Exhibition:Pierpont Poetry Project
2025-02-14 07:00 - 22:00 (America/Detroit) | Pierpont Commons
Check out the Pierpont Poetry Project! 50 student-written poems are on display throughout Pierpont Commons. The poems were all inspired by the theme “seeking” but interpreted in many different ways - they explore themes of love, justice, family, loss, hope, identity, and more. Explore the building and find all the poems - for every poem you log, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a Literati Bookstore gift card!

Exhibition:A Prison, a Prisoner, and a Prison Guard
2025-02-14 08:00 - 23:00 | Hatcher Graduate Library - North Lobby
Join us for a multimedia exploration of the impact of prisons on countries and communities across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region through the lens of “prison art.” The exhibit delves into the dynamic interplay between incarceration and creative expression to make sense of carceral systems.

By presenting prison art from various countries in the MENA region, including Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, this exhibit unfolds as a “journey” into the prison system and demonstrates the ways in which art can be a tool of expression and reconciliation for survivors, detainees’ families, and society at large. It promotes drawing parallels between the prison experience in the region and worldwide, highlights the intentionality of carceral systems, and expands the conversation to include prison-impacted communities. Viewers are invited to navigate the cross-generational, human experiences of imprisonment often obscured behind prison walls and within individuals.

Curated by Sumaya Tabbah and Susan Aboeid of The Ḥafathah Collective, this traveling exhibit was organized by U-M Students Organize for Syria (SOS) in partnership with U-M Library and with support from the U-M Arts Initiative.

Plan to attend the related discussion, "Art, Justice, and Carcerality: The Role of Creative Expression in the Pursuit of Justice," on February 6.

Exhibition:Being Mixed Race in a Mono-racially Organized World
2025-02-14 08:00 - 23:00 | Hatcher Graduate Library - Clark Library, 2nd Floor
The exhibit "Being Mixed Race in a Mono-racially Organized World: Interracial Identity in the U.S. and Around the World — What Research and Mixed Race People Tell Us" is an exploration into the library's collections about the diversity of mixed race heritage. Through research, narratives, demographic data, and a variety of visual and published materials, explore multifaceted aspects of mixed race heritage with insights from many perspectives.

The 2020 U.S. Census illuminated a 276 percent increase in individuals who identify as "two or more races" since 2010. In recognition of the growing numbers of mixed race-identifying people at the University of Michigan, throughout the country, and across the globe, we're excited to unveil this new exhibit — a unique exploration of changing demographics and intersectional identities.

Other:MSU Invitational
2025-02-14 08:00 - 23:59 | Michigan State University
MSU Tournament

Other:Queen City Tune Up
2025-02-14 08:00 - 23:59 | Manchester Meadows Soccer Complex
chasing plastic in south carolina

Sporting Event:University of Michigan TSCHL Playoffs
2025-02-14 08:00 - 23:59 | Bird Ice Arena
University of Michigan TSCHL Playoffs at Bird Ice Arena in Athens, OH from February 14th until February 16th.

Exhibition:WCEE Exhibition. Threads of Tradition: The Art of Ukrainian Vyshyvanka
2025-02-14 08:00 - 17:00 | Weiser Hall - Room 1010
The act of embroidering and weaving designs onto cloth is deeply rooted in Ukrainian traditions. Embellished clothing (sorochky), ritual cloths (rushnyky), and household textiles accompany a person from birth until death, punctuating important life events in between. A variety of embroidery patterns are used throughout Ukraine; some stitches are universally known, while others are region-specific. Ukrainian embroidered clothing is now officially celebrated with an annual Vyshyvanka Day observed throughout the world in May.

To see photos and read more about exhibited items, visit https://myumi.ch/AZedA

The embroideries and textiles exhibited are from the private collections of Arnie Klein, Solomia Soroka, Katerina Sirinyok-Dolgaryova, and from the Ukrainian American Archives & Museum located in Hamtramck, Michigan.

The exhibit opens on September 5, 2024, in 1010 Weiser Hall, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor. Contact weisercenter@umich.edu to schedule a viewing.

*The exhibition is cosponsored by the Ukrainian American Archives & Museum*.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.

Careers / Jobs:Aerospace Engineering Career Chats
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | Off Campus Location
Hey Aerospace Engineering Students - This is for YOU!

Are you feeling lost or overwhelmed by your full-time job or internship search? Not sure where to begin, or just need a little guidance? Whether you're just starting out or already deep in the search process, we're here to help!

Join us for a quick 15-minute virtual chat with an Engineering Career Advisor. Ask us anything—from where your peers are landing jobs, to job search strategies, to personalized resume feedback. It’s a chance to get the advice you need, fast! Don’t navigate your career path alone—we’ve got your back! Let’s chat and get you one step closer to your goals.

Sign up staring 1/24 at 8am:
- Go to: app.careerfairplus.com/ume_mi/fair/5588
- Select ECRC Advisor Name
- Select an Open Time - Appointment Times are Limited!

Note: Only students within the Aerospace Engineering department are eligible for this event.

Exhibition:Andy Ross Exhibition
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | North Campus Research Complex Building 18 - Connection Gallery
The pieces here are from a large series of works made over the last several years. In them, Ross explores humor and personal meaning through absurd juxtapositions of pairs of wildly varied images. Each single image is stripped of its original context (be it, for example, a history book, an instruction manual, or a magazine advertisement), placed on a white background like some kind of specimen, and presented afresh with a new “companion image.” These companion images confront, contrast and converse with each other, and thereby build new relationships, narratives, jokes, and contexts.

Andy Ross grew up in Macomb County, and has been making art in various mediums since the 1970s. He received a BFA degree from College for Creative Studies, and an MFA degree from University of Michigan. He has taught photography, art, and web design at colleges in California and Michigan. His photographs and collages have been exhibited in schools, galleries, and museums across the United States.

Other:Big Heart Blood Battle
2025-02-14 09:00 - 15:00 | Rachel Upjohn Building - Atrium & Conference Room
Help the University of Michigan beat Penn State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin in the annual Winter Battle, hosted by Blood Drives United, in which Big Ten schools compete to see who can raise the most pints of blood! Donate blood anytime from now to February 28th at one of our participating drives and save up to three lives. Donors receive a free Big Heart shirt, a Washtenaw Dairy coupon while supplies last, a $15 e-gift card from the Red Cross, and the opportunity to join a drawing for prizes from local businesses. Go to bloodbattle.org to see the full schedule of drives, as well as the prize drawing items. Go blue and bleed blue!

Exercise / Fitness:Chair Aerobics
2025-02-14 09:00 - 10:00 | Off Campus Location - JCPenney Wing
Lifetime Fitness classes are offered at Briarwood Mall in the JCPenney wing. No experience necessary. Classes are specifically designed for older adults, however, everyone is welcome. LTF classes are free, however, please consider making a $2/person per class donation as our classes are funded strictly through donations. No registration is necessary, simply attend when it fits your schedule. Chair Aerobics classes are carefully structured to include a warm-up, a pre-aerobic stretch, sitting and standing aerobics, strength training, a cooldown, and a final stretch.

Exhibition:Chimera
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | 202 S. Thayer - Institute for the Humanities Gallery
*Chimera* is an immersive exhibition centered on a newly commissioned film, also titled *Chimera*, which fuses elements from Newsome's prior works *Hands Performance* and *Build or Destroy* with a new interquel film that bridges their narratives. This connecting piece explores the origins and journey of the bejeweled figure in flames from *Build or Destroy*, revealing where they come from and the purpose that led them to Earth. This exhibition reflects a bold shift in Newsome's practice toward sci-fi filmmaking, layering the architecture of film, movement, and world-building to probe themes of identity, resistance, and creation. Complete details at https://myumi.ch/kZbyp.

Conference / Symposium:Electric – Water Utility Resilience Summit
2025-02-14 09:00 - 12:00 | Ford Robotics Building - Main atrium
The University of Michigan Urban Collaboratory and the Center for Risk Analysis Informed Decision Engineering invites you to a 1-1/2 day summit on Electric – Water Utility Resiliency on February 13 and 14 at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor NCRC campus. Co-sponsors include the Great Lakes Water Authority, Consumers Energy, DTE, and ITC.

This first-of-its-kind summit will bring together key infrastructure providers from Michigan to collaborate on creating regional resilience.

Join us for fascinating interactive discussions and action planning.

Day 1 (February 13, 9 am – 4 pm)

Discussions of resilience challenges and potential among all participants to frame issues and solutions. The session includes a light lunch.

Day 2 (February 14, 9 am – 12 pm). Day 2 is already at capacity

Interactive development of cross-organizational teams and action plans to address the key issues raised during Day 1 to increase resilience in Southeast Michigan.

Exhibition:Elizabeth Boyd-Hartmann Dizik Exhibition
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | North Campus Research Complex Building 18 - Rotunda Gallery
This body of work represents a playful exploration of form, color, and scale through the lens of cellular shapes. Inspired by the complex patterns of biological life, the pieces are a celebration of growth, transformation, and the joy of experimentation. The use of non-precious materials, such as wood balls and paint, allowed for a liberating approach to composition and color, while the spherical forms and circular panels evoke the look of petri dishes—symbolizing both scientific curiosity and organic development.
Born in Detroit, Elizabeth is a multidisciplinary artist and mother based in the metro Detroit area, where she works from a studio in her home. With a background in bench jewelry, her earlier work focused on studio jewelry and was represented by Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montreal.
Elizabeth’s work has been exhibited both locally and internationally. She holds a BA in Jewelry Design, with First Class Honours, from Central Saint Martins in London, a BFA from the University of Michigan, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she specialized in Metalsmithing and Architecture. Her diverse practice spans jewelry, sculpture, and installation, blending materials and techniques to explore themes of production, growth, transformation, and organic form.

Exhibition:On the World With the World
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | 202 S. Thayer - Institute for the Humanities Osterman Common Room, #1022
*On The World With The World* is an exhibition of 40 artworks by over 24 artists from the Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC) program. PASC is the first progressive art studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance artistic practices and build individual careers in the art and design fields.

This exhibition introduces the PASC program, and the wide range of styles and ways of working that drive this community of artists, to the Ann Arbor community. The exhibition is hung salon style, referencing the communal character of the Osterman Common Room as a social gathering space. It intends to bring engaged people together for conversation on art, disabilities, and questions of access in the art world.

PASC embraces the philosophy that creating an artwork is an expressive and communal act whereby an individual communicates their unique perspective on the world with the world.

Presentation:Psychology Methods Hour: Power Analysis Has Lost Its Way: New Methods To Bring It Back Home
2025-02-14 09:00 - 10:00 | East Hall - 4448
In a time when the alarms of research replicability are sounding louder than ever, mapping out studies with statistical and inferential integrity is of paramount importance. Indeed, funding agencies almost always require grant applicants to present compelling a priori power analyses to justify proposed sample sizes, in an effort to ensure a sound investment. Unfortunately, even researchers’ most sincere attempts at sample size planning are fraught with the fundamental challenge of setting numerical values not just for the focal parameters for which statistical tests are planned, but for each of the model’s other more peripheral or contextual parameters as well. As we plainly demonstrate, regarding the latter parameters, even in very simple models well-intentioned numerical guesses that are even slightly off can undermine power for the assessment of the more focal parameters that are of key theoretical interest. Toward remedying this all-too-common but seemingly underestimated problem in power analysis, we adopt a hope-for-the-best-but-plan-for-the-worst mindset and present new methods that attempt (1) to restore appropriate conservatism and robustness, and in turn credibility, to the sample size planning process, and (2) to greatly simplify that process. Derivations and suggestions for practice are presented using the framework of measured variable path analysis models as they subsume many of the types of models (e.g., multiple linear regression, ANOVA) for which sample size planning is of interest.

Exhibition:Red Summer: Racial Violence in the American Landscape, 1917-1923
2025-02-14 09:00 - 16:30 | East Quadrangle - RC Art Gallery
The Red Summer portfolio represents the stories of various locations in the American landscape where racial violence (often characterized as “Race Wars” at the time) erupted between 1917 and 1923. These years of conflict reveal several aspects of racial anxiety that inform our contemporary experience, including, though not limited to; racism, fear of violent black revolt, lynching, poverty, mass incarceration, and competition for employment. The term “Red Summer” was first used by James Weldon Johnson to describe the violent attacks against black communities during 1919.

Though the events of the early twentieth century seem to be remote and fading apparitions of an American past; my work is concerned with the power and influence of our shared historical narrative upon the present. The upheaval of Red Summer occurred approximately fifty years after the American Civil War, fifty years before the height of the Civil Rights Era, and three centuries after the first enslaved Africans arrived in English colonies that would become the United States.

The project combines photographs of the contemporary landscape made at or near the site of racial conflict with fragmented selections of contemporaneous newspaper reporting (1917-1923). In many cases, the newsprint images include the surrounding stories or advertisements. The combination of the landscape photograph and the reproduction of newspaper fragments (which invade the contemporary with a narrative from the past), is a rupture and a conversation on the timeline between past and present.

Exhibition:Redefining the Crown
2025-02-14 09:00 - 16:00 | Lane Hall
In Winter 2025, the Lane Hall exhibit space will feature a portraiture series titled Redefining the Crown showcasing the powerful stories of six Black breast cancer survivors.

Based on a photo essay by U-M Faculty Versha Pleasant (MD/MPH) and Ava Purkiss (PhD) in Medicine at Michigan, this exhibition examines the cultural and personal significance of hair within Black communities, particularly through the lens of breast cancer treatment and recovery. The term "crown" is deeply symbolic in Black culture, signifying beauty, strength, and identity. The featured photo essay by photographer Tafari Stevenson-Howard captures the intimate journeys of Ann Chatman, Tanisha Kennedy, Felecia McDaniel, Shantell Elaine McCoy, Tamara Lynn Myles, and Veleria Banks.

Through their narratives and portraits, the exhibit examines how these women have navigated the profound impact of hair loss caused by chemotherapy, inviting the audience to witness their stories with radical empathy. It explores the cultural pride and personal identity intricately tied to their hair, and how these elements are redefined amidst their battles with breast cancer.

The exhibit will be on view from January 21, 2025 to August 8, 2025. This exhibition is presented with support from IRWG, the Department of Women's and Gender Studies, and Michigan Medicine.

Located on the first floor of Lane Hall (204 S. State Street), the Exhibit Space is free and open to the public, M-F, 9am-4pm.

Conference / Symposium:South Asian Language Programs Pedagogy Conference | Meeting Teaching Challenges with South Asian Pedagogy
2025-02-14 09:00 - 17:00 | North Quad - Room 2435
South Asian language instructors from Big Ten institutions will share their teaching challenges and experiences. The instructors will explore the possibility of collaborations in teaching and material production, and aim to design a standard curriculum for South Asian languages that would help in meeting CourseShare demands and challenges across the institutions. The conference also aims to share expertise with the SA community and public school instructors.

Day 1: Breakfast, Registration, and Welcome 9:00 - 9:30 am
Keynote Address: 9:30 – 10:30 am
Felecia Lucht, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Strategies for Facilitating Interaction and Collaboration in the Target Language
Session One: 10:45 am – noon
Shaheen Parveen, Rutgers-New Brunswick
Proficiency-based lessons aligned with ACTFL’s World Readiness Standards
Jameel Ahmed, University of Washington
Three Years Integrated Urdu Curriculum: Balancing All Four Skills
Julie Evershed, U-M
The Language Resource Center: Role and resources
U-M Language Resource Center Tour 12:00 –12:30 pm
Lunch Break
Session Two: 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Second Keynote: Pranjali Sarasao, U-C Berkeley
Shaping the Future of Language Teaching: Collaboration Between Academia, Industry, and Technology
Mithilesh Mishra, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Using AI for Developing Metacognition in Language Teaching and Learning
Session Three: 3:00 – 3:45 pm
Rashmi Sharma, Indiana University
How to Trick the Tricksters
FLTA (Urdu)
Sneha Sharma, U-M
Leveraging Code Mixing in Hindi: Bridging Linguistic Gapes in Multilingual Classrooms
Spozmai Khan

Session Four: 3:45 – 4:15 pm
Keynote Address: Christi Merrill, U-M
Day 2:
Breakfast and Welcome 9:00 – 9:45 am
Somnath Ghosh, Consulate General of India, Chicago 9:45 – 10:00 am
Syed Ali, U-M 10:00 –10:15 am
Grammar and Vocabulary Teaching Strategies
David Brick, U-M 10:15 - 10:30 am
Approaches to Teaching Sanskrit at an American University
Pinderjeet Gill & Faijul Hoque 10:30 - 11:00 am Engaging Students Through Project-Based Learning

Break 11:00 - 11:15am

Umar Anjum , U-M 11:15 - 11:30am
Creating Themes Specific Images Using AI in Urdu
Pathima Raviraj, U-M 11:30 –11:45 am
Addressing Linguistic and Pedagogical Barriers in Tamil Language Teaching
Phill Cameron, U-M 11:45 –12:00 pm
Introduction to H5P and Presentational Games
Lunch Break 12:00 –12:30 pm
The Role of Community 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Shahid Iqbal
Talat Awais
Samina Kasim
The Role of Community in Keeping the Language Alive
Vijay Sharma
Muktak Sharma
Geeta Sharma
Sarita Singh
Chandrashekhar Singh
Garima Periwal
Monika Dressler, UofM CourseShare Coordinator 2:00 – 4:00 pm
CourseShare challenges–perspective for developing collaborations
CourseShare collaborations and challenges—group discussion
Standardization of South Asian languages curriculum across BTAA institutions
Building bridges and developing collaborations for material development and sharing
Concluding remarks (Syed Ali)

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at csas@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.

Exhibition:The Bibliophile and the Library: Private-Press Books from the Collection of Bill Heidrich
2025-02-14 09:00 - 20:00 | Hatcher Graduate Library - Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room, 1st floor
View beautifully illustrated books that stand as remarkable testaments to the work of twentieth-century small private presses, which, in contrast to the trend of mass commercialization, produced limited editions that celebrated the uniqueness of manual craftsmanship. Features such as exquisite typeface design, letterpress printing, handmade paper, traditional illustration techniques like woodcut and engraving, and the inclusion of original art by renowned artists highlight the presses' dedication to artistry and detail.

The display opens with an edition of "The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer," published in 1896 by William Morris at his Kelmscott Press, a pivotal press that greatly influenced the development of the private press movement as a means of preserving and revitalizing the fine printing and art traditions of the past. Additionally, the exhibit includes some examples of artist’s proofs, offering a glimpse into the intricate creative process behind these exceptional works.

These books are on loan from the collection of Bill Heidrich, a long-time supporter of the University of Michigan Library.

Other:Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1
2025-02-14 09:30 - 23:59 | Monogram Foods Smith River Sports Complex
Fly's first OUTDOOR 7v7 tournament of the year!

Workshop / Seminar:Identifying coherent structures and controlling turbulent flows through deep learning
2025-02-14 09:30 - 10:30 | Lurie Robert H. Engin. Ctr - 2210
Time and location: February 14, 2025, 9:30 - 10:30 am, 2210 Lurie Engineering Center
To join via Zoom: https://umich.zoom.us/j/97823527756?pwd=[REDACTED]

Abstract: In this work we first use explainable deep learning based on Shapley explanations to identify the most important regions for predicting the future states of a turbulent channel flow. The explainability framework (based on gradient SHAP) is applied to each grid point in the domain, and through percolation analysis we identify coherent flow regions of high importance. These regions have around 70% overlap with the intense Reynolds-stress (Q) events in two-dimensional vertical planes. Interestingly, these importance-based structures have high overlap with classical turbulence structures (Q events, streaks and vortex clusters) in different wall-normal locations, suggesting that this new framework provides a more comprehensive way to study turbulence. We also discuss the application of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to discover active-flow-control strategies for turbulent flows, including turbulent channels, three-dimensional cylinders and turbulent separation bubbles. In all the cases, the discovered DRL-based strategies significantly outperform classical flow-control approaches. We conclude that DRL has tremendous potential for drag reduction in a wide range of complex turbulent-flow configurations.

Bio: Dr. Ricardo Vinuesa is joining the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 2025. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), and he received his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His research combines numerical simulations and data-driven methods to understand, control and predict complex wall-bounded turbulent flows, such as the boundary layers developing around wings and urban environments. Dr. Vinuesa has received, among others, an ERC Consolidator Grant, the TSFP Kasagi Award, the MST Emerging Leaders Award, the Goran Gustafsson Award for Young Researchers, the IIT Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, the SARES Young Researcher Award and he leads several large Horizon Europe projects. He is also a member of the Young Academy of Science of Spain.

Well-being:"Let's Talk": Informal, Drop-In Mental Health Counseling
2025-02-14 10:00 - 12:00 | Bursley Hall - 2329B
Trained mental health counselors are now available for drop-in conversations at different times and locations across campus, including at Trotter, the Spectrum Center, South Quad, the International Center, and Bursley.

This informal, confidential “office hours” style can be a great fit for students unsure about formal counseling; for those with a specific, time-limited concern they’d like to talk through; or those seeking information on campus resources. Please note: this is not meant for crisis or emergency support.

"Let's Talk" will run from January 20th 2025 to April 25th 2025. There will be no drop-ins the week of Spring Break (March 3rd - 7th).

Monday: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm with Markie Silverman, Ph.D., LP, Room 2035 in Trotter Multicultural Center
Tuesday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm with Marcella A. Beaumont, Ph.D., Room 3032 in The Spectrum Center (Michigan Union)
Wednesday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm with Emily Malinowski, LMSW, Room 1721A in South Quad Housing
Thursday: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm with Ling Liu, Ph.D. & Chunyu Xu, M.Ed., M.S.Ed., Conference Room in the International Center
Friday: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm with Kayla Douglas, LMSW, and Emily Powers, LLMSW, Room 2329B in Bursley Housing

Exhibition:A Gathering
2025-02-14 10:00 - 20:00 | Museum of Art - Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Apse
Welcome. Make Yourself At Home.

A Gathering brings together the newest works of art to enter UMMA’s collection — many on display here for the first time.

As a free, public museum, UMMA staff takes care of art for the benefit of the community and society at large. The works on view in this exhibition, all brought into the Museum between 2019 and the present, shows how institutions like UMMA are becoming more permeable to societal challenges, and more nimble in responding to them in service to all in their communities. In this exhibition you will find works that reflect on how global migrations, race, gender, and ecological change shape the way we engage with the world and inform our visions for the future.

This collection of artistic engagements with issues give us tools to envision who we want to be as individuals, as a museum, and as a society, connected to one another across space and experience.

So gather here to take in these latest works of art brought here for you. Gather here to be engulfed in their forms and meanings, to discuss their takes, to learn, to disagree. Gather to relax, make a friend, drink a coffee, finish the daily Wordle. Gather to feel full, to be moved and inspired by all the possible imaginations of what is yet to come.

Curated by Félix Zamora Gómez Irving Stenn, Jr. Fellow in Public Humanities & Museum Pedagogy

Lead support for this exhibition is provided by Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, the Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment, and the University of Michigan Office of the Provost.

Meeting:La Tertulia: Spanish Coffee Hour
2025-02-14 10:00 - 11:00 | Modern Languages Building - RLL Commons (MLB 4314)
Spanish Coffee & Conversation Hours

ALL LEVELS AND STUDENTS WELCOME!
- Practice your Spanish speaking skills with students and instructors in a welcoming and relaxed setting
- Free coffee, tea, light snacks, and baked goods
- Get advice on courses and discuss study abroad

Every Friday, Winter 2025
January 10 to April 18
10:00am - 11:00 am
4th Floor, MLB Commons

Other:Leaves Under the Lens
2025-02-14 10:00 - 16:30 | Matthaei Botanical Gardens
The leaf surface is a dynamic landscape where tiny, specialized structures help plants interact with the world around them. Let’s bring this world into view! Join us for an exhibit that highlights the complex and often beautiful anatomy of leaves from the Matthaei collection. Plants throughout the conservatory will be paired with microscope photographs and micro-CT scans that illustrate the otherwise invisible structures that protect leaves from chewing insects, absorb (or repel!) water, and even recruit “bodyguards”. You won’t look at leaves the same way again!

This project is a collaboration between MBGNA and the Weber and Vasconcelos labs in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, led by PhD student Rosemary Glos.

Workshop / Seminar:Statistics Department Seminar Series: Yixin Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Michigan.
2025-02-14 10:00 - 11:00 | West Hall - 340
Abstract: Causal inference traditionally relies on tabular data, where treatments, outcomes, and covariates are manually collected and labeled. However, many real-world problems involve unstructured data—images, text, and videos—where treatments or outcomes are high-dimensional and unstructured, or all causal variables are hidden within the unstructured observations. This talk explores causal inference in such settings.

We begin with cases where all causal variables (including treatments, outcomes, covariates) are hidden in unstructured observations. These causal problems require a crucial first step, extracting high-level latent causal factors from raw unstructured inputs. We develop algorithms to identify these factors. While traditional methods often assume statistical independence, causal factors are often correlated or causally connected. Our key observation is that, despite correlations, the causal connections (or the lack of) among factors leave geometric signatures in the latent factors' support - the ranges of values each can take. These signatures allow us to provably identify latent causal factors from passive observations, interventions, or multi-domain datasets (up to different transformations).

Next, we tackle cases where unstructured data itself serves as either the treatment or the outcome. In these cases, standard causal queries like average treatment effect (ATE) are not suitable—subtracting one text, image, or video outcome from another is meaningless. High-dimensional unstructured treatments also challenge the overlap assumption required for causal identification. To address these challenges, we propose new causal queries: for unstructured outcomes, we pinpoint outcome features most affected by the treatment; for unstructured treatments, we identify influential treatment features driving outcome differences. Finally, we extend these ideas to decision-making algorithms, such as optimizing natural language actions for desired outcomes.

https://yixinwang.github.io/

Workshop / Seminar:Story Lab Winter Retreats
2025-02-14 10:00 - 14:30
Story Lab develops executive-level presence and communication skills through storytelling workshops and events. To be an effective leader — at work, in the community, or in your personal life — you must be able to communicate with impact. Often this means telling stories that are meaningful to you and others, and doing so in the rich language and expressive style of a seasoned storyteller. If you can craft and deliver an effective story, you will be better able to convey your value to recruiters, inspire and motivate classmates and colleagues, and influence your audience. At Story Lab, you’ll find an immersive experience and an opportunity to hone your skills in a safe and supportive environment.

DATES
Feb 13 | 4:30-9 PM (virtual) OR Feb 14 | 10 AM-2:30 PM (in-person)
Develop your storytelling abilities.

PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS
Students with a strong interest in building storytelling abilities and leadership development. Any level student at any school is welcome.

Register between Jan 28–Feb 7.

Visit our webpage to learn more!

Exhibition:Unsettling Histories: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism
2025-02-14 10:00 - 20:00 | Museum of Art - European and American Decorative Art
Organized as a response to the Museum’s recent acquisition of Titus Kaphar’s Flay (James Madison), this upcoming reinstallation of one of our most prominent gallery spaces forces us to grapple with our collection of European and American art, 1650-1850.

In recent times, growing public awareness of the continued reverberations of the legacy of slavery and colonization has challenged museums to examine the uncomfortable histories contained in our collections, and challenged the public to probe the choices we make about those stories. Choices about which artists you see in our galleries, choices about what relevant facts we share about the works, and choices about what - out of an infinite number of options - we don’t say about them.

Pieces in this exhibition were made at a time when the world came to be shaped by the ideologies of colonial expansion and Western domination. And yet, that history and the stories of those marginalized do not readily appear in the still lives and portraits on display here. By grappling with what is visible and what remains hidden, we are forced to examine whose stories and histories are prioritized and why.

In this online exhibition, you can explore our efforts to deeply question the Museum’s collection and our own past complicity in favoring colonial voices. In the Museum gallery, which will open in early 2021, you’ll be able to experience the changes we’re making to the physical space to highlight a more honest version of European and American history.

By challenging our own practice, and continuing to add to what we know and what we write about the works we display, UMMA tells a more complex and more complete story of this nation - one that unsettles, and fails to settle for, simple narratives.

“Invisible things are not necessarily ‘not there’.... Certain absences are so stressed, so ornate, so planned, they call attention to themselves; arrest us with intentionality and purpose, like neighborhoods that are defined by the population held away from them.”

— Toni Morrison

Lead support for Unsettling Histories: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, the U-M Arts Initiative, and the Susan and Richard Gutow Endowed Fund.

Workshop / Seminar:Washtenaw County Health Department Tour (Undergraduate)
2025-02-14 10:00 - 11:30 | Washtenaw County Health Department
Come join Lauren Czarnowczan from the Practice Office in collaboration with Patty Krause, Community Health Analyst, with the Washtenaw County Health Department for a tour, conversation, and fun activities centered around public health on Friday, February 14 from 10:00-11:30. **This date is specifically reserved for undergraduate public health students. This is a great opportunity to learn more about local public health and to network. Space is limited to 10 seats. You will need to provide your own transportation. Light snacks will be provided.

Careers / Jobs:Data & Research Methods Project: Office Hours
2025-02-14 11:00 - 12:00
All students are invited to join this free and open data science research project which can be used to supplement your digital research portfolio! On Friday, February 14th, we will meet for our first open Office Hours session to troubleshoot participant projects. Register and learn more: https://nebigdatahub.org/drm-project/ The Data & Research Methods project is perfect for beginners who have never worked with a dataset before. This project will also be helpful for advanced data science students who have little experience working with data cleaning or survey building, desk research, or data visualizations. The focus of this project is the research process as a whole.It is the first day of your new job as the Junior Data Scientist forthe Office of the Mayor in the fictional town of Data Lake, West Dakota.The population of Data Lake (314,159) has grown rapidly since 2020 as a number of remote workers have relocated to the mid-size city. Mayor “Tess Ellation” has tasked your office with a project – to learn more about the specific needs of the town’s new remote work population. She asks you to review data on remote workers provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and come back to her with at least two data-driven policy recommendations which will support these new Data Lake families (for example, a policy recommendation might be: build new coworking spaces downtown). Your policy recommendations must be informed by data analysis or Mayor Ellation will not adopt them. Participants will clean a dataset, learn about the ethics of data science research, do some preliminary analysis,and develop a working hypothesis about the impact of remote work policies. You'll build some simple data visualizations, test your hypotheses, write up a short conclusion, and prepare a final report for Mayor Ellation. There are 9 Milestones in this project. There are several Tasks you need to complete within each Milestone. This project should take you no more than 30 hours to finish. Depending on your skill level, it maytake you less time.In this project, you will learn using a combination of videos, articles, and external data work in spreadsheets. Our team has provided you with several external links and resources which will supplement your learning.Project participants who complete Milestones 1-9 in accordance with these instructions will receive a Certificate ofCompletion from the NSDC Project Team.

Lecture / Discussion:Douglass Day 2025
2025-02-14 11:00 - 16:00 | Hatcher Graduate Library - Gallery, 1st Floor
We invite you to a birthday party for Frederick Douglass. Although Douglass was born into bondage, and never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14th. Join us for a day of transcription, discussion, birthday cake, and celebration of Black History.

This year, we will be celebrating the publication of a new edition of Malinda Russell’s A Domestic Cook Book by Michigan Publishing. Following the theme of this year’s event, “You Make History,” we will have activities that encourage participants to share about their own food traditions, and feature a cake made using one of Malinda Russel’s recipes as one of the birthday cakes.

Jessica Kenyatta Walker will give the keynote address, entitled "From the Hearth to the Side Room: African American Domestic Cultures."

The Transcribe-a-thon will focus on the African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress. It includes speeches, sermons, biographies, narratives, and records from the history of Black political activism. It contains writings by Frederick Douglass, William Still, Angelina Grimké Weld–and many more!

SCHEDULE (join us for some or all)

10:30 am–12:30 pm: Special Collections pop-up featuring "The North Star" newspaper and "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass."

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Keynote Address by Dr. Jessica Kenyatta Walker

12:00–12:30 pm: Douglass day Livestream

12:30–1:00 pm: Transcription
*Share your Food History!
*Transcribe historical documents from the Library of Congress’ African American Perspectives collection
*Light snacks and refreshments

1:00-2:00 pm: Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass!
*Desserts from local Black-owned bakeries
*Learn about Malinda Russell’s A Domestic Cookbook

2:00–4:00 pm: Free transcription time
*Share your Food History!
*Transcribe historical documents from the Library of Congress’ African American Perspectives collection
*Light snacks and refreshments

Lecture / Discussion:Kisses in the Archives
2025-02-14 11:00 - 12:00 | William Clements Library
Visit the Clements Library for Valentine's Day! Associate Curator of Manuscripts Jayne Ptolomy will give a short presentation about the "kisses" that she has discovered in the Clements collection. Attendees will have time to peruse archival materials in person followed by an opportunity to view the current exhibit "More Than Gray: Reimagining Early America in Full Color" featuring a vibrant red lipstick kiss that inspired this program. Space is limited, so please register in advance.

Meeting:LingAMod
2025-02-14 11:00 - 11:50 | Lorch Hall - 455
The language across modalities discussion group provides a space for students, faculty, and community members to discuss research that spans the modes of human communication -- speech, sign, gesture, and more. Our group meets to discuss research articles and to informally present ongoing research. All meetings have captioning or ASL-English interpreting.

Careers / Jobs:LSA Internship Scholarship Office Hours
2025-02-14 11:00 - 14:00 | Off Campus Location
Do you have questions about the LSA Internship Scholarship? Drop in during our virtual office hours! Whether you need help with your application or have any other questions, we’re here to help. Pop into our Zoom session at a time that works for you. These drop-in style office hours are designed for students who have questions regarding the LSA Internship Scholarship Application or internship eligibility requirements.

Click Here to Sign Up for your timeslot today!

The priority deadline for the scholarship is April 1!

Cant make it? Check out our other dates below:

February 28, 11am-2pm

March 14, 11am-2pm

March 28, 12-3pm

April 4, 11am-2pm

April 11, 11am-2pm

April 25, 11am-2pm

May 9, 12-3pm

Exhibition:Michelle Hinojosa: Logcabins
2025-02-14 11:02 - 17:00 | Off Campus Location
Stamps Gallery commissioned Michelle Hinojosa (MFA, 2023) to reimagine the pillars on Division Street that flank the Gallery. Hinojosa has created log cabin quilts to adorn the columns in front of Stamps Gallery. The log cabin quilts traditionally represent the warm hearth at the center of a home. This installation reflects on the interplay between home, placemaking, labor, and intergenerational memories of migration. Rather than quilting cotton designed to softly embrace the body, these quilts are sewn from outdoor grade, UV-resistant polyester. The quilt is an ode to Hinojosa’s grandmother who illegally crossed the US/Mexico border holding her babies and her quilts. As she and her family drove across the United States to work in the fields of the Salinas Valley, the quilts offered a safe space for her and her family. Hinojosa celebrates their resilience to her grandmother and elders while also drawing attention to precarity and violence experienced by refugees and migrants crossing the US-Mexico border in our present today.
Artist’s bio:
Michelle Inez Hinojosa is an artist, educator, and researcher whose work is informed by Indigenous and Latine/x/a/o studies. Born and raised in Texas, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in both drawing and painting and art education with a minor in art history at the University of North Texas. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. She works with quilting, bead weaving, embroidery, jewelry, transparent film installations, painting, ceramics, and sculpture to honor and explore the history of migration in her family and humanize the current discourse around migration still occurring at the southern border. Alongside her artwork she maintains a writing practice to re-story, re-make, and re-claim the often subordinated narratives of Latinx, Chicanx, Mexican, and Texican peoples.

Recently, Hinojosa was named an inaugural Creative Careers Artist in Residence at the University of Michigan, she has also attended residencies at Mildred's Lane (Pennsylvania), Anderson Ranch Art Center (Aspen, CO) and The Cedars Union (Dallas, TX).

Workshop / Seminar:American Institutions Group
2025-02-14 12:00 - 16:00 | Haven Hall - Walker, 5664
The American Institutions Group (AIG) is a Rackham interdisciplinary workshop for faculty and graduate students that meets twice a month to discuss recent and forthcoming research on American political institutions (e.g. Congress, the presidency, state legislatures and executives, the courts, and the bureaucracy). Our key goals are to offer new and varied perspectives for graduate students to harness in their own dissertation work on American political institutions; encourage conversations that breed new research ideas; and spur innovative collaborations among our participants. AIG participants are scholars in political science, public health, social work, public policy, and economics interested in examinations of American political institutions from the perspective of these disciplines.

Faculty Coordinators: Charles R. Shipan, Christian Fong

Graduate Coordinators: Karla Magaña & Carlos Galina

Exhibition:Colorism Multimedia Exhibit
2025-02-14 12:00 - 18:00 | Duderstadt Center
Colorism comprises works of video, still photography, and sculpture questioning our psychosocial and biological ideas about skin color and treatment of people, based on skin tones, including within racial groups. This exhibit asks: What do we know about the root causes of prejudice toward skin color? What can we do to improve interpersonal and structural colorism? To answer these questions, Prof. Rogério Pinto (Social Work) uses personal and historical materials and interview data to optimize audience interaction, including critical dialogues around colorism while audiences are viewing the installation or immediately after viewing it.

Workshop / Seminar:Doctoral Internships and Working with a Ph.D. at the Petey Greene Program
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual via Zoom
During this informational session, staff from the Petey Greene Program will talk about the kind of projects a Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellow would be involved with at the organization, as well as their roles and career paths to the program with a Ph.D.There will be opportunities to ask questions and learn about the organization's work, so come with questions!Panelists:Colette Johnson, PhD, Executive Director of Business Development and StrategyChiara Benetollo, PhD, Executive Director, Puttkammer Center for Educational Justice and Equity

Workshop / Seminar:Doctoral Internships and Working with a Ph.D. at the Petey Greene Program
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Off Campus Location
During this informational session, staff from the Petey Greene Program will talk about the kind of projects a Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellow would be involved with at the organization, as well as their roles and career paths to the program with a Ph.D.
There will be opportunities to ask questions and learn about the organization’s work, so come with questions!
Panelists:
Colette Johnson, Executive Director of Business Development and Strategy
Chiara Benetollo, Executive Director, Puttkammer Center for Educational Justice and Equity
Registration is required at https://myumi.ch/G4PNn.
We want to ensure full and equitable participation in our events. If an accommodation would promote your full participation in this event, please follow the registration link to indicate your accommodation requirements. Please let us know as soon as possible in order to have adequate time, preferably one week, to arrange for your requested accommodations or an effective alternative.

Lecture / Discussion:Global South Gender & Sexuality Collective: Elective Affinities: Women’s Agency and Televisual Flows Between Modi's India and Erdogan’s Türkiye
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:30 | Lane Hall - 2239
Swapnil Rai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Media at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Focusing on the global south, she investigates how transnational networked cultures intersect with the media industries and with questions of policy, geopolitics, and audiences. She is the author of *Networked Bollywood: How Star Power Globalized Hindi Cinema (Cambridge University Press, 2024)*.

February 14, 2024
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Room 2239, Lane Hall
or via Zoom

Lecture / Discussion:Global South Gender & Sexuality Collective: Elective Affinities: Women’s Agency and Televisual Flows Between Modi's India and Erdogan’s Türkiye
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:30 | Off Campus Location

Well-being:Heartfulness Guided Meditation
2025-02-14 12:00 - 12:30 | Off Campus Location
Heartfulness Guided Meditation is a weekly, drop-in program designed to help you Mental well-being.

All U-M students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate in guided meditation practice with a trainer every Friday at noon over Zoom (details to join are provided below). No prior experience with meditation is required.

*What will you learn?*

The guided meditation practice involves three simple steps: relaxation, rejuvenation, and meditation.

Relaxation brings your body to a calm, steady posture creating a stillness at the physical level, and prepares the mind for meditation. We follow this with a rejuvenation method to detox the mind to let go of stress and complex emotions, and will leave you feeling light and refreshed. Lastly, learning to meditate by being mindful of your heart will connect you with yourself by listening to your heart’s voice.

*Why Meditate?*

While physical fitness keeps our bodies in shape, meditation is an exercise for the mind and mental wellness. In addition to the measurable benefits mentally and physically, many people benefit from an unquantifiable inner poise and harmony.

*Please take Learn to Meditate session if you are new to the practice. These sessions are offered Monthly.* https://events.umich.edu/event/128708

*Event Details*

Heartfulness Guided Meditation
Fridays from 12-12:30 p.m. ET (except during university season days / holidays)
Join Via Zoom Meeting
Register to receive Passcode (see “Related links”

This wellness program is coordinated by ITS Teaching & Learning and provided at no cost by heartfulness.org.

Lecture / Discussion:Jeffrey R. Parsons Lecture - War and Politics before the Incas: An Archaeology of Andean Community and Conflict
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:30 | School of Education - 1322
For Andean South Americans, violent conflict did not just destroy; it structured politics and communities in ways that ranged from leadership roles and gender ideologies to understandings of group identity, territory, land, and ancestors. This talk draws on two decades of investigation of hillfort settlements (pukaras) in the Peruvian Titicaca Basin as an entry point to explore the varied forms of Andean community that crystallized around conflict, defense, and aggression. I consider pukaras, and the societies they sheltered, within a broader panorama of war-related political dynamics over Andean time and space.

Performance:Jenna Moon, carillon
2025-02-14 12:00 - 12:30 | Burton Memorial Tower
SMTD doctoral alumna Jenna Moon performs on the Charles Baird Carillon, an instrument of 53 bronze bells located inside the Burton Memorial Tower. The largest bell, which strikes the hour, weighs 12 tons, while the smallest bell, 4½ octaves above, weighs just 15 pounds.

Thirty-minute recitals are performed on the Charles Baird Carillon at noon every weekday that classes are in session, followed by visitor Q&A with the carillonist. The bell chamber may be accessed via a combination of elevator and stairs. Take the elevator to the highest floor possible (floor 8), and then climb two flights of stairs (39 steps) to the bell chamber (floor 10). Hearing protection earmuffs are provided for visitors. Be prepared to walk on ice and snow in the bell chamber during winter. Built in 1936, the Charles Baird Carillon is not ADA accessible. Visitors with mobility concerns are invited to visit the Lurie Carillon.

Workshop / Seminar:MCDB Seminar> Redox regulation of gene expression and protein repair in chloroplasts
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Biological Sciences Building - 1060
Host: Andrzej Wierzbicki

Exhibition:More than Gray: Reimagining Early America in Full Color
2025-02-14 12:00 - 16:00 | William Clements Library
The American past was lived in full color, but this vibrant history can be easily missed in surviving evidence. You can’t deny that there’s something about a black-and-white photograph that feels… stuffy. With portraits showing people with their shirts buttoned right to the neck and everything in shades of gray and brown, our imaginations can incline to thinking of the past as a bit staid, if not downright dull. But look a little closer, and you’ll see signs that the fashion choices available to those who came before us were more colorful than you might first think. From the fabrics they wore, to the games they played, or the books they read, their world was alive with bright hues. This exhibit invites you to reimagine history with a fuller color palette and picture the vibrancy and joy that just might be hidden behind the unsmiling photographs.

Exhibition opening weekdays from 12-4.

Film Screening:Sea Monsters
2025-02-14 12:00 - 12:30 | Museum of Natural History - Planetarium & Dome Theater
The film follows a curious and adventurous Dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all– the mosasaur.

Tours:Coral Reef Tank Visit
2025-02-14 12:30 - 13:00 | Museum of Natural History - Welcome Desk
Join Professor Jim Bardwell for a peek behind the scenes at his large coral reef tank featuring many species of coral, anemone, and fish. Explore reef ecology and, if you're lucky, get a glimpse of a reclusive octopus! 30 minutes, limit 12 people. This program takes place in the research area of the Biological Sciences Building and is recommended for ages 6 and up.
Space is available first come, first served. Sign up and meet at the Welcome desk.

Tours:Mid-Day Morsel Tour | Love and Marriage
2025-02-14 12:30 - 13:00 | Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Looking for something to feed your brain on your lunch hour? The Mid-Day Morsel tour at the Kelsey Museum is a 30-minute taste of ancient Mediterranean history and artifact highlights in the Kelsey collection. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, this tour will explore the themes of love and marriage in the ancient world.

Mid-Day Morsel tours begin at 12:30 PM. No registration is needed. Tour participants should gather at our Maynard Street entrance a few minutes before the tour is scheduled to start.

This event is free and open to all visitors. If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessing this event, please visit our accessibility page at https://myumi.ch/zwPkd or contact the education office by calling (734) 647-4167. We ask for advance notice as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.

Workshop / Seminar:Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal Launch Party
2025-02-14 12:30 - 16:00 | Weiser Hall 10th Floor
Celebrate the publication of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal with the DISCO Network and the Digital Studies Institute! Join us for the release of our new multi-authored monograph, Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal with seven of the book's fourteen co-authors.
Co-authors in attendance include Huan He (Vanderbilt University), Rayvon Fouché (Northwestern University), Jeff Nagy (York University), Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan), Rianna Walcott (University of Maryland), Remi Yergeau (Carleton University), and Lida Zeitlin-Wu (Old Dominion University).
For more information about Technoskepticism and this event, please visit the DISCO Network website.

Lecture / Discussion:Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal Launch Party
2025-02-14 12:30 - 16:00 | Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
Celebrate the publication of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal with the DISCO Network and the Digital Studies Institute! Join us for the release of our new multi-authored monograph with seven of the book's fourteen co-authors.

Co-authors in attendance include Huan He (Vanderbilt University), Rayvon Fouché (Northwestern University), Jeff Nagy (York University), Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan), Rianna Walcott (University of Maryland), Remi Yergeau (University of Michigan), and Lida Zeitlin-Wu (Old Dominion University).

12:30 - 1:30 PM: Lunch with The Co-Authors
Join us for lunch and conversation with your colleagues and co-authors of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal. Celebrate the book’s publication while discussing the themes and ideas explored in the monograph.

1:30 - 3:00 PM: Panel Discussion on Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal
Five co-authors will discuss their new book and their research about how marginalized communities have navigated the tension between embracing and rejecting emerging technologies. The panel will also explore the collaborative writing process and how to reconfigure writing in the humanities into a collective practice. Panelists include Huan He (Vanderbilt University), Rayvon Fouché (Northwestern University), Rianna Walcott (University of Maryland), Remi Yergeau (Carleton University), and Lida Zeitlin-Wu (Old Dominion University).

This panel will be moderated by Oliver Haimson and Wells Lucas Santo.

3:00 - 4:00 PM: Workshop on Applying Technoskepticism to AI
In this interactive workshop, Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan) and Jeff Nagy (York University) will guide attendees in applying the principles of technoskepticism to current and emerging technologies, with a special focus on artificial intelligence.

Book Giveaway:

Free copies of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal will be provided to those who register to attend in person. Registration is limited to 60 attendees, so be sure to sign up early!

Accessibility Information:

This event will be hybrid, with both an in-person meeting space at the University of Michigan and an option to attend via Zoom webinar. CART captioning will be provided. If you need any additional accommodations, please contact Cherice Chan, DISCO Network Program Coordinator, at chericec@umich.edu. We encourage you to reach out as early as possible, as some accommodations may require advance arrangements.

Registration Information:

Registration is required for this event.

Register to attend in-person: https://myumi.ch/yp3RJ

Register to attend the Zoom webinar: https://myumi.ch/W5m4R

About Technoskepticism:

From Munchausen by Tiktok to wellness apps to online communities to AI, the DISCO Network explores the possibilities that technoskepticism can create.

This is a book about possibility and refusal in relation to new technologies. Though refusal is an especially powerful mode—particularly for those who have historically not been given the option to say no—people of color and disabled people have long navigated the space between saying yes and saying no to the newest technologies. Technoskepticism relates some of these stories to reveal the possibilities skepticism can create.

The case for technoskepticism unfolds across three sections: the first focused on disability, the creative use of wellness apps, and the desire for diagnosis; the second on digital nostalgia and home for Black and Asian users who produced communities online before home pages gave way to profiles; and the third focused on the violence inherent in A.I.-generated Black bodies and the possibilities for Black style in the age of A.I. Acknowledging how the urge to refuse new technologies emerges from specific racialized histories, the authors also emphasize how care can look like an exuberant embrace of the new.

Authors include David Adelman, André Brock, Aaron Dial, Stephanie Dinkins, Rayvon Fouché, Huan He, Jeff Nagy, Lisa Nakamura, Catherine Knight Steele, Rianna Walcott, Josie Williams, Kevin Winstead, M. Remi Yergeau, and Lida Zeitlin-Wu.

Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal is part of the Sensing Media: Aesthetics, Philosophy, and Cultures of Media series published by Stanford University Press.

Technoskepticism is available now for pre-order: https://www.sup.org/books/media-studies/technoskepticism

About the Panelists:

Huan He is an Assistant Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California and was recently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan's Digital Studies Institute. Across his projects, his research explores how racial narratives, fictions, and tropes shape—and are shaped by—the world of information capitalism. These inquiries engage many fields, including Asian American literary and cultural studies, digital studies, and critical game studies. His current book project, The Racial Interface: Asian Racialization and the Dreams of the Digital, explores why Asian Americans have been racially associated with information technologies. Using literary, cultural, and archival texts, the book shows how Asian Americans have come to represent both the nightmare of alienation and the dream of disembodied freedom, two powerful fictions that shape our digital present. He is also pursuing a second research project at the intersection of race and digital gaming. His scholarly work appears/is forthcoming in Configurations, College Literature: A Journal of Critical Literary Studies, Media-N, and an anthology on Asian American game studies. He is also a poet, whose work can be found in Poetry, Sewanee Review, A Public Space, Beloit Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.

Rayvon Fouché holds a joint appointment as Professor of Communication Studies and Professor in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrative Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. He authored or edited Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), Appropriating Technology: Vernacular Science and Social Power (University of Minnesota Press, 2004), Technology Studies (Sage Publications, 2008), the 4th Edition of the Handbook of Science & Technology Studies (MIT Press, 2016), and Game Changer: The Technoscientific Revolution in Sports (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017). He previously held faculty appointments in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the History Department and the Information Trust Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the American Studies program in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University, and was a postdoctoral fellow in African & African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Most recently he served as Division Director of Social and Economic Sciences within the Directorate of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Jeff Nagy is an Assistant Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Critical Data Studies in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University. Previously, he was a DISCO Network Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, where he collaborated with scholars, artists, and policymakers to envision and build anti-racist and anti-ableist technological futures. He currently serves as faculty lead for Search Engines, a programming series at the University of Michigan centered around the arts, emerging technology, and social justice. He is a historian of computing and AI focused on the intersections between that history with disability and psychological and psychiatric science. He holds a PhD in Communication from Stanford University. His research has appeared in Just Tech, New Media & Society, Technology & Culture, and elsewhere.

Lisa Nakamura is the Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor in the Department of American Culture, and the founding Director of the Digital Studies Institute, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since 1994, Nakamura has written books and articles on digital bodies, race, and gender in online environments, on toxicity in video game culture, and the many reasons that Internet research needs ethnic and gender studies. These books include, Race After the Internet (co-edited with Peter Chow-White, Routledge, 2011); Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet (Minnesota, 2007); Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet (Routledge, 2002); and Race in Cyberspace (co-edited with Beth Kolko and Gil Rodman, Routledge, 2000). In November 2019, Nakamura gave a TED NYC talk about her research called “The Internet is a Trash Fire. Here’s How to Fix It."

Rianna Walcott is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland, and a former DISCO Network Postdoctoral Fellow. An alumna of the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP), Dr. Walcott earned her PhD in Digital Humanities at King's College London for her research on Black (and British) communication practices across social media platforms with different demographics, and how different social network service affordances influence how Black users interact. She combines digital research, Black feminist praxis, decolonial studies, arts and culture, and mental health advocacy in her work. Dr. Walcott founded projectmyopia.com, a LAHP-funded digital humanities and arts project that promotes inclusivity in academia and decolonised curricula, and was co-editor of 'The Colour of Madness', an anthology about mental health inequities faced by people of colour in Britain.

Remi Yergeau is Associate Professor of Digital Studies and English, and Associate Director of the Digital Studies Institute, at the University of Michigan. Their book, Authoring Autism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness, was awarded the 2017 MLA First Book Prize, the 2019 CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Book Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship, and the 2019 Rhetoric Society of America Book Award. They are currently at work on a second book project about disability, digital rhetoric, surveillance, and (a)sociality, tentatively titled Crip Data. Active in the neurodiversity movement, they have previously served on the boards of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and the Autism National Committee (AutCom).

Lida Zeitlin-Wu is currently an Assistant Professor of Media Studies in the Department of Communication & Theatre Arts and the Institute for the Humanities at Old Dominion University. She holds a PhD in Film & Media from UC Berkeley and was most recently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan. Dr. Zeitlin-Wu is an interdisciplinary Humanities scholar working at the intersection of media theory and history, STS, critical race studies, and visual and material culture. Originally trained in modern languages, she now researches the rationalization and commodification of sensory experience and personhood—particularly color—under technocapitalism. Her current book manuscript, How Color Became a Technology: The Making of Chromatic Capitalism, tracks the transformation of color from an ephemeral concept into a sophisticated technology, beginning with 19th-century mass standardization and culminating in today’s privatized digital landscape. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Visual Studies, Camera Obscura, Frames Cinema Journal, Adaptation, and elsewhere, and with Carolyn L. Kane, she is the co-editor of Color Protocols: Technologies of Racial Encoding in Chromatic Media (MIT Press, 2025).

About the Moderators

Oliver Hamison is Assistant Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute. Oliver is the author of Trans Technologies (MIT Press, 2025). He conducts social computing research focused on envisioning and designing trans technologies, social media content moderation and marginalized populations, and changing identities on social media during life transitions. Oliver is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award.

Wells Lucas Santo (he/she/they) is a PhD student returning to academia after five years in the non-profit education and equity space, where he built inclusive, accessible, and culturally relevant curricula about artificial intelligence (AI) and social justice for underrepresented high school students. He has worked as the National Director of Education at SMASH, was the original Education Manager at AI4ALL, and serves as an Advisory Board Member of the AI4K12 initiative; in these capacities, he has spoken about the societal implications of AI at venues such as the United Nations Youth Assembly, the Annual oSTEM Conference, and top universities across the United States. His current research focuses on the disparate impact that algorithmic technologies have on marginalized communities, centering race, gender, sexuality, and power, using frameworks like critical race theory, intersectional feminism, and transformative justice.

About the DISCO Network:

The DISCO (Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism) Network is a consortium of investigators working to envision a new anti-racist and anti-ableist digital future. With funding support from the Mellon Foundation, the DISCO Network works collectively to provide mentoring and networking opportunities for BIPOC and disabled scholars, develop interdisciplinary undergraduate courses about the intersection of identity and technology, publish open-access research on topics of digital social inequalities, and host public programming to build the field of race, gender, disability, and technology studies.

Housed within the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan, we consist of four labs across three universities: the Digital Afterworlds Lab (PI: Lisa Nakamura, University of Michigan), the Humanities and Technoscience Lab (Co-PI: Rayvon Fouché; Northwestern University), the Digital Accessible Futures Lab (Co-PI: M. Remi Yergeau, University of Michigan), and the Black Communication and Technology Lab (Co-PI: Catherine Knight Steele, University of Maryland-College Park). Each lab functions both independently and as part of the broader network, engaging in research and dialogue about the intersections of digital technology, race, disability, gender, sexuality, and liberation.

Workshop / Seminar:[Race, Gender and Feminist Philosophy Working Group] Phil Talk with J. Oksala on Feb. 14th at 1!
2025-02-14 13:00 - 15:00 | 2271 Angell Hall
Hello RGFP-ers and philosophers (generally)!
We're sending a message to both the RGFP listserv and the department listservs because we're super excited to be hosting an invited external speaker – Johanna Oksala – next week. Professor Oksala will be joining us for a work in progress talk on Feb. 14, from 1-3 p.m in Angel Hall 2271.
Professor Oksala is a professor at Loyola University Chicago known for her extensive work in political philosophy, feminist philosophy, environmental philosophy, Foucault, and phenomenology. She recently published a monograph Feminism, Capitalism, and Ecology (2023).
Professor Oksala sent us an abstract for her talk that looks deeply interesting!
Critical Phenomenology and the Problem of Ideology
Abstract: The paper stages an encounter between critical phenomenology and Marxist theory for the purpose of contributing to the development of a distinctive method for critical phenomenology. The argument proceeds in three stages. In the first section, I analyze the Marxist critique of immediate experience with the help of Georg Lukács. I contend that this critique has important consequences for the method of critical phenomenology: critical phenomenology needs a hybrid method that can combine analyses of experience with systemic investigations, such as Marxist theory, but it must also grapple with the fundamental Marxist insight that experiences themselves are always ideologically distorted. In the second section, I consider the possibility that we respond to the problem of ideology by treating critical phenomenology either as a form of standpoint theory or ideology critique. My contention is, however, that critical phenomenology should be understood as a distinct form of critique capable of investigating the experiential breaks that open a critical perspective on ideology. In the final section, I illustrate what this might mean more concretely with a brief discussion of Franz Fanon’s seminal analysis of racialized experience in Black Skin, White Masks.
We'd love for a significant department / RGFP showing. Come and bring friends! Feel very encouraged to come even if you've never shown up to RGFP before! There is no pre-read, and we have *two* dinner slots left for afterwards (we'll give first dibs to people who show up first to the talk).
If you'd like to join in on zoom, the zoom link for this semester is here.
Best, AG & Yixuan

Social / Informal Gathering:Kreativwerkstatt
2025-02-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Modern Languages Building - 3030
Chat in German and express yourself creatively. Crafting, coloring, painting, drawing, knitting, sewing, crochet, embroidery, origami? You will combine speaking German, any level welcome, beginners included, and creatively expressing yourself. You are encouraged to bring your own materials or (ongoing) projects, but we will also provide some materials and prompts each week. Contact Laura Okkema (lokkema@umich.edu) or Iris Zapf-Garcia (iriszaga@umich.edu.) with questions.

Performance:Jenna Moon & Mitty Ma, carillon
2025-02-14 13:20 - 13:50 | Lurie Ann & Robert H. Tower
SMTD doctoral alumna Jenna Moon & Graduate student Mitty Ma perform on the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Carillon, an instrument of 60 bells with the lowest bell (bourdon) weighing 6 tons.

Thirty-minute recitals are performed on the Lurie Carillon every weekday that classes are in session. During these recitals, visitors may take the elevator to level 2 to view the largest bells, or to level 3 to see the carillonist performing. (Visitors subject to acrophobia are recommended to visit level 2 only.) An optional spiral stairway between levels 2 and 3 allows for up-close views of some of the largest bells.

Workshop / Seminar:Digital Accessibility Office Hours
2025-02-14 13:30 - 15:00 | Off Campus Location
Got questions about digital accessibility, Title II compliance, or how to make digital content accessible?

-Come to virtual drop-in office hours!
-Every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month
-1:30 - 3:00pm
-Zoom Meeting ID 935 9909 5960
-Digital accessibility experts available to help you

Open to everyone from all U-M campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint, Michigan Medicine).

Can’t make it to Office Hours but have a question? Contact us (https://accessibility.umich.edu/contact-services)!

If you need accommodations to participate in office hours, let us know by emailing ADAcoordinator@umich.edu.

Workshop / Seminar:Interdisciplinary Workshop on Comparative Politics & The Social Sciences
2025-02-14 13:30 - 15:00 | Haven Hall - Pre-Function, 5769
The Interdisciplinary Workshop in Comparative Politics & The Social Sciences (IWCP) provides a platform for sharing and improving research projects that use the comparative method to study the causes and effects of social, political and economic processes. We specifically welcome presenters, discussants, and participants from other social science fields to share their work with us. We have participants from Economics, the Ford School of Public Policy, the Law School, the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, Mathematics, Political Science, the Ross School of Business, Sociology, Statistics, and the Center for Emerging Democracies, and others. In other words: All are welcome.

Other:IPE Friday Free Passport Photos for Engineering Students
2025-02-14 13:30 - 15:30 | Chrysler Center - 245
Need a passport photo for a passport or visa application? International Programs in Engineering (IPE) has got you covered!

-Fall & Winter Semester Only
-Fridays 1:30-3:30pm at the IPE Office (245 Chrysler Center)
-No Appointment Needed
-Not During Exam Week or Holidays

This service is for CoE undergraduate and graduate students.
For best results, wear darker colored, solid (non patterned) shirt/top

Workshop / Seminar:F.A.M. Fridays
2025-02-14 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-14 16:00 - 18:00 | Trotter Multicultural Center - Multipurpose Rooms and Sankofa Lounge
Monthly series that celebrates culture through food, are, and music.

Meeting:HistLing
2025-02-14 14:00 - 14:50 | Off Campus Location
HistLing is devoted to discussions of language change. Group members include interested faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from a wide variety of U-M departments -- Linguistics, Anthropology, Asian Languages and Cultures, Classics, Germanic Languages, Near Eastern Studies, Romance Languages, Slavic Languages - and from two nearby universities, Eastern Michigan (Ypsilanti) and Wayne State (Detroit).

Some meetings feature faculty or student presentations; other meetings have an announced topic for discussion and a volunteer moderator, but no formal presentation.

Careers / Jobs:Resume Lab
2025-02-14 14:00 - 15:00 | University Career Center, 3200 Student Activities Building, Program Room (3003), 515 E Jefferson St, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
*RSVP required to attend. Click "Join Event" here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1686413Just getting started building a resume? Have a draft but not sure how to make it better? Wantto learn about resources available to revise your resume? Wherever you’re at Resume Lab is a great next step for you. Get real-time, personalized support in a small group setting by checking out the Resume Lab. We will discuss and educate you on…- Design and format- Writing a great bullet point- Targeting your resume for specific internships/jobs If you're a Graduate Student or Recent Grad, please make a 1:1 appointment instead of attending the Lab because this event is designed for undergraduates. Note: This event's information is shown in Handshake as well as on the Happening @ Michigan calendar so that it will be seen by a larger number of U-M Students.

Other:Student Sustainability Coalition Coffee Chats
2025-02-14 14:00 - 15:00 | Michigan League
Navigating the variety of avenues to engage in sustainability work on campus can be daunting and confusing! Come talk with the Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) to learn more about sustainability initiatives on campus and WE WILL BUY YOU A DRINK!

Coffee chats happen every Friday from 2-3p at Maizes in The League from 2-3p. Look for the "SSC: Coffee Chats" sign!
Coffee chats also happening on select Mondays at Palmer Commons from 11-12p!

SEE YOU THERE!

Lecture / Discussion:Haptic Virtuality: Touching Illuminated Manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose and the Faits des Romains
2025-02-14 14:30 - 16:00 | Tappan Hall - Room 180
In the second volume of her groundbreaking Touching Parchment (2024), Kathryn M. Rudy radically hypothesizes the professional reciter of texts, the “prelector,” as a dramatic and tactile mediator between secular manuscript and medieval audience. Many of the traces of physical interactions left on illuminations in (especially “courtly”) books can, according to Rudy, be attributed to this figure, whose practices are otherwise minimally attested in the documentary record. Exploring the implications of this hypothesis, my talk examines copies of two widely transmitted texts of late medieval French literature: the Roman de la Rose and the Faits des Romains. These manuscripts display numerous signs of readerly touching. I argue that the (professional?) reader’s touch activated or actualized the latent ideological potential of these texts, whether in terms of the ethics of “courtly love” in the Rose or the politics of empire in the Faits. I propose the concept of haptic virtuality – a nod to film theorist Laura U. Marks’ “haptic visuality” – to account for how touch was a mode of active reading with social, ethical, and political ramifications.

Henry Ravenhall is a specialist in medieval French literature and manuscript culture and retains an active interest in medieval Occitan language, narrative, and lyric. Broadly speaking, he is interested in approaches, both theoretical and empirical, that rethink medieval texts in relation to manuscript materiality. I'm keen to develop methodologies that make the most of the explosion of digitized manuscripts online, such as my work on textile curtains in medieval French books.

Lecture / Discussion:AIM Seminar: Origin of the solar system: Insight from space missions and fluid dynamics
2025-02-14 15:00 - 16:00 | East Hall - 1084
Abstract: Giant planets in our solar system hold key insights into our origin, as they were the first to condense from the protoplanetary disk. A crucial aspect of the investigation is measuring their atmospheric composition—particularly that of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter for over six years, providing valuable data that we continue to decipher. The challenge lies in understanding the interplay between thermodynamics and fluid dynamics, where the fluid motions are shaped by condensation and latent heat release. In this talk, I will introduce findings from space missions, advancements in simulating multi-phase flows in a planetary context, and the current theory of the origin of the solar system.

Contact: Silas Alben

Other:Buckeye Blast 2025
2025-02-14 15:00 - 23:59 | Blaine Wilson Sports: 717 E 17th Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43211
Club Gymnastics Meet at Ohio State University! Super excited to watch all our men's and women's teams compete!

Workshop / Seminar:Cluster structure on symplectic groupoid and Teichmueller space (Combinatorics seminar)
2025-02-14 15:00 - 16:00 | East Hall - 4096
Symplectic groupoid of unipotent triangular forms was introduced by A.Bondal who studied the induced Poisson bracket on the space of the unipotent upper triangular matrices. We discuss the collection of so-called log-canonical coordinates on the upper-triangular matrices compatible with the Poisson bracket that gives a cluster structure on the symplectic groupoid.

As a byproduct we obtain cluster coordinates on the Teichmueller space of genus 2 closed hyperbolic surfaces which is a new result to the best of our knowledge.

This is a joint work with L. Chekhov.

Reception / Open House:International Coffee Hour (Valentine's Day Edition)
2025-02-14 15:00 - 16:30 | School of Social Work Building - 1840 (Educational Conference Center)
International Coffee Hour is a great opportunity to meet new people from around the world! The event is open to all members of the U-M community, including international and U.S. students, scholars, faculty, staff and their partners.

Our February International Coffee Hour will be held in partnership with the Office of Global Activities in the School of Social Work and SAPAC. It will feature a Valentine’s Day theme with optional Valentine’s Day activities, including making tissue paper flowers!

Meeting:SoConDi
2025-02-14 15:00 - 16:00 | Off Campus Location - Lorch 473
The SoConDi group is both a discussion platform and a study group for students and faculty members who are interested in sociolinguistics, language contact, discourse analysis and related disciplines including linguistic anthropology. Members of the SoConDi group present their work in progress from time to time, and discuss current issues in the disciplines, or study selected readings together.

Workshop / Seminar:Student Algebraic Geometry: Derived category and arithmetic
2025-02-14 15:00 - 16:00 | East Hall - 2866
In this talk, we will introduce some interesting questions and applications at the intersection of derived category techniques and arithmetic geometry.

Social / Informal Gathering:UUWeekly: Valentine's Day Bash
2025-02-14 15:00 - 17:00 | Michigan Union - Pendelton Room
Join us this 2/14/2025 for a celebration of the holiday Valentine's Day and a promotion of self-love and wellness. We will feature bouquet making, stuff-a-plush with a words of affirmation activity, tabling from wellness organizations, and treats!

Lecture / Discussion:A Hopeful Horizon for Climate Action: Bridging Communications, Cognition, and the Science of Hope
2025-02-14 15:30 - 16:30 | Rackham Graduate School (Horace H.) - Amphitheater
The Global CO2 Initiative and its affiliated student organization, the Michigan Carbon Capture Club, are excited to welcome Molly Kawahata to the stage at the University of Michigan on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Molly will speak about the transformative power of hope in the fight against climate change. The talk, “A Hopeful Horizon for Climate Action: Bridging Communications, Cognition, and the Science of Hope,” is free and open to the public, but attendees must register.

Molly is an award-winning speaker, strategist, ice climber, and former climate advisor to the Obama White House and subject of the acclaimed and award-winning Patagonia film, THE SCALE OF HOPE (2022).

Dubbed “the hope whisperer,” Molly has proven that hope is not a fluffy concept — it’s one of the most effective strategies at our disposal.

This event is made possible from the support of generous University of Michigan partners: School for Environment and Sustainability, Erb Institute, LSA Sustainability, Student Life Sustainability, Recreational Sports, Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum, Center for Sustainable Systems, Planet Blue Ambassador, Graham Sustainability Institute, and College of Engineering.

To learn more about this event and Molly Kawahata, visit: https://www.globalco2initiative.org/events/

Lecture / Discussion:Molly Kawahata Climate Change Lecture
2025-02-14 15:30 - 16:30 | Rackham Amphitheater
Are you anxious about climate change? Come explore the transformative power of hope with Molly Kawahata. Molly is the former climate advisor to the Obama White House, and an award-winning speaker, strategist, ice climber. She is the founder of Systemic Impact Strategies, a consultancy that specializes in implementing the science of hope across communications, organizational development, and social impact initiatives. Her expertise centers around utilizing the science of hope as a catalyst for positive change.Register for free here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyWon2a2hyCpXmVDTeg9vbKyxdnRBoj6QJwurZRffwCHXBPw/viewformThere will be a chance to win a box of Mindo chocolates at the event!

Lecture / Discussion:Molly Kawahata to speak at U-M on the transformative power of hope in fighting climate change
2025-02-14 15:30 - 16:30 | Rackham Graduate School (Horace H.) - Amphitheatre
The Global CO2 Initiative and its affiliated student organization, Michigan Carbon Capture, are excited to welcome Molly Kawahata to the stage at the University of Michigan on Friday, February 14, 2025. Molly will speak about the transformative power of hope in the fight against climate change. The talk, “A Hopeful Horizon for Climate Action: Bridging Communications, Cognition, and the Science of Hope,” is free and open to the public, but attendees must sign up.

Please visit the Global CO2 Initiative website for more information.

This event is made possible from the support of generous University of Michigan partners: School for Environment and Sustainability, Erb Institute, LSA Sustainability, Student Life Sustainability, Recreational Sports, Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum, Center for Sustainable Systems, Planet Blue Ambassador, Graham Sustainability Institute, and College of Engineering.

Lecture / Discussion:Smith Lecture - Sydney Gable, Cameron Tripp, Yiruo Xu
2025-02-14 15:30 - 16:30 | 1100 North University Building - 1528
Join us for this week's Smith Lecture as three of our own grad students will be giving mini talks. See below for info on each lecture:

Speaker 1: Sydney Gable
Title: Temporal and Spatial Variations in b-Value for Foreshock Sequences in Southern California
Abstract: Our current understanding of seismic hazard relies heavily on a parameter known as the b-value, which describes the relative proportion of small to large earthquakes in a catalog, and is routinely used in probabilistic seismic hazard assessments to estimate magnitude exceedance probabilities over a long time-span. Recent studies have suggested that fine-scale spatial and temporal variations in the b-value may be used to describe short-term behavior of an earthquake sequence (Gulia and Weimer 2019) particularly during the foreshock period. While the b-value variations of several large earthquake sequences have already undergone thorough investigation, smaller earthquake sequences have not been analyzed systematically.

In this work, we re-estimate earthquake magnitude using a relative amplitudes method which standardizes magnitude measurement for earthquake foreshock sequences. Additionally, we employ the b+ method for b-value estimation to reduce bias due to short-term incompleteness (van der Elst 2021). We apply this methodology to several earthquake foreshock sequences with moderately sized manshocks (~M 4.0 - 5.5) in Southern California and compare the spatial and temporal variations b-value. This allows us to assess the utility of using fine-scale variations in b-value as a proxy for short term hazard analysis and identify spatio-temporal trends that may shed light on the processes of foreshock evolution.

Speaker 2: Cameron Tripp
Title: Evaluating Ba/Ca as an Upwelling Tracer in Galápagos Porites lobata Corals
Abstract: In the Galápagos Islands, strong seasonal upwelling transports cold, nutrient-rich deep waters to the surface ocean. Local sea surface temperatures (SST) fluctuate as a function of upwelling intensity, while interannual shifts in this dynamical pattern influence the El Niño Southern Oscillation. The Galápagos phytoplankton stock, supporting a uniquely diverse marine ecosystem, depends upon upwelled nutrient supply. With no long-term, direct measure of Galápagos upwelling, we rely on proxy data to track its behavior over time. Prior analyses established empirical links between lattice-bound barium (Ba/Ca) in scleractinian coral samples and the abundance of Ba 2+ in the coral environment. Ba 2+ accumulates in the deep ocean through passive inclusion in organic matter and the biological pump mechanism. Barium substitution in
coral aragonite suggests Ba 2+ enrichment in the surface ocean, facilitated by upwelling. This relationship has informed several upwelling reconstructions via Ba/Ca.
Documented impacts of temperature, calcification rate, and coral physiology on barium substitution complicate these reconstructions. Further, terrestrial sources of Ba 2+ can override the upwelling signal. To isolate the influence of these conflating factors in the Galápagos upwelling region, we generated 10 novel Ba/Ca records from modern and fossil coral skeletons – the largest assemblage from this area to date. Paired Sr/Ca records isolate the thermal upwelling signal, enabling direct comparison. Considering temperature and extraneous factors such as location, age, and coral extension rate, we evaluate Ba/Ca fidelity to the local upwelling pattern. The data reveal consistently weak relationships between Ba/Ca and the thermal upwelling signature.

Additionally, mean barium concentrations vary significantly between cores, increasing in records with lower extension rates and closer proximity to basal aquifers. The inverse relationship to extension matches a kinetic model of Rayleigh fractionation identified in prior studies. Elevated mean values are not intrinsically linked to Ba/Ca disagreement with the thermal upwelling signal, but low extension rates are associated with both features. These findings challenge present understanding of coral Ba/Ca as a paleo-upwelling tracer.

Speaker 3: Yiruo Xu
Title: "Did Archean metamorphic terranes cool slower? Insights from garnet diffusion studies on the Superior Province"
Abstract: Archean metamorphic terranes are traditionally suggested to have cooled significantly slower than their Phanerozoic counterparts. Many have argued that this contrast in metamorphic timescale reflects changes in Earth’s tectonic regime. However, diffusion chronometry-based cooling rate data on Precambrian rocks are very limited. We present case studies of metamorphic timescales on the Superior Province, one of Earth's largest Archean craton. We combine conventional thermobarometry and phase-equilibrium modeling to constrain the peak temperatures and pressures and estimate metamorphic cooling rates from major element diffusion in garnet. The resulting cooling rates exhibit large variability, with the fastest estimates comparable to those from the Phanerozoic eon and the lowest rates slower by two orders of magnitude. We then discuss the uncertainties and potential biases in determining diffusion timescales. The results complicate the conventional idea of slow-cooling Precambrian orogens. Careful evaluation of the geologic context of individual cooling rate data and more targeted diffusion studies are necessary to address the question of long-term change in tectonics.

Workshop / Seminar:Traveling Theories: Digital Colonialism
2025-02-14 15:30 - 16:30 | North Quadrangle Academic Building 5th Floor Room 5450
We will be discussing the Introduciton and Chapter three of the book: Digital Unsettling Decoloniality and Dispossession in the Age of Social Media Sahana Udupa and Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan

Workshop / Seminar:GEOMETRY SEMINAR: Roots of cubic congruences and dynamics on SL(3,R)
2025-02-14 16:00 - 17:00 | East Hall - 3866
Roots µ mod m of polynomial congruences F(X) ≃ 0 mod m are fundamental objects in number theory.
Statistical information about the normalized roots µ(m) ∈ R / Z for m up to large x is used, for example, to prove that n^2 + 1 is infinitely often a product of at most two primes.
Originally, this statistical information for quadratic roots was obtained from algebraic geometry (the Weil bound) and later from the spectral theory of automorphic forms.
Recently in joint work with Jens Marklof and Zonglin Li, we studied quadratic roots using techniques from homogeneous dynamics on SL(2, R) that were similar to techniques developed to study Farey fractions.
In this talk, I present work in progress on extending these techniques to roots of cubic congruences and SL(3,R)..

Lecture / Discussion:Kisses in the Archives
2025-02-14 16:00 - 17:00 | William Clements Library
Visit the Clements Library for Valentine's Day! Associate Curator of Manuscripts Jayne Ptolomy will give a short presentation about the "kisses" that she has discovered in the Clements collection. Attendees will have time to peruse archival materials in person followed by an opportunity to view the current exhibit "More Than Gray: Reimagining Early America in Full Color" featuring a vibrant red lipstick kiss that inspired this program. Space is limited, so please register in advance

Workshop / Seminar:Preprint Algebraic Geometry Seminar: A transfer principle for unirationality, after Erman and Riedl
2025-02-14 16:00 - 17:00 | East Hall - 4096
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.20051

Social / Informal Gathering:Valentine's Day Dinner
2025-02-14 16:00 - 20:00
Happy Valentine's Day! Stop in the dining halls anytime on February 14th to celebrate the day of love! Whether you come by yourself, with friends, or with that special someone, the pink and red decor and themed food are sure to lift your spirits.

This event is included with your residential meal plan. Those with block plans can use a meal swipe to enter. All other guests will pay the door rate to dine in the dining halls.

Auditions:[CASTING CALL] Raisin in the Sun
2025-02-14 17:00 - 20:00 | East Quadrangle - 1423
The Residential College Players are looking for African American students to perform in our production of Raisin in the Sun! This is a very significant piece of Black history in the United States, and we want to make sure that we ask as many people as possible who are Black to be involved in this production so that this may come to fruition.

Show Synopsis:
Walter Sr., the father of the Younger family, has died. A check for $10,000 from the life insurance policy is coming in the mail, and everyone has different ideas on what to do with the money. Walter’s son, Walter Lee, wants to be the owner of a liquor store; Walter’s daughter, Beneatha, needs to pay tuition for medical school; Walter’s wife wants to buy a house.

This award-winning play by Lorraine Hansberry is a deeply human story centered on the black experience in a segregated America, asking how we should live in the diaspora. The play explores the choice between assimilation and heritage, the inaccessibility of the American Dream, and racism and misogyny within and without the black community. It has a lot to say about the human condition, about family and humanity, and about the struggle against oppression.

Social / Informal Gathering:Kaffeestunde im Max Kade Haus
2025-02-14 17:00 - 18:00 | North Quad - Edward Said Lounge (2450 NQ)
Kaffeestunde is a weekly opportunity to mingle and unwind "auf Deutsch". It is a place to connect with other Max Kade residents, chat informally in German and participate in activities prepared by facilitators. The Kaffeestunde is open to the wider German-speaking community at UofM.

Lecture / Discussion:QuantUM Speaker Series: Capturing the Shortest Moments with Light
2025-02-14 17:00 - 18:00 | West Hall - 340
Join QuantUM for a talk from Dr. Yuki Kobayashi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fellow at the Quantum Research Institute at Michigan as part of our monthly speaker series. The talk is in West Hall 340 from 5:00-6:00 PM, including time to ask questions.

The talk is open to students of all majors and levels of background knowledge; it's a great way to get introduced to a new field. We'll serve free food across the hall in the Don Meyers common starting at 4:45.

Description: When do electrons change from quantum to classical? Is quantum important in chemical reactions? Has natural selection shaped the world to take advantage of quantum? Ultrafast spectroscopy can answer these questions by taking real-time movies of quantum dynamics in matters. In this talk, I will highlight some of the recent progress in the area of attosecond spectroscopy -- the fastest spectroscopic tool that human beings have developed.

Lecture / Discussion:QuantUM Speaker Series: Capturing the Shortest Moments with Light
2025-02-14 17:00 - 18:00 | West Hall
Join QuantUM for a talk from Dr. Yuki Kobayashi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fellow at the Quantum Research Institute at Michigan as part of our monthly speaker series. The talk is in West Hall 340 from 5:00-6:00 PM, including time to ask questions.

The talk is open to students of all majors 🤔 and levels of background knowledge 🧠; it's a great way to get introduced to a new field. We'll serve free food 😋 across the hall in the Don Meyers common starting at 4:45.

Description: When do electrons change from quantum to classical? Is quantum important in chemical reactions? Has natural selection shaped the world to take advantage of quantum? Ultrafast spectroscopy can answer these questions by taking real-time movies of quantum dynamics in matters. In this talk, I will highlight some of the recent progress in the area of attosecond spectroscopy -- the fastest spectroscopic tool that human beings have developed.

Exhibition:Take Care: Student Art Exhibition
2025-02-14 18:00 - 21:00 | Off Campus Location
Experience the 2025 Take Care Student Art Exhibition, a heartfelt showcase of creativity, resilience, and healing.

Through visual art, video, performance, and literary works, students will share their unique perspectives on caring for oneself and others, healing as a community, and imagining a world where self-expression nurtures collective well-being.

Riverbank Arts: January 10–February 14
Closing Reception: February 14, 6–9 p.m.

Duderstadt Center Gallery: April 15–May 9
Opening Reception: April 15, 5–8 p.m.

Social / Informal Gathering:Write a Valentine's Day Note!
2025-02-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Alice Lloyd Hall - Vicky Barner Multicultural Lounge
oin us this Valentine's Day at Vicky Barner to make someone’s day a little better. Write a letter to a loved one to take home, or leave a kind word for a stranger!

Other:Feel Good Friday — Queer Night 2025
2025-02-14 19:00 - 22:00 | Museum of Art - Museum of Art
It’s Finally Friday and You Deserve to Feel Good!

This Valentine’s Day, join us for a vibrant celebration of queer love, creativity, and community. Whether you’re coming solo or with a special someone, this night is all about joy, inclusivity, and self-expression. Watch a film screening of "But I'm a Cheerleader" with Cinema Lamont, customize a bouquet with Bucketworks, receive tarot readings by local queer practitioners Lavender, Erin, and Morgan, and enjoy performances by Ahya Simone, Perry Dox, Caffeyne Luv, John Jarboe, and DJ BLKshine with Jezebel as MC.

Feeling like dressing up? Wear your Queer Valentine’s best and be photographed by the UMMA Student Advisory Board in their photobooth. Plus: meet with local queer community organizations: Nightsafe, The Jim Toy Community Center, and Spectrum!

Free and open to the public. All galleries open. Please note that the screening is Rated R.

Special thanks to Detroit-based artist, Jay Orellana for their partnership in curating performances for this night.

Sporting Event:Ice Hockey vs Minnesota
2025-02-14 19:00 | Off Campus Location
Ice Hockey vs Minnesota

Performance:Hammer and Nail
2025-02-14 19:30 - 21:00 | Dance Building - Dance Performance Studio Theatre
*Hammer and Nail* is an evening-length multimedia performance that employs autobiographical storytelling, dance, and sound design with imaginative use of props, motion sensors, hydromics, and projections. Jon Anderson is the collaborator and performs with Jonutz as a sound engineer.

Jon Anderson
Writing for a variety of music for traditional acoustic ensembles such as orchestra, band, and chamber groups, as well as less traditional ensembles involving interactive computer music, Anderson frequently incorporates physical movement and dance as structural elements. With awards and honors from institutions such as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, SCI/ASCAP, and the Pierre Schaefer International Competition of Computer Music, his works have been commissioned and performed by orchestras, ensembles, and soloists throughout the world. Anderson teaches music theory and composition at Wayne State University and is the resident composer for the modern dance company Take Root Dance. Originally from Minneapolis MN, Anderson holds a DMA in Composition from the University of North Texas, the MM in Composition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA in Music from Luther College.

Thayer Jonutz performed with Repertory Dance Theatre before moving to Michigan, immersing himself in both historical and contemporary works. He earned his MFA dance degree from the University of Michigan before beginning his professorship position at Oakland University in 2009 where he has taught Modern dance technique, improvisation, composition, dance pedagogy, partnering and the student Repertory Dance Company. Thayer has guest performed with Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company, Rustic Groove, Agua Dulce Dance Theater, Eisenhower Dance Detroit and Rebudal Dance. Thayer has also co-founded Mise en Place Dance, soduo, and Take Root, which have served as artistic building blocks. As a seasoned educator and artist Thayer strives to continually challenge his comfort zone. His current multiyear creative process on the solo concert Hammer and Nail has pushed Thayer outside the typical modern dance aesthetic and has merged acting, vocalization, sound engineering and integrative props to tell his Pandemic survival narrative. Hammer and Nail has enjoyed much success winning the 2023 Oakland University President’s Colloquium award, presenting it at both Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University January 2024, and performing it in Spanish for the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica July 2024.

Tours:Astronomy Night
2025-02-14 20:00 - 22:30 | Detroit Observatory
Experience History and Astronomy at the Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory!

Observatory Tours - 1 hour guided tour of the Detroit Observatory, including Historic Telescope Observing of the seasonal night sky. Tours begin at 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, and 9:00 PM.
Walk-ins - begins at 8:00pm. Includes telescope observing with the historic Fitz refractor. Walk-ins welcome, but space is limited.

All visitors, including walk-ins, are welcome to patio telescope observing and all hands-on activities at the observatory! Telescope observing is only if weather permits. Only register for one time slot. Groups larger than 5 should contact the observatory. Missed time slots will be made available to walk-ins, so please arrive on time.

Performance:Friends of Opera Winners Recital
2025-02-14 20:00 - 21:30 | Earl V. Moore Building - Britton Recital Hall
On September 28 and 29, SMTD’s annual Friends of Opera Competition was held in the Britton Recital Hall. Join us to listen to performances from Marissa Redding (BM ’26 and prize for the John Knapp Undergraduate award) and Ingrid Kuribayashi (SM '26, first prize for the Anna Chapekis Graduate award).

https://smtd.umich.edu/smtd-announces-winners-of-the-2024-25-friends-of-opera-competition/

Performance:My Folky Valentine
2025-02-14 20:00 | ARK Reserved
20th Anniversary My Folky Valentine Extravaganza!

This year, in honor of our 20th anniversary show, you'll be treated to 10 Michigan-based dynamic duos who are partners in life as well as music. The star-studded line-up features Dave Boutette & Kristi Davis, Ruth & Max Bloomquist, Jason Dennie & Rochelle Clark, Allison Downy & John Austin, Dave Keeney & Sophia Hanifi, Jan Krist & Alan Finkbeiner, Jo Seraperre & John Devine, Matt & Kim Watroba, Julianna and Andy Wilson (The Springtails), and your hosts Annie & Rod Capps. With this many singers and multi-instrumentalists you can expect lots of joyful collaborations and no shortage of love songs. No date required!
