Courses

3 CREDITS | FULFILLS R&E AND SOCIAL SCIENCE DIST. | PLACEMENT SURVEY REQUIRED

In Intergroup Dialogues, students will participate in semi-structured face-to-face meetings across different social identity groups led by peer facilitators. Though topics will vary by semester, topics may include race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.

3 CREDITS | OFFERED IN FALL | FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS ONLY

What are social identities? Why do they matter? How do they impact how we interact across groups, both in person and online? This introductory course will provide a survey of sociological, social-psychological, and social justice education theory as it relates to social identity and intergroup relations.

1 CREDIT  |  FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

What are you hoping to gain from your time at Michigan? To take advantage of your experience, ALA 171: Making the Most of Michigan, is a 7-week activity-based course designed to help students get involved, meet people, and present themselves professionally to the world at large.

3 CREDITS  |  FULFILLS R&E

This introductory course will examine the history of various social identity groups in the United States including identities based on race/ethnicity, gender, religion, socio‐economic class, sexual orientation, and ability status.

2 CREDITS

This course examines the theoretical and pedagogical roots of intergroup relations and social justice education and how they encompass liberatory education; this includes how education has been used to address intergroup tensions. Multiple forms of engaging students will be used, including video, dialogic discussion, reflective writing assignments, and field trips.

3 CREDITS

Conflict is an inherent part of human nature, individual relationships and thus society. However, there are important, successful, and often underreported examples of coalition building and coexistence between groups that historically have been in conflict. This course will examine examples of social conflict based on religion, ethnicity and culture.

2 CREDITS

This course is designed to accompany ALA 321: Practicum in Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation, and can only be elected in conjunction with ALA 321. Students who opt to take ALA 270 along with their ALA 321 course will be afforded a deeper dive into applied work in facilitating intergroup dialogues.

3 CREDITS | FULFILLS SOCIAL SCIENCE DIST. | APPLICATION REQUIRED

This course is designed to give students a foundation for the effective facilitation of structured multicultural intergroup dialogues as a social justice education tool. It is intended for students who wish to facilitate intergroup dialogues in a future semester.

4 CREDITS | FULFILLS R&E AND SOCIAL SCIENCE DIST. | PLACEMENT SURVEY REQUIRED

Practicum focuses on helping students develop and improve their skills as intergroup dialogue facilitators and peer social justice educators. This will be done in the context of the belief that facilitation skills can be used throughout life to create positive social change. 

1-4 CREDITS | APPLICATION REQUIRED

This course is for students who are doing advanced applied work in Intergroup Relations. This includes facilitating intergroup dialogues for a second or third time or being workshop facilitators in supervised IGR or social justice education settings. The course combines the experiential facilitation component with the structured integration of intergroup relations theory.

1-4 CREDITS

At IGR, independent study is a planned, highly individualized format, not addressable through any other course. Independent studies are proposed in writing by the student on this standard form, accepted for supervision by an IGR instructor, and approved by the student's IGR academic adviser prior to the beginning of the semester in which the student wishes to enroll.

3 CREDITS | NEXT OFFERED WINTER 2025

This course prepares students to be facilitative leaders in campus and community organizations throughout their undergraduate years at U-M and beyond. Specifically, this course will focus on self-care and community-care as necessities for effective facilitation.

2 CREDITS

This course provides an overview of research methods used in intergroup relations, with a special focus on intergroup dialogue. Students will examine research using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and will discuss what each method provides in understanding how identities play a role in intergroup relations, how power and privilege are addressed and how group dynamics and processes affect outcomes of intergroup interactions.

3 CREDITS | NEXT OFFERED WINTER 2025

This course supports students as facilitative leaders in campus and community organizations throughout their undergraduate years at U-M and beyond. Specifically, this course will focus on self-care and community-care as necessities for effective facilitation.

1-3 CREDITS

Leadership and Facilitation in Community Building is a course for undergraduates who facilitate a section of ALA 171: Making the Most of Michigan.

3 CREDITS

This course will be offered to undergraduates who have previously facilitated ALA 171 “Making the Most of Michigan.” ALA 472 will focus on theories of student identity development and best practices of group facilitation, and role modeling for new ALA 171 facilitators, each of which will assist them in providing effective leadership for ALA 171, student organizations, and teams in their professional career.