News

For the past year, IGR has had the wonderful fortune of hosting Dr. Manal Yazbak-Abu Ahmad, a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Nazareth, Israel.  Dr. Yazbak-Abu Ahmad is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the English Department at The College of Sakhnin for Teacher Education.

Bari Rogoff (’07) began her passion for the Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) during her first year at U-M, when she participated in an IGR dialogue.  From there, she went on to facilitate three dialogues and co-founded CommonGround during her fourth year. We are so grateful that Bari chose to make IGR a part of her undergraduate experience and we wanted our readers to know little bit about Bari, her contributions to IGR, and how she uses dialogue in the “real world.”

Brandon Colbert graduated in 2007 and began his work with the Program on Intergroup Relations as a first year student through a dialogue class on socioeconomic status. He continued his involvement as a facilitator for dialogue classes on gender and SES as well as with the Youth Dialogues program in Metro Detroit. Brandon is currently commuting between Washington, D.C. and Michigan working on starting a new company called Awakening. We are honored that Brandon decided to devote so much of his time to IGR as an undergraduate and want our readers to know the incredible things that he has learned and is up to!

by Nicole Rixen, IGR Graduate Intern

When many people think about IGR, they immediately think about social justice. While it is true that IGR provokes us to think about social justice both on and off campus, I feel IGR provides so much beyond just understanding social justice. For example, when I talk with students, they tell me about all the skills and tools that they have gained and can use throughout their careers and lives.

by Aaron Traxler-Ballew, IGR Alumnus

Some people say job searching or applying to graduate school is all about selling yourself. And if you're willing to think about yourself and your experience as something to be sold, this approach may work for you. I prefer a different metaphor: the generic novel.

That's right, getting a job or getting into graduate school is all about telling your story. You are the protagonist and the focal point. However, as with a lot of popular genres, people are only interested in your story if it follows a pretty generic script.

IGR is very pleased to announce the new co-chairs of our alumni committee: Kadija M. Deen J.D. and Shana Schoem J.D.

IGR shines this month’s Alumni Spotlight on Adam Falkner, a 2007 Graduate of U-M and IGR. Adam was deeply involved in many aspects of the program while a student, and he went on to pursue a uniquely designed life path that incorporates many facets of his IGR experiences, which have significantly shaped who he is as an individual and a community leader. Adam works in the non-profit sector using arts and education to further dialogue and social justice, and is also currently pursuing a Ph.D.

With courses, workshop programs, research projects, and more, IGR's students work in a number of different settings. In 2014, we decided we needed a way to tie them together as a community. Thus, the Student Engagement Team (SET) was born. Read below to learn about the work of the SET team and what's happening in 2015!

As the Student Engagement Team co-coordinators, Elena Ross and Gloriela Iguina-Colòn work to unite all those involved with IGR in various capacities. They write:

"Here are some of the ways we do this:

by Jonathan Vanderbeck, IGR Graduate Student Intern

I’m new to IGR and will be working here for a year as a graduate intern from the School of Social Work. It’s been a great first month and I have enjoyed diving into my work. However, there is definitely a bit of a learning curve when it comes to understanding the work and role of IGR, particularly around courses regarding dialogue and facilitation. 

When I told my parents back in the summer that I had secured an internship at IGR, the first thing they did was ask me, 

“What is intergroup dialogue?”

IGR would like to send a fond farewell to A7med (Ahmed) Alawami, a long-time IGR community member. A7med has had a tremendous impact on the program through his commitment in many different avenues of IGR involvement including teaching, research, alumni outreach, and dialogue participation/facilitation. Most recently, A7med served as an instructor for IGR's Practicum in Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation course. A7med is moving to California and will soon be joined by his family. We wish them the best of everything and will miss them a lot!