The University of Michigan has announced a four-month initiative called the Understanding Race Project. From January through April, the university will feature public exhibits, lectures, performances, symposia, and other events examining the role of race in American society. Among the lecturers who will be visiting campus to participate in the project are Angela Davis, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. During the spring semester, 130 courses dealing with racial issues will be offered students in a wide variety of disciplines.
“The Understanding Race Project is as broad and varied as the cultural and ethnic groups that constitute and sometimes divide the human family here and around the globe,” explains Amy Harris, co-chair of the project and director of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. She states that the goal of the project is “to learn more about how social constructs like race have defined substantial portions of our history and continue to impact our lives today.”
I appreciate how you have added depth throughout your courses with horizontal and vertical attention being paid to this important topic. Question for you, say your program continues for 5 years, how will the world be different? Your Goal is “to learn more about how social constructs like race have defined substantial portions of our history and continue to impact our lives today.” Learning leading to actions? Will you also be including training and leadership development which also leads to action?