigators’ competitiveness in obtaining extramural research funding. One-on-one consultation requests, Consultation and Writing Services, and resources for finding funding are just a few examples of the services available to ��-Dearborn faculty.
Campus Grants Program: The Campus Grants program is an important part of research development efforts at ��-Dearborn, and supports a wide range of research and scholarly activities for our faculty. Campus Grants funds also provide investments for interdisciplinary research. The Campus Grants webpage is frequently updated with our available grant programs, guidelines and due dates, as well as a Frequently Asked Questions section and examples of Previously Funded Projects.
Pre-Award Administration: The Pre-Award Administration team and services aim to provide the highest level of service possible in assisting faculty with assembling all the elements of their proposal package and ensuring there are no administrative errors. It is important for all faculty to submit a New Proposal Request Form at least 20 business days prior to a sponsor’s deadline. The webpage also provides an overview of the Proposal Routing & Submission process and Budget Preparation guidance.
Post-Award Support: The Post-Award Support (PAS) team is charged with supporting the ��-Dearborn campus by providing and continuously improving post-award research administration efforts for all units who have federal and non-federal externally sponsored projects (and related cost-share), internally funded research grants, and other project/grants that are classed as research (e.g. gifts).
More Help: This newly developed webpage is intended to provide basic information and guidance on common regulatory compliance requirements related to Human Subjects, Export Controls, and Disclosure of Outside Interests, and will continue to be developed to include other frequently asked about research topics such as animal care & use, indirect costs and intellectual property. We encourage faculty to check back in on this page as more topics are added.

Our website is also updated regularly with research-related events and announcements, so we encourage faculty to bookmark our landing page and subscribe to our Research News email list. The Office of Research looks forward to assisting you on your future research endeavors!

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

The Office of Research publishes a list of selected funding opportunities, organized by college, every month on our website under Announcements. In addition, yearly grant calendars organized by subject area provided by Hanover Research are available there as well. Contact the ��-Dearborn Office of Research if you would like more information about submitting a proposal to any of the programs.

Undergraduate Research

Office of Research

Off

Mon, 09/05/2022 - 22:37

Check out whose work is getting funded, find new funding opportunities, and learn about ways ��-Dearborn can support your next project in the September update from the Office of Research.

The Sights and Sounds of Spring

rudmehta — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 13:46:02 +0000

The Sights and Sounds of Spring rudmehta Fri, 07/01/2022 - 09:46

This article was originally published on May 17, 2021.

It’s colorful songbird season, nature lovers — and if you’d like to see birds that have flown north from as far away as the Amazon rainforest, this is the week to flock to ��-Dearborn’s Natural Areas.

“Just like when we are driving up I-75 and need a place to stop because we are hungry and tired, birds are looking for food and shelter too on their long journeys, too,” says Natural Areas Manager Rick Simek. “When flying north — some stay here, but many go to Canada’s Boreal Forest — the birds see this large natural habitat in a sea of suburbia and stop.” Campus’ 300-acre natural area is located just beyond the Environmental Interpretive Center. (EIC).

Simek, an avid birder, wanted to share the sights and sounds you may experience if you spend time outdoors at ��-Dearborn’s natural areas this week, which he considers the best for bird viewing. EIC staff even created a guide map on where to look if you wanted to do a self-guided nature walk. Don’t have the time? Simek offers a few on-site photos to enjoy from home.

This time of year, the bird is the word

A male Scarlet Tanager. Photo by Jim Simek

Walking the EIC’s Environmental Study Area trails, Simek gets out his binoculars and notices a Scarlet Tanager in a tree on the edge of the old rose garden. The male has a deep-colored red body with black wings; the female has more of a greenish color. He said there are a couple that reside in the EIC for the duration of summer, but most are just making a ��-Dearborn pit stop on their long flight from the Amazon to Canada.

A female Scarlet Tanager. Photo by Jim Simek

The birds stop on campus to eat insects — especially the moth caterpillars abundant on Michigan's native trees, including Oaks. This essential insect biomass is critical as migration stopover fuel.

“That’s the key — insect biomass — and we have plenty of food for them. Michigan’s native Oaks are extremely important to bird populations because they offer quite a buffet. When comparing them to how they stack up to the competition, they are at the top of the Big 10 of trees.” For comparison, Simek says a Norway Maple Tree offers just a handful of different species of moth caterpillars, while Oaks typically have hundreds.

An Indigo Bunting. Photo by Jim Simek

When it comes to bird viewing, Simek said the trees along the edge of the old rose garden are also home this week to the bright blue Indigo Bunting, a favorite of avid bird watchers.

“Birders visiting our natural area will sometimes ask about where they might see an Indigo Bunting, as we are a place where Indigo Buntings stop as they make their way up from wintering in Central America. I can’t guarantee that you will see specific birds because, you know, these are birds and of course birds do not stay glued to their perches, but they are definitely here.”

Songbirds you may see in the EIC’s natural areas also include the orange and black Oriole, the Thrush bird family, bright-colored Warblers and the black, white and red Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Those birds are most often seen along the Fairlane Lake’s lakeside trail, which is accessible when you take the main log-lined trail outside of the EIC Building.

For those new to birding, Simek shares a few tips. First, wear comfortable shoes. Bonus items include: clothes with pockets, an identification guide for birds (Simek uses Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America) and a pair of binoculars. “Binoculars are one of the best tools in the bird-watching tool box. From far away, it may look like a generic bird. Binoculars help the colors jump out.”

There’s a saying that the early bird gets the worm — Simek says when it comes to bird watching, it’s true. For best bird viewing results, Simek said early morning is best. But interesting birds can be seen at all hours this time of year.

A Swainson's Thrush. Photo by Jim Simek

The pictured Swainson's Thrush, another long-distance Neotropical migrant that visits campus, has a bold white eye-ring, which is a field mark that assists in its identification. It also has a flute-like song. So, even if you don't see one, listening to its sound is a perk in itself.

“Hearing the birds singing their songs on a May day is really something else. So, even if you don’t want to search the trees for birds, you can still enjoy listening to the diversity of the bird life we have here.”

Guy Lenk, 2001 alumnus, and son Nolan on the trails looking for birds on May 15, 2021. They saw a heron fly overhead and were following the sounds of a Gray Catbird.

But wait, there’s more…

In addition to it being the best bird watching week, Simek says there are a few other signs of spring life you may want to see.

Many logs had multiple turtles, but this larger turtle wanted its own log.

If you like turtles, they are basking on logs near the north end of Fairlane Lake — and there’s a bench there so spectators can enjoy the turtles while they relax in the sunshine too.

“At the north end of the lake, turtles line up on logs — shell room only. Since they are cold-blooded, they need the sun to warm them up when the water is colder than the air because it helps them digest their food better and be more active,” he said. “So, if you want to see turtles, hang out there. And sit on the bench so you can do a little basking of your own.”

While walking by the lake, Simek says you might hear the croaks of American toads — which give a bird-like trill — and bullfrogs, which sound like they are saying “jug of rum.”

Spring flowers are in abundance too.

Wild Geraniums. Photo by Diana Cooper

Purple wild geraniums are seen throughout the natural areas. To help pollinators find their way to the nectar reward, these wildflowers have lines on their petals. You can see the lines with a magnifying glass or — this is a tip Simek gives — by flipping over binoculars and looking through the opposite end.

Mayapples, which look like foot-long umbrellas sticking out of the ground, are seen from the trail. These unique plants have flowers that look like apple blossoms under their leaf canopy.

Simek says nature’s sights and sounds will continue to surprise and delight as spring turns into summer. There’s always something new to see and learn, but Simek says trail walks offer more than education — they have mental and physical health benefits too. “Sometimes an outdoor walk is just what the body, mind and soul needs.”

Simek said the trails open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset. Masks are not required as it is outdoors, but you are encouraged to bring one. Simek would also like to remind nature-goers that fishing on site is prohibited and to leave bikes and dogs at home because they cause disruption and stress to the Natural Area wildlife (and to fellow trail walkers).

To celebrate the EIC, there will be a 20th anniversary celebration on Friday, May 21, 4 p.m., and Professor Emeritus Orin Gelderloos will give his Legacy Lecture, reflecting on a career well spent. If you’d like to attend the virtual event, please register here.
Story by Sarah Tuxbury.

Experiential Learning

Nature or Environment

Teaching Resource

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Natural Sciences

Off

Mon, 05/17/2021 - 05:00

If you want to enjoy the sights and sounds of colorful songbirds, this is the week they stop at the Environmental Interpretive Center’s 300-acre Natural Areas to relax and fuel up before continuing on their migration journey north.

An Indigo Bunting relaxes on a branch Photo by Jim Simek. A special thanks to Jim for sharing his bird photography.

How a new campus lab supports students from the classroom to the boardroom

tinahu — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 19:53:59 +0000

How a new campus lab supports students from the classroom to the boardroom tinahu Wed, 02/23/2022 - 14:53

Employers need effective communicators — that’s the bottom line. So the College of Business recently opened a business communication lab to assist students in strengthening their business communication skills.

“Whether you are leading a team or working on a team, how you communicate is a reflection of your professional presence,” said College of Business faculty member Christine Fischer, a longtime business communication educator who teaches BA 330: Managerial Communication, among other courses. “Effective communication is a skill employers want their employees to have. At the end of the day, your communication skills will differentiate you in the business world.”

To help connect ��-Dearborn students with a dedicated business communication campus resource, a prominent Michigan alumnus’ family estate gifted $250,000 to establish the John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Business Communication Lab. This gift was then matched with $250,000 from other gift funds in the College of Business to create a $500,000 endowment to support the lab.

Archive photo of Patricia and John Mitchell

The gift honors the legacy of Columbia Pictures Television Founder John H. Mitchell (A.B. ’39) and his wife Patricia Mitchell. John Mitchell was an entertainment industry executive who served as president of Columbia Pictures television division from 1968 to 1977. Under his leadership, he produced shows that include The Flintstones and Bewitched. He also served three terms as president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

“The Patricia W. Mitchell Trust supports the College of Business’ vision of evolving our business writing curriculum into a comprehensive business communication lab,” said Raju Balakrishnan, dean of the College of Business. “Business communication plays a vital role in who succeeds. Our students will benefit because of John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell’s generosity — both now with this enhanced educational experience and into the future.”

Fischer, who is the director of the John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Business Communication Lab, previously worked at U-M’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, meticulously researched and developed lab plans for nearly two years. She surveyed campus faculty and students, and looked at prominent business schools — like Ross, University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and others — to see what they offered when it came to business communication development. She then tailored offerings to meet Dearborn Wolverine needs.

Student services include providing feedback on written assignments, evaluating slide presentations, giving presentation rehearsal assistance, and more. Faculty resources in development include a business communications writing module and a communications best practices presentation that they can share with students.

Director Christine Fischer

She said the communication lab was a priority because research shows there is a widespread disconnect between how students view their written and oral skills versus how employers view those skills. For example, according to a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey, nearly 80% of students believed they were competent in oral and written communication, while only 42% of employers indicated that students were successful in those areas.

The Mitchell Business Communication Lab offers online and in-person appointments where communication consultants — who are business professionals or high-achieving COB students — work one-on-one with students in 30-minute sessions. In-person appointments take place in Fairlane Center South room 152.

“Memos, emails and reports are different from a research paper. People get a lot of messages each day and we want our students to get their point across clearly in their business deliverables,” Fischer said. “In the business world, clear concise communication saves time and builds goodwill because time is money.”

If you’d like to learn more about the John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Business Communication Lab, please reach out to Fischer at chrisfis@umich.edu.

Academic Excellence

Careers or Internships

COB Graduate Programs

COB Undergraduate Programs

Off

Wed, 02/23/2022 - 19:53

The College of Business John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Business Communication Lab supports ��-Dearborn business students by providing feedback on written assignments, evaluating slide presentations, giving presentation rehearsal assistance and more.

Illustration showing the variety of services available at the College of Business' new John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Business Communication Lab. Graphic by Violet Dashi

A ballot initiative

tinahu — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 15:41:54 +0000

A ballot initiative tinahu Mon, 02/14/2022 - 10:41

��-Dearborn students want to create positive change in their communities and beyond — and sometimes all that takes is one vote.

��-Dearborn sophomore Sammy Caruso has worked on the political circuit since he was in eighth grade. In high school, he even helped a friend land an elected role on his Ohio hometown’s 2019 city council by running the campaign. “Every vote counts. She was one of the youngest elected council members — and she was just re-elected. Experience is important, but so is passion. People can tell when your heart and mind are in the right place no matter how old you are.”

Senior Penny Kane has a bit more political experience under her Uncle Sam hat — she recalls making posters, sending flyers, and filing in the 1972 U.S. presidential campaign. Her parents were politically active and taught her to use her voice to educate people too. She’s helped run voting booths in her Oakland County precinct.Kane also has worked with voter education,and helps register students with Campus Vote Project.

“I’ve seen for myself how a candidate wins by one or two votes after all the votes are counted. So I know how important voting is — but sometimes we don’t know what’s out there that’s being voted on, or it can be challenging to find information about an issue that is factual with multiple sides of an issue or candidate represented.”

Both students are using their experience and excitement toward the political process to help the ��-Dearborn community learn more about issues they may encounter on future ballots. Caruso and Kane, a Political Science major and Criminology and Criminal Justice major respectively, are research assistants for U-M’s Dinners for Democracy Program. They work with the Ann Arbor-based program to represent the ��-Dearborn community and facilitate interest on campus.

Designed by U-M’s Turn Up Turnout, Dinners for Democracy are non-partisan learning opportunities that cover issues important to student voters with student-led presentations and facilitated dialogue. The initiative's faculty adviser is U-M Political Science Professor Edie Goldenberg, professor of public policy in the Ford School and Turn Up Turnout’s founder.

“Dinners for Democracy help students connect the dots between the issues they care about and how to use their votes to make a positive difference to those issues,” Goldenberg said in a recent Record story.

Topics include the politics of renewable energy, redistricting, voting access, voting rights and the future of the Great Lakes. Sessions are run by students, but the sessions are open to students, faculty and staff. Check out upcoming sessions.

“It’s important for me to stress that these are nonpartisan. Prior to a presentation, we share it with the Dinners for Democracy steering committee for vetting. We critique each to make sure all sides of an issue are represented well and that information is cited,” she said. “People need accurate and thorough information to make informed decisions.”

Kane said the peer-to-peer, issue-based education explains how and why relatively low-visibility elected offices at the state and local levels matter to each issue, where to find additional research-based information about each issue, and how to find or collect non-partisan information about where candidates for office stand on each issue.

Attendees receive a $15 gift card to select from a list of restaurants/stores at the end of the virtual event. U-M community members — sessions are open to all current Wolverines, but geared toward students — are welcome to participate in as many dinners as they’d like, though gift cards are limited to one per person per topic.

Sessions aren’t going to heal all the systemic challenges to democracy — from voting access and misinformation to the impact of global environmental pressures and systemic racism — but they are trying to find an engaging approach to have productive conversations and help people move forward in a deeply polarized political climate.

Caruso, who began working with Dinners for Democracy in the spring said this experience — along with the others he’s gotten since he began on campus in Fall 2020 — has only reinforced his decision about becoming a ��-Dearborn Wolverine.

As a high school student, he considered ��-Ann Arbor and Ohio State. But after visiting the Dearborn campus, he enrolled after hiking in the 300-acre natural areas on campus, seeing the cultural diversity and hearing about undergraduate research opportunities.

“You get the individualized attention that ��-Dearborn is known for, with ��-Ann Arbor benefits,” he said. “It really is having the best of both worlds.” For example, Caruso said he has the opportunity to take part in events on both Dearborn’s campus and Ann Arbor’s campus. “I missed seeing Sen. Bernie Sanders when he was at the Fieldhouse (in March 2020) — I was at the Iowa for the caucuses at that time — and remember feeling so impressed that we had a presidential candidate on campus. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was on Ann Arbor’s campus last week for a Policy Talk @ The Ford School, so I went to that. Michigan attracts well known and experienced politicians and political scientists.” Caruso said he also bought student football season tickets and traveled to The Big House for home games.

But, out of all the activities Caruso and Kane are involved in on the Michigan campuses, political engagement is what they enjoy doing. And it’s the legacy they want to leave when they graduate.

“People arguing over who is right doesn’t lead to real policy and change. People are motivated to be politically engaged and we want to see a change in our lifetime,” Caruso said. “We need events like Dinners for Democracy to connect people with information they can use to come to an educated decision that’s right for themselves and their communities.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Student Success

Teaching Resource

University-wide

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Social Sciences

Off

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 15:41

To help the campus community learn more about issues they may encounter on the ballot, two ��-Dearborn students are working with the U-M Dinners for Democracy Program to facilitate interest on campus for the virtual sessions.

��-Dearborn students Sammy Caruso and Penny Kane want campus to get involved with the virtual Dinners for Democracy events. Graphic by Violet Dashi

In their own words

stuxbury — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 13:12:21 +0000

In their own words stuxbury Fri, 11/05/2021 - 09:12

Iraqi American writer and award-winning poet Dunya Mikhail was born in Baghdad. She recalls her classroom windows shaking from explosions, running down to lower levels of her home when she heard sirens, and ultimately fleeing Iraq during the Gulf War — many of her written works reflect war and loss.

Zeina Arafat, a Palestinian American, writes about what it’s like to be a bisexual person of color. Her 2020 novel, You Exist Too Much, is fictional, but she is a queer Arab American woman who understands feeling caught between cultural, religious and sexual identities.

These Arab American writers, and 13 other prominent authors, are featured speakers on the Center for Arab American Studies new podcast Seen Jeem, which is a dedicated space for them to discuss their lives, writing, process, and to read excerpts from their work. The podcast recently released its first episode — it features Mikhail — and weekly installments will follow.

Episodes can be streamed through Spotify. It’s also accessible from the Center for Arab American Studies or the Arab American National Museum websites.

“The Seen Jeem podcast gives us the opportunity to have in-depth conversations with artists who address challenging topics in their work,” said Center for Arab American Studies Director Sally Howell. “We are sharing voices from Arab communities, but this is an opportunity for everyone to learn through the power of storytelling and literature.”

The podcast casts a wide net to purposefully gain a variety of perspectives that represent different Arab American experiences. It also features a range of creative writing mediums like graphic novel, poetry, short story, memoir and fiction.

Creative Writing Assistant Professor Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine said the project, which is supported by a U-M Presidential Arts Initiative grant, explores universal themes — like family dynamics, identity, loss, belonging — but filtered through an Arab American perspective and expressed through published writing.

Abou-Zeineddine said the podcast strives to document Arab American literature at this moment in time because it’s an area of literature that’s gaining traction and attention.

“These authors are on the forefront and are big names in the field. The podcast will help document the evolution of Arab American literature, so that people in the future can listen to these authors speak about their works in their own words,” Abou-Zeineddine said.

He said the podcast will also benefit today’s ��-Dearborn students. “I’m teaching courses that include the works of some of these writers. When we get into class discussions, we will have, through the podcast, an intimate glimpse of the writing process from the authors themselves.”

Abou-Zeineddine and Howell — along with Arab American National Museum Director Diana Abouali and Arab American National Museum Research and Content Manager Matthew Jaber Stiffler — conducted the podcast interviews. The Arab American National Museum was an instrumental partner in the project.

The museum founded the Arab American Book Award 15 years ago to honor the growing number of books written by and about Arab Americans. Many of the writers featured on the podcast have received the award.

“The field of Arab American literature has grown so much in the last decade. We wanted to showcase the diversity and strength of the writers,” Stiffler said of the podcast partnership.

With these podcasts, the overall goal is to share insight into the diverse Arab American experience with a national audience. And Howell asks, “what better way to do this than to hear from the writers who reflect upon, share, and even shape this experience every day?”

“The Arab experience is an important part of our society and many Americans really don’t know about it. So we want to provide ways to educate the public,” she said. “One of the best ways to do that is to provide a platform for people to share their stories.”

The Seen Jeem Podcast is funded by the University of Michigan Arts Initiative and the Ford Community Development Fund..

Inclusion or Diversity

Teaching Resource

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Center for Arab American Studies

Off

Fri, 11/05/2021 - 13:10

The new Seen Jeem podcast highlights Arab and Arab American authors by providing a dedicated space to discuss their writing and to read excerpts from their work. The 15-episode podcast features a range of creative writing mediums and includes many award-w

A graphic representing podcasts, with iconography like microphones, headphones and a speech bubble.

Teaching Resource

Sharing nature’s beauty through touch, smell and sound

‘The only winning move is not to play’

'Pay attention to the world around you'

How a campus storytelling project builds community

A natural way to learn: ������-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center educators offer summer programs

Bird Watching 8 to 10 a.m. May 25

Identifying Local Trees 1 to 2:30 p.m. June 1

A Nature Walk Through Time 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22

Children's Gardening Program 6 to 7:30 p.m. June 4, 11, 18; July 2, 23; August 6, 20, 27

Summer Young Naturalist Programs For ages 7 to 9: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 8, 9, 10, 11 For ages 10-11: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 15, 16, 17, 18

Office of Research update: September 2022

Announcements

Research Events in September & October:

Research Resource Highlight: The Office of Research

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

The Sights and Sounds of Spring

This time of year, the bird is the word

But wait, there’s more…

How a new campus lab supports students from the classroom to the boardroom

A ballot initiative

In their own words

A natural way to learn: ��-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center educators offer summer programs

Bird Watching
8 to 10 a.m. May 25

Identifying Local Trees
1 to 2:30 p.m. June 1

A Nature Walk Through Time
10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22

Children's Gardening Program
6 to 7:30 p.m. June 4, 11, 18; July 2, 23; August 6, 20, 27

Summer Young Naturalist Programs
For ages 7 to 9: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 8, 9, 10, 11
For ages 10-11: 9:30 a.m. to noon July 15, 16, 17, 18