Learn more about intergroup dialogue and intergroup relations courses by browsing our course catalog.
ALA 122: Intergroup Dialogues
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.
ALA 170: Social Identity, Social Inequality & Social Media
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.
ALA 171: Making the Most of Michigan
1 CREDIT | FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS<br><br>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.
ALA 220: Foundations of Intergroup Relations
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.
ALA 221: Introduction to Social Justice and Intergroup Relations Education
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.
ALA 228: Intergroup Conflict and Co-existence
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.
ALA 270: Special Topics in Intergroup Dialogue
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.
ALA 320: Training in Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation
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.
ALA 321: Practicum in Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation
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.
ALA 322: Advanced Practicum in Intergroup Relations
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.
ALA 323: IGR Directed Study
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.
ALA 324: Facilitation in Community Settings
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.
ALA 329: Research Methods
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.
ALA 429: Senior Capstone
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.
ALA 471: Leadership and Facilitation in Community Building
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.
ALA 472: Advanced Leadership and Facilitation in Community
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.