September

When black children are targeted for punishment
U-M Philosophy professor Derrick Darby recently wrote about racial disparities in school discipline.
Read more: The New York Times

Secret weapon for space travelers: A steady diet of TV?
Jan Van den Bulck, professor of media psychology at U-M, discusses the benefits of using TV as a method of filling free time during space travel. “Recreating the media environment from before we had permanent, continuous access to anything we want to watch or listen to might be just the thing to help space travelers cope with a loss of a sense of space and time, with loneliness, privacy issues, boredom and more.”
Read more: The Conversation

DIA readies to open Japanese Installation
The Detroit Institute of Arts will open a newly installed gallery of Japanese art on Saturday, November 4. Dr. Natsu Oyobe, curator of Asian art at the U-M Museum of Art, assisted with the creation of the gallery.
Read more: Windsor Square

University Musical Society heralds new era of socially conscious theater in Ann Arbor
UMS president Matthew VanBesien recently spoke to Michigan Radio about contributing to a season of socially conscious theater. “We’ve put ourselves in the ivory tower, and we don’t like engaging with people in a real way around societal or substantive issues. And I actually believe that our role is exactly that. It is, yes, to present great performing arts, but to do it in a very mindful way and to do it in a way that says we are part of the fabric of the community in direct and indirect ways,” he said.
Read more: Michigan Radio

How Uber Engineering’s Roche Janken channels creativity into code
U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumna Roche Janken is an engineer on Uber’s Privacy Engineering team. She discusses her unconventional path to programming, and how her career as a dance inspires her to think creatively at Uber.
Read more: Uber Engineering

ArtPrize Nine opens Wednesday with 1,346 artists
ArtPrize Nine will feature 1,346 entries at 175 venues catered across Grand Rapids, Michigan. U-M Stamps School of Art & Design professor Rebekah Modrak’s video piece ‘The Implicit Jacques Panis on Shinola’s Quest to Revive American Manufacturing’ will be on display.
Read more: The Detroit News

Washtenaw County Arts & Cultural Organizations Receive $1.026 Million in State Grants The Arts Alliance Regrants $41,300 to Region 9
The U-M Museum of Art, U-M Museum of Natural History and University Musical Society have received Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs grants. The Stamps School of Art & Design, Wonderfool, and Matthei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum also received mini-grants.
Read more: The Arts Alliance

Charles Correa international lecture debuts at University of Michigan
The Charles Correa International Lecture series, in honor and memory of renowned Indian architect, activist and U-M alumnus Charles Correa, will host its first speaker on Sept. 18.
Read more: Broadway World Detroit

U-M celebrates bicentennial with free party at Grand Circus Park
U-M is readying to celebrate its 200th birthday with a party that will be help at Detroit’s Grand Circus Park with keynote speakers such as Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, U-M President Mark Schlissel, United Tribes of Michigan Executive Director Frank Ettawageshik and U-M Regent Michael Behm.
Read more: Detroit Metro Times

National Theatre of Ghana to perform Tennessee Williams across Southeast Michigan
The magic of theatre came to Michigan in a new, unique form. The U-M center of World Performance Studies hosted the National theatre of Ghana. Their residency included a series of open-air performances of the Tennessee Williams play ’10 Blocks on the Camino Real.’ “This is something that I’m very excited about because we’re going to reach a wide range of people,” said Kate Mendelof, a drama lecturer at the University of Michigan and director of Shakespeare in the Arb.
Read more here: Michigan Radio

U-M professor Sean Ahlquist created an interactive playground for his daughter, who has autism

University of Michigan unveils new Taubman College of Architecture wing
The new A. Alfred Taubman Wing of University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning was unveiled to the public Friday, Sept. 8, after breaking ground in 2015. “Taubman is famous for our robot-filled fabrication labs and our wide-open studio floor,” Dean Jonathan Massey said in a news release. “The A. Alfred Taubman Wing and renovation augments these assets with a faculty research hub and a glorious two-story commons that allows the entire college to gather for lectures, studio reviews, and social events. We are excited to form new living and learning relationships within its complex, carefully considered and sumptuously daylit spaces.”
Read more: MLive

The top 10 BFA theatre design & tech programs in the country for 2017-18
The U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance is listed among the top 10 BFA theatre design & tech programs in the country.
Read more: On Stage Blog

Darkroom Detroit gives photographers a home to create
U-M Stamps School of Art & Design lecturer Seder Burns has donated several pieces of photography equipment to Darkroom Detroit, a non-profit photography center. Burns said he supports Darkroom Detroit because “it is an increasingly rare opportunity to work in a darkroom, and by providing community resources, it allows more people to experience that.”
Read more: The Detroit News

August

New UM class takes on “fake news” by teaching active reading and fact checking
Angie Oehrli, senior associate librarian at the U-M Library, offered tips and explained the goals of the new class she’s teaching on fake news, lies and propaganda.
Read more: Michigan Radio

University of Michigan among most-represented colleges on Broadway
All signs point to another big year on Broadway for alums from the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Playbill published its list of the Top 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway for the 2017-18 season, and U-M came in at No. 3 on the list, which tracks where members of the casts and creative teams of each Broadway show went to college. Among U-M alums featured on the list was Gavin Creel, who won his first Tony in 2017 for featured actor in a musical in “Hello, Dolly!”
Read more: MLive

Exhibit Columbus: Next generation of designers rises to the task
A student team from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning designed and installed an outdoor architectural piece at Exhibit Columbus in Indiana. The installation featured whimsical seats, fabricated in metal into colorful pigs, and hanging clay-glazed fish in a geometric cloud canopy. Instructor Mick Kennedy and professor and architecture program chair Sharon Haar explained that the piece is combining design and fabrication to bring together industry and agriculture representing the Great Lakes/Midwest region, and all its potential.
Read more: The Republic

UM turns 200 this weekend, 80 years after celebrating its 100th birthday
U-M alum & professor at Miami of Ohio Jim Tobin discussed the history of Michigan’s oldest public university with Michigan Radio. “What they established was a corporate entity that had that name, there was no actual school yet, that took a little longer,” Tobin said. “That’s what got started on this date in 1817.”
Read more: Michigan Radio

Gunnar Birkerts, architect, dies at 92; gave shape to the unexpected
Renowned architect and longtime professor at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Gunnar Birkerts passed away at the age of 92. Among his best-known works: Domino’s Farms in Ann Arbor, the 1300 Lafayette residential tower near downtown Detroit, the orange-hued Calvary Baptist Church near Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, the University of Detroit Mercy’s Fisher Administration Building and the University of Michigan Law School’s underground library.
Read more: New York Times

What if the University of Michigan never left Detroit?
The U-M bicentennial celebrations prompts the question: What could have happened if U-M had stayed in Detroit? Brian Williams, the lead bicentennial archivist at U-M’s Bentley Library, weighs in.
Read more: Detroit Metro Times

Clouds hold off as UMich crowd takes in solar eclipse in Ann Arbor
The clouds held off as U-M faculty, students and community members gathered on the Diag to witness the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21. “To me, (watching the people take in the eclipse) was as important as the eclipse itself,” said Juliana Lew, a staff member at the Stamps School of Art & Design. “I’ve been taking pictures of people’s reactions.”
Read more: MLive

For some in Hollywood, the ‘remake’ is taking on global proportions
Colin Gunckel, associate professor of American culture, and of screen arts and cultures, says the Mexican film industry had little success in the American market until Pantelion Films, billed as “the first Latino Hollywood Studio,” was formed in 2010: “They’re moving away from the idea of a Mexican theatrical film as an art film and moving toward popular appeal. … They’re even in Redboxes in the middle of Michigan.”
Read more: Public Radio International

What a border collie taught a linguist about language
After participating in competitive sheepdog competitions with her border collies, U-M linguist Robin Queen noticed that the whistles used to communicate with the dogs were reminiscent of a language. Her competitive sheepdog hobby then turned into a research project as she presented these ideas at a linguistics conference in July.
Read more: Wired

Why Disney’s new streaming service won’t hurt Netflix
Disney’s newly announced streaming service won’t harm Netflix, according to Amanda Lotz, U-M professor of Communication Studies and Screen Arts and Culture. “Channels and portals that provide something viewers truly want will win out, and programming viewers find truly valuable—as opposed to just “what’s on”—will become the new Holy Grail,” says Lotz.
Read more: Fortune

Ghosts in the machine, part V: “Jazz in academia”
A manifesto written by U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance professor Ed Sarath was referenced in an article dissecting the current state of music education.
Read more: Huffington Post

Books interview: Rita Chin
“The question of how people of different ethnicities, cultures and religions build societies together is notoriously difficult, but we might start by trying to understand European states’ policies on immigration/integration over the past half-century,” said Rita Chin, associate professor of history, in an interview about her new book that examines the crisis of multiculturalism in Europe.
Read more: Times Higher Education

ROOM TO CREATE: Former University of Michigan athlete turns toward the abstract
Thomas Pomarico, a U-M alum and former football player, dedicates his time to his lifelong love of art. Pomarico constructs his own large-scale canvases for his colorful and abstract paintings.
Read more: Goshen News

Movie making via marching band
David Hines Jr., a Detroit and L.A.-based film producer, and J.B. Armstrong, a writer/director, met while in the Michigan Marching Band. The two have now teamed up and are working on an independent film about Detroit.
Read more: ECurrent

A graveyard? She’s danced there. Just check Instagram.
U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance alum Marlee Grace has filmed herself improvising during the past two years. She is the artist behind the Instagram account Personal Practice, a trove of short videos documenting her daily movement practice, and the author of a new self-published book about the project, “A Sacred Shift.”
Read more: The New York Times

2017 NEH grants encourage great scholarship for nonscholars to enjoy
Two U-M professors, Tiya Miles and Jeffrey Veidlinger, have been awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar grants, which support well-researched books in the humanities intended to reach a broad readership.
Read more: The Washington Post

Public Sales Start Next Monday for UMS’s 2017-18 Season
Monday, August 7 marks the official beginning of ticket sales for individual performances presented by the University Musical Society. The 2017-18 season consists of 67 performances by 44 different artists and ensembles around Ann Arbor.
Read more: Broadway World Detroit

Detroit 67: The deep scars the city still feels today
Pulitzer Prize winner and U-M professor Heather Ann Thompson commented on the 1967 Detroit riot. “In the wake of the rebellion, Detroit is really up for grabs,” said Thompson, whose 2001 book on the early 1970s, “Whose Detroit?” was recently re-issued.
Read more: Detroit Free Press

U-M Steps Up Pace, Breadth of Detroit Research Collaborations
The Brightmoor Maker Space, supported by the U-M Stamps School of Art & Design, is a major collaboration between U-M and Detroit. The space offers art and design workshops, 3D printing, woodworking, entrepreneurial programming and more.
Read more: Xconomy

An Uncommon Education: Celebrating 200 Years of the University of Michigan
Episode 7 of ‘An Uncommon Education’ focuses on U-M students’ devotion to social justice. From civil rights and the anti-war movement in the 1950’s and 60’s to the BAM and LGBT movements of the past several decades, University of Michigan students have recognized that part of a university education is the responsibility to speak out about injustice and intolerance.
Read more: Detroit Public TV

July

Mean Girls Musical Finds Its Plastics in Taylor Louderman and Ashley Park; Additional Casting Announced
U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance alums Erika Henningsen, Taylor Louderman and Ashley Park have been cast in leading roles for the upcoming musical ‘Mean Girls,’ directed by Tina Fey.
Read more: PlayBill

How Game of Thrones captures an international audience without the help of the Internet
University of Michigan professor of media studies Amanda Lotz joined Stateside to explain why and how Game of Thrones gained such success without the use of the internet like many TV show success stories these days.
Read more: Michigan Radio

The Library of Congress opened its catalogs to the world. Here’s why it matters
The Library of Congress has made 25 million digital catalog records available for anyone to use at no charge. Melissa Levine, the lead copyright officer at the U-M Library explains why this fresh attitude towards shared data matters.
Read more: The Conversation

94 year-old artist has participated In the Ann Arbor Art Fair since it first began
J.T. Abernathy, a former professor at the U-M Stamps School of Art & Design, has participated in the Ann Arbor Art Fair since it first began in 1960. Abernathy, along with 15 other members of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild, will sell their work in a booth in front of Hill Auditorium.
Read more: WEMU 89.1

Detroit actress tackles complex role in ‘Snowfall,’ the FX drama on the 1980s crack epidemic
U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumna Angela Lewis is making a big impression with her co-starring role on the FX series ‘Snowfall,’ the new drama about the rise of crack cocaine in 1980s Los Angeles.
Read more: Detroit Free Press

Best of Washtenaw 2017 – Art and Theatre
The U-M Museum of Art was voted to be the best art gallery and the best museum in Washtenaw county. The U-M Museum of Natural History was the first runner up in the museum category.
Read more: Current

How ‘Game of Thrones’ became TV’s first global blockbuster
The hit HBO show “Game of Thrones” is TV’s first global blockbuster. Amanda Lots, professor of Media Studies at U-M, examines how the show became a global success. “It’s now possible for a series to release new episodes for viewers around the world, and the result is a global watercooler – a shared media culture that transcends national boundaries.”
Read more: The Conversation

Selling Sticks and a Slap in the Face: Artists Intervene in eBay
For U-M Stamps School of Art & Design professor Rebekah Modrak’s project #exstrange, artists from around the globe disrupted eBay as a way of facilitating exchanged among stranger. Dozens of artists participated, resulting in more than 100 eBay auctions.
Read more: Hyperallergic

Miss Buchanan’s Period Of Adjustment
A speech made by Linda Brown Thompson at Rackham Auditorium in 2004 was the inspiration for a recent episode of the podcast Revisionist History, hosted by Malcolm Gladwell.
Read more: Revisionist History

University of Michigan museum marks school’s bicentennial
The University of Michigan Museum of Art has opened another exhibition to celebrate the school’s bicentennial. “Victors for Art: Michigan’s Alumni Collectors — Part II: Abstraction” shows the impact of Michigan alumni in the global art world.
Read more: The New York Times

A plan for raising brilliant kids, according to science
Kathy Pasek, mother of Tony Award winner and U-M alum Benj Pasek, was interviewed about her book ‘Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children.
Read more: NPR

Born into music: Local musician shares his story
David Ward, a sophomore Jazz major at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, was interviewed about his musical journey. “Being a musician allows you to connect with people without having to talk to them or be put in a social situation with them. You can just have a gig, and people are there, and you are automatically invading their brain waves with your music. It’s powerful,” he said.
Read more: The Daily Evergreen