For this edition of "Staff Chat", a regular feature where we share things you may not know about your favorite staff and faculty members, we sat down with the always-inspiring Roger Fisher. Roger is a Co-Associate Director of IGR. In his role, Roger teaches training and practicum classes, directs IGR's partnership with the School of Social Work on the Summer Youth Dialogue Program, performs high-level administrative functions for IGR, trains K-12 professionals, consults with other Higher Education institutions on dialogue programs and works on special Student Life projects. In addition, Roger is a national co-facilitator for The Leadershape Institute.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: My favorite thing is the engagement we have with students, especially as they discover their own passions and commitment to social justice work. And, being able to observe the process of students engaging, interacting and bonding as a group of colleagues. I appreciate getting to be part of this community of faculty, staff, and students who are striving for a more just society and interrupting discrimination and oppression through education.
Q: What is your latest passion within your field?
A: I am passionate about national affairs and examining U.S. privilege. Specifically, I've been considering the ways in which U.S. citizens have and uphold a system of cultural, military, and economic imperialism.
Q: Tell us about a life experience that shaped who you are today.
A: As an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan in the mid-80s, my involvement in the anti-apartheid movement was THE formative experience in my life. It began the trajectory of the next 30 years (which includes today). This work I was a part of changed how I viewed "blackness". I has previously thought of blackness as a socio-cultural construct, but this work made me start to see it as a socio-political construct. This work connected me with blackness as a global phenomenon. This time in my life was also my first experience of coalition work across differences. And, it was the first time I got to experience myself as having change agency. Finally, this work also grounded me in the long view of change and how one has to be committed to the process of change even as one is determined about the outcome.
Q: Are there any quotes you especially like?
A: There are too many to list! I like several quotes from Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy. Someone once told me, spinning off of a quote from Henry Kissinger, "There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies." It took me a long time to understand what this means. I learned that what co-existence requires is the ability to see situations and people as fluid. We have to be open to the possibility that things are not just one way or the other.
Q: What are you reading these days?
A: I'm reading two books right now. One is Beyond Outrage by Robert Reich and the other is Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown.
Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?
A: I love music, particularly from the 60s and 70s. I also love to cook - grilling is cheap therapy for me!