News

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?”

In celebration of the outstanding work in social justice done by The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) alumnx around the globe, we are excited to honor one exceptional alumnx each year with the Outstanding Alumnx Award!

The award honors an IGR alumnx who embodies and exemplifies the values and ethics of the program contributing toward advancing positive intergroup relations and promoting social justice through their personal and professional lives in an effort to create a more just and inclusive society and world.

The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) stands for the liberation of all people. We believe that none of us are free until all of us are free. IGR opposes all forms of oppression that result in the marginalization, exploitation, subjugation, violence and all forms of dehumanization against others on the basis of social identity, social group membership and positionality. IGR promotes social justice and the pursuit of “solutionary solutions” that “do the most good and the least harm for people, animals and the environment” (IHE 2008).

The 15-credit minor in intergroup relations education will change your life forever, combining with any major to provide students with skills to bravely achieve change together.

Students who complete the minor in intergroup relations education qualify for preferred admittance into the Marsal Family School of Education's Master of Arts in higher education.

The Patricia Gurin Certificate of Merit in Intergroup Relations is awarded to graduating undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated academic mastery in intergroup relations.

The liberatory education cord is worn with graduation caps and gowns to honor undergraduate and graduate students who have made significant contributions to advance the mission of IGR and liberatory education.

The Mark Chesler Library Collection connects the university community to more than 1200 books, films, and journals on a wide range of topics related to social identity, multiculturalism, intergroup relations, and social justice. Useful for conducting independent research, enhancing curricular content, or simply broadening horizons, materials are available for use to the entire university community and are listed in the U-M Library System's MIRLYN catalog.

May 30, 2023

An openness to new and differing ideas. An ability and confidence to communicate effectively across difference. Seeing conflict not as ‘bad,’ but as an opportunity for dialogue. “I use what I’ve learned through The Program on Intergroup Relations in everything I’ve done," says alum Madison Krumins.

May 3, 2023

In 2014, Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW '14) was approached by her community-organizing colleague, then-State Representative, now Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, to run for office. Chang wondered if as an Asian American woman she could represent what was a majority African American and Latino district in the Michigan House.