CC Recipients

September 25th 2024
Naomi Silver, Writing 160.001 (Multimodal Composition: Artful Politics)

This grant funded student’s attendance of a UMS performance by the Belgian theater group Ontroerend Goed titled “Fight Night.” The interactive performance uses electronic voting to simulate an election, and draw attention to the often surprising or superficial motivations behind people’s voting patterns. Students’ attendance tied into the course theme of "Artful Politics," on political art, how activists use art to convey their messages, and how politics itself may be an artful practice. During the election season, this performance provided one means of integrating attention to the election into class activities.

September 26th 2024
John Carson, HISTORY 361 (Culture Wars are Nothing New)

Students in History 361: Culture Wars are Nothing New were able to attend the UMS performance of Fight Night by Belgian theatre group Ontroerend Goed. The interactive performance features five people representing political candidates, and the audience gets to vote on candidates after information about them is revealed. The goal is to get viewers to reflect on what influences their vote, which meshes well with History 361, which examines US intellectual and cultural history. Students were able to connect concepts of the course about the nature of democracy and engagement with a live performance exploring elections.

Tatsuya Nakatani at Trinosophes

September 27th 2024
Ian Antonio, ENS 465 (Percussion Ensemble)

The Percussion Ensemble traveled to see Tatsuya Nakatani perform at Trinosophes in Detroit. The class also had the opportunity to meet the artist after the concert. Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist and composer. Originally from Japan and now living in New Mexico, his music centers around his adapted bowed gong as well as drums, cymbals, and singing bowls. Students were able to experience an artist they may not have heard of before and observe innovative techniques.

September 28th 2024
Tatjana Aleksic, SLAVIC 290, Section 005 (New Films from Kosovo)

Students in Slavic 290, “How do we live and remember after the war?: New films from Kosovo,” attended a performance of Fight Night by the Belgian theater company Ontroerend Goed, hosted by UMS. The performance, which invites the audience to vote on five candidates after learning selective information about their personalities and lives (not their political views), was used to create discussions around how people are emotionally affected by PR and media content of various kinds. In line with the course, the performance helped inform students understanding of how a civil war became possible in Kosovo, how neighbors turned on each other, and how society and individuals - precisely through then novelty reality shows, TV and other media - were prepared to commit and later accept, the horrifying crimes committed in this war.

Field Trip to Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals at the DIA

September 28th 2024
Gavin Arnall, COMPLIT 490 / ROMLANG 498 (Cultures of Revolution and Revolutions of Culture)

This grant funded a field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts for students in COMPLIT 490/ROMLANG 498 to see artist Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals. The course focuses on how artistic practice affects revolutionary change and vice versa, with a special focus on art traditions of the major Romance languages. One unit of the course focuses on Mexican Muralism, and assigned texts included Diego Rivera's two essays on the Detroit Industry Murals. After returning from the field trip, a class session was dedicated to discussing the murals at the DIA in relation to other major artworks by Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, Alice Rahon, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo.

Guest Masterclass with Lindsay Flowers

September 30th 2024
Nancy King, MUS 139, 239, 339, 439, 539, 639 (Applied Oboe)

Professor Lindsay Flowers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, traveled to Ann Arbor to present a masterclass for the School of Music, Theatre, & Dance oboe students as well as other interested wind students. Four students performed for Flowers and the rest of the attendees learned from watching her give a live coaching to each of the four students. In her position at Wisconsin, Professor Flowers guides student-generated community engagement projects. Her background in athletics distinguishes her pedagogical approach in her emphasis on performance visualization, disciplined commitment, and supportive teamwork. She is a rising star in the oboe pedagogy world and represents a new generation of female oboe professors.

Picture Books Guest Speakers

October 2nd 2024
Ariel Kaplowitz Hahn, English 221.005 (Picture Books)

This grant allowed students from English 221, Picture Books, to hear from Michigan-based guest speakers including Literati bookseller Sabina Carty, Caldecott-winner Erin Stead and author/illustrator Emmy Kastner. The class explores picture books through the lens of literary analysis, the publishing industry, and creative writing, learning from picture book experts in the field such as highly acclaimed authors and illustrators. Stead spoke with students about the interplay of words and pictures together, and her lesson focused on supporting students' growth as interpreters of fine art. Kastner taught students how to create their own illustrations in class, complimenting their final project in the class: an illustrated picture book of their own making.

October 5th 2024
Geoff Emberling

Students in MIDEAST 209, a class on the history of food and drink in the Middle East, visited an exhibit at the DIA titled "The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World". The visit took place at the same time as students were learning and writing about the elaborate courtly food culture of the medieval Islamic empire. The visit also provided a point of comparison with a class visit to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, where students saw less high-status objects from that time. Students were able to enhance their learning experience by traveling to Detroit and seeing the objects associated with this cuisine as well as miniature paintings depicting different aspects of the dining experience in different medieval and early modern Islamic cultures.

Mural Tour with Elton Moroy Duran

October 6th 2024
Rebecca Zurier, HISTART 194.003, HISTART 393.007 (“Detroit’s Black Power Murals: A Public History Project” and “Art & Revolution: Mexican Murals”)

After visiting and discussing the “Detroit Industry” murals by Diego Rivera at the Detroit Institute of Arts, these two classes traveled to the Latinx neighborhood of Southwest Detroit to meet with the contemporary muralist Elton Moroy Duran. Mr. Duran led the class on a walking tour of murals that he has painted on walls of businesses and public spaces in the neighborhood. He discussed his career in Mexico and the US and how he came to adapt the inspiration of Rivera's and other Mexican murals for the current needs of contemporary residents of Southwest Detroit. Students engaged with Duran in discussion of how public murals assert a presence on the street that descends from but is different from Rivera’s example and consider how art can play a role in social change.

October 6th 2024
Douglas Perkins, ENS 465 (Percussion Ensemble)

A cohort of students from Percussion Ensemble traveled to the University of Iowa to perform John Luther Adams' Inuksuit with musicians from the University of Iowa, Steven Schick, and more, as well as attending talks and performances by Steven Schick in celebration of his 70th birthday. Inuksuit is a piece for 9-99 performers that grew out of a musical camping trip that included Steve Schick, John Luther Adams, and me that inspired Adams' to reimagine his compositional practice to include large-scale outdoor works that inspire and and foster a sense of community by shared leadership in the music-making and making the audience become active in their listening participation. The whole ensemble was invited to read from Schick's book, attend zooms with him about his career and Inuksuit, and a voluntary cohort from the ensemble traveled to Iowa for a weekend to attend in-person events and participate in a performance.

Waters of Resistance

October 7th 2024
Raquel Vieira Parrine Sant’Ana, Spanish 373/Spanish 432 (Ancestral Futures and Queer Fissures in Time and Space in Latin America)

This grant funded an art-education workshop with Afrolatino artist Paulo Ramos. Ramos provided a guest lecture showcasing and reflecting on his own work that connects Afrolatino ancestrality, environmental issues, and creative resilience. Ramos' work artistically addresses the ways in which queerness and Blackness hinders processes of territorial extractivism as the embodied experience of a Black and queer Brazilian artist. After the lecture, he conducted a performance workshop in which students used their phones to document everyday enactments of the intersection between race, sexuality, and environment. The workshop culminated in a collective visual poem that intersects the themes of time and body.

Visiting Lecturer: Jules Pegram

October 8th 2024
Catherine Brown, COMPLIT 141 (Great Performances)

Los Angeles-based composer (and SMTD alumnus) Jules Pegram gave a Zoom lecture to prepare students for the Ann Arbor Symphony’s concert with the music of John Williams. Dr. Pegram is an active composer of music for both the concert hall and the film industry. He spoke to the class about what distinguishes a working film composer from a composer of classical/concert music, the ins-and-outs of film music from a composer's point of view, and offered an introduction to the work of John Williams.

Master Series with Sean McKnight

October 8th 2024
Jillian Hopper, Dance 101.002, Dance 211, Dance 311, Dance 303.002, Dance 491.001

Sean McKnight, a master commercial dance artist and instructor, offered three classes throughout the day to all BFA dance majors. Beginning with a masterclass to all students in the Performance Studio, this class focused on Broadway and commercial dance styles. Following this masterclass, McKnight worked with junior and senior level BFA students in a mock audition. To finish the afternoon, McKnight gave a lecture to junior and senior level BFA dance majors regarding working on Broadway and in the commercial avenue of the profession.

Carillon Field Trip

October 12th 2024
Tiffany Ng, Organ 111, 112, 113, 150, 500, 591 (Carillon Studio)

The carillon studio class went on an afternoon field trip to two carillons in Detroit, with performance time for the students on both towers. For many students, this was their first experience playing a carillon off campus for a different community. The first instrument, the 23-bell carillon at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in the historic Indian Village neighborhood, is the oldest and smallest carillon in Michigan and a memorial to U-M alumnus Henry Russel. The second carillon, at Saint Mary of Redford Catholic Church on Detroit’s upper west side, is larger and allowed students to perform full-scale concert repertoire.

Chinese Modern Dance Workshop

October 23rd 2024
Lingjing Jiang, Dance 100.002 (Chinese Classical Dance in Round Fan)

Mingjun Han, a choreographer and performer from China currently based in New York, led a specialized workshop on Chinese modern dance techniques. Mingjun Han, with an M.F.A. in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and a strong foundation from Beijing Normal University, guided students through a detailed exploration of Eastern dance aesthetics. The workshop included technical exercises focusing on the use of the spine, joints, feet, and facial expressions, aimed at developing fluidity and smooth transitions in movement. This educational experience was designed to deepen students' understanding of Chinese Classical dance and integrate these techniques into their broader dance practice.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

October 27th 2024
Lisa Makman, ENGLISH 341 (Fantasy)

This grant allowed Makman’s class to attend the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s performance of 13 TONGUES, hosted by UMS. Students were introduced to Cloud Gate’s uniquely Taiwanese storytelling style, a blend of visuals, movement, and music to adapt works with fantastical elements. The class was able to discuss and analyze Cloud Gate’s method of adapting folklore in the context of modern fantasy.

Visiting Artist Workshop: Yelena Lembersky

October 30th 2024
Elizabeth Goodenough, RCHUMS/ENVIRON 337 (Children Under Fire: Narratives of Sustainability)

This activity integrated in an Upper Level Writing course the expertise of Yelena Lembersky, a visiting artist, architect, and author, into Children Under Fire to explore connections among three forms of artistic expression: memoir, painting as resistance, and personal expression through video production. The first of two classes that the Visiting Artist conducted were in person followed by four more sessions on zoom. In addition, the Visiting Artist met individuals or pairs of students as they scripted and filmed their final projects, video essays on intergenerational trauma. All the readings in the course focus on trauma of displacement by examining how that early trial is portrayed in picture and chapter books, Y/A fiction, diary, memoir, and verse poetry.

Drag Performance Workshop

November 1st 2024
Holly Hughes, ARTDES 438 (Gender Euphoria)

The Toronto based artist DJ Logue led a drag/gender bending performance workshop followed by a performance for students in ARTDES 438: Gender Euphoria. The performance and workshop was also open to students in other classes in Stamps and SMTD. The workshop participants were invited to perform with the artist after the class. This class focused on how artists literally construct, critique and reimagine gender identity through performance and object making, and during the course students explored various creative approaches. This artist's visit and the ability to have a hands-on experience with drag performance was a cornerstone of the course.

November 4th 2024
Oksana Chabanyuk, SLAVIC 290, Section 007 (Cultural Heritage of Ukraine: Architecture and Arts)

This workshop with 25 students invited Michigan artist Barbara Melnik Carson to teach students to create Motanka, a traditional Ukrainian guardian doll with deep cultural and historical roots using traditional natural and recycled materials. Students each made a doll and learned about the historical meaning of a Guardian Motanka, that of an ancient family talismans symbolizing prosperity, goodness, and hope. The name "motanka" comes from the word “motaty” (to wind) aiming to make a knotted doll out of fabric, without using a needle and scissors. Generally, dolls were in the shape of a human figure, usually a woman or a child, and were made from pieces of fabric from old clothes of family members connected by knots. Students’ work can also be viewed in two virtual exhibitions that showcase the workshop results and students' Motankas in a simulated gallery.

Krump and Hip Hop Mini-Jam

November 7th 2024
Kiana Cook, Dance 100 Section 013 and 016 (Krump and Hip Hop Freestyle)

The Krump and Hip Hop Freestyle classes hosted a dance battle open to all students to observe or compete. These types of dance battles take place in street, social, and club dance cultures in the African diaspora, and are also referred to as "jams.” The event included DJ Shane Treez and a judge, Renegade, who determined the winners of the competition after multiple rounds. This activity was integrated into course content as students prepared to participate in order to experience the custom of battling other dancers. The mini-jam provided students with a tangible experience of battling in order to have a lived experience of the cultural practice tied to this style of dance.

Q & A with Nikkei Film Director

November 8th 2024
Carla Iglesias-Garrido, Spanish 232 (Extraordinary Hispanic Communities)

Students in Spanish 232: Extraordinary Hispanic Communities met with Nikkei director Harumi López Higa for a Q & A session with her about a short film that she directed. Students had the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of the Nikkei, the Japanese Peruvian population. This visit provided students with firsthand insights to deepen their understanding of cultural representation and artistic expression and explore themes like identity, history, and cross-cultural storytelling.

Guest Lecture by Graphic Novel Artist and Writer Sherine Hamdy

November 18th 2024
Aliyah Khan, English 398 / Islam 390 (Islam in Graphic Novels)

This grant facilitated a guest lecture by Sherine Hamdy, the author of the Egyptian-American graphic novel "Lissa: A Story About Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution.” Hamdy is an anthropologist and artist who turned her academic research on Egyptian cultural and religious approaches to medicine and death into a graphic novel. Since she is currently a professor at the University of California, Irvine, she gave a Zoom lecture to discuss her book with students of “Islam in Graphic Novels,” The author visit tied into the course, which centered around introducing upper-level undergraduate students to graphic novels and comics from and about the Muslim world, from the Middle East to Asia, Africa, and immigrant communities in Europe and the United States. Hamdy particularly focused on how she uses art and the graphic novel medium to translate scholarly research to layperson readers.

AI Collaboration with Opera Composer

November 18th 2024
Seder Burns, ARTDES 340.001 (Making Digital Images)

This grant funded an AI collaboration with Mikeila McQueston, Pre-Candidate, Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at the School of Music. The Making Digital Images class worked with her to make a video with AI software to accompany her performance of a science-fiction themed opera excerpt that she composed. The performance was part of the Student Composer Concerts at UM.

Alma Española Flamenco Performance

November 19th 2024
Lisa Montes, SPA 232 (Flamenco: Arte, Ritmo y Diversidad)

This grant funded Inviting the local professional flamenco dance company, Alma Española, to perform for three sections of Spanish 232: Flamenco: Arte, Ritmo y Diversidad. The course centers on the history of flamenco and throughout the term, students learn about the critical components of this art form through videos, lectures and articles. As a culminating activity, the flamenco group performed live for the students and invited them to learn a short dance. Prior to the performance, students learned about the influence of these groups on flamenco and were given the opportunity to share their own cultural background or experiences. Students also researched famous flamenco artists and shared their findings through writings and small group presentations. This will be their opportunity to experience a live performance of what they have been studying.

Berliner Philharmoniker and Hansel & Gretel

November 23rd 2024
Karein Goertz, RCGerman191 & RCGerman291 (RC Intensive German)

Students in the Residential College Intensive German program attended the UMS performance of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the SMTD performance of Hänsel & Gretel. In the case of the Berliner Philharmoniker, students were able to see world-class German musicians perform, and for Hänsel & Gretel, they got to experience live music by a German composer. They were also able to see one of their peers in RC German perform in Hänsel & Gretel, who discussed the production with the class beforehand.

Vogue Guest Choreographer

November 25th 2024
Alana Howard, DANCE 100.008 (Jazz Funk)

This grant funded a Vogue session in DANCE 100: Jazz Funk class by a local choreographer, Trish. The guest choreographer event was also open to the public, and around 30 people both in and outside the class participated in learning Vogue techniques, which are inspired by fashion and the Harlem ballroom scene. The course centers self expression and building connections through dance and movement, with a guest choreographer providing students with a perspective of the genre from a different lens.

Piping Paintings Workshop

December 2nd 2024
Barbara Pearsall, ARTDES 115.008 (Studio 2D)

This grant funded a buttercream piping workshop with Stamps School of Art & Design Front Desk Associate, Monique Green, who is a cake decorator. The students worked with acrylic paints and a cake dummy, while Monique Green demonstrated with frosting and a real cake. Inspired by Artist Caroline Larsen, who employs frosting piping bags to intricately apply paint to the surface of her canvases, the 2D Foundations class culminated with this workshop, introducing students to experimental and novel ways of making two-dimensional art.

Performance by Universal Xpression

December 5th 2024
Henry Stoll, MUSICOL 407/507 (Carnival!)

This grant brought a Carnival celebration to MUSICOL 407: Carnival! by hiring the Detroit-based Caribbean band, Universal Xpression, to perform a one-hour set of Caribbean and Latin American Carnival music such as soca, calypso, reggae, bachata, konpa, and merengue. Students had the opportunity to learn from the ensemble as well as participate and engage physically with the music.

Recreating Biblical Clay Lamps with Yiu Keung Lee

December 5th 2024
Rebecca Wollenberg, Judaic 261, Judaic 150 (Lost Books that Rewrote the Bible and Modern Questions, Biblical Answers)

Yiung Lee from Clayworks Studios brought materials to campus to walk students through a series of lamp making exercises, first making a simple pinch oil lamp from the time of the Hebrew Bible, then a closed cup lamp from the time of the New Testament, then an elaborate stamped lamp from the time of the Quran. He then fired these so students could experience in their own homes the character of lights from each of these scriptures and what the metaphors of lamps really meant to these people. The activity allowed them to approach the touchy topic of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures through a non-threatening, artistic hands-on craft. It also showed students how different the material culture of different times were from each other and from our own so the meaning of texts isn't immediately self-evident or fixed.

VR Sculpting with YONK Animation Studio

January 17th 2025
Avery Lawrence, ARTDES 432.001 (Advanced Animation Projects)

This grant funded a 2-day virtual reality sculpting and animation workshop led by YONK Animation Studio. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, YONK specializes in using VR sculpting software to create 3D assets that they animate using a mix of performance capture and keyframe animation. The goal of the workshop was to break free from traditional 3D norms and create playful animation, and students used the equipment at the XR Visualization Studio in the Duderstadt building on North Campus.

January 23rd 2025
Catherine Brown, RCHUMS 306 (The Book and the Body)

This grant allowed RCHUMS 306: The Book and the Body to attend this UMS-sponsored performance by Caroline Shaw and Gabriel Kahane. The performance, titled “Hexagons,” is a new work co-commissioned by UMS based on Jorge Luis Borges' 1941 short story "The Library of Babel." The class read and discussed the story, in which there is an infinite library of books in hexagonal rooms with all possible knowledge, before attending the show. Shaw and Kahane connected this story to the information overload of the digital world. Students connected the story and performance to the course topic, the book as material object in history and as idea and ideology. Seeing a live performance inspired by the story allowed the students to connect an old short story to a new art form, as Shaw and Kahane are contemporary composers and performers.

Author Conversation with Sejal Shah

February 4th 2025
Jeremiah Chamberlin, English 425: Immersion Writing

This grant funded a virtual visit from author Sejal Shah to speak with the students of English 425: Immersion Writing about her work, her writing process, and publishing. Sejal Shah is the author of This is One Way to Dance: Essays of Race, Place, and Belonging. Shah's work interrogates intersections of her Indian-American identity in structurally innovative ways. The class read one of her essays, "Matrimonials: A Triptych," which uses the triptych as an organizing principle to meditate on Indian weddings. Shah’s work helped students explore the form of immersion memoir, a model for the interplay of form and function. Through this visit, students had the opportunity to discuss Shah’s work with her and discuss the path of becoming an essayist and making a career as a writer.

Foam Carving workshop with Kevin Augustine

February 11th 2025
Christianne Myers, THTREMUS 285 (Intro to Puppetry)

Sculptor and puppeteer Kevin Augustine led students in the Intro to Puppetry class in a workshop on foam carving methods used in character and puppet design. Just before Kevin's residency, students met with the Anime Puppet Theatre company, and the course includes activities such as developing site specific puppet theatre pieces across North Campus. Students each sculpted a unique character head for the workshop, which provided one set of tools that students will develop and practice towards creating their own puppet theatre pieces with the theme of "migration."

Theatre Dance Workshop and Q&A

February 12th 2025
Lauren Smith, Dance 100.013 (Introduction to Broadway Jazz)

Lauren Smith hosted a theatre dance workshop for the Introduction to Broadway Jazz class, featuring guest artist and University of Michigan alum, Ambika Raina. Ambika led students through a fun dance section from the 2022 Off-Broadway musical called "The Jury," showcasing her innovative choreography that blends modern dance, classical Indian dance, and a fresh perspective on theatre dance styles. In addition to the dance workshop, students could attend three Zoom Q&A sessions with guest artists Marla Phelan, Deanna Cudjoe, and Ishmael Gonzalez. These seasoned professionals shared their valuable insights into the world of theatre dance, including their different career paths, audition preparation, and their creative processes.

Workshops and Coaching with Dr. Kirill Kuzmin

February 23rd 2025
Ana Maria Otamendi, PIANO LP 587, ENS 481/581, ENS 539/540/639, VOICELIT 592, MUSPERF 591/891

This grant supported a 3 day residency for Dr. Kirill Kuzmin, a renowned pianist, repetiteur, and vocal coach, with a focus on music from his native country of Russia. Dr. Kuzmin visited campus for a workshop with the pianists enrolled in Techniques of Vocal Coaching, a masterclass for the pianists enrolled in Piano Accompanying and Duo Repertoire, a masterclass for all collaborative pianists and singers enrolled in Interpretation of Song, and group lessons with pianists that are interested in careers in opera. Dr. Kuzmin has worked at the Bolshoi Theater, Houston Grand Opera and is currently faculty at the Cincinnati College Conservatory, and his experience as a coach and pianist provided valuable insight on Russian music.

February 27th 2025
Alex Averbuch, SLAVIC 290 (008), SLAVIC 290 (005), UKR 152, UKR 252, UKR 352

This grant funded a reading and conversation with renowned Ukrainian poet Oksana Maksymchuk, who read from her recently published work Still City: Diary of an Invasion. This event provided students enrolled in the Ukrainian program of the Slavic Department with a personal and powerful perspective on Ukraine's resilience during the ongoing war, as well as insight into Maksymchuk's role as both a poet and translator of Ukrainian literature. In addition to the reading, Maksymchuk engaged in discussion with students, focusing on the intersection of poetry, translation, and the wartime experiences she captures in her work. The event was an interactive conversation between the poet, translator, and students, creating an opportunity to directly engage with contemporary Ukrainian culture and its artistic responses to conflict.

Handel's Rinaldo with Detroit Opera

February 28th 2025
Amanda Majeski Handley, MUSPERF 821, 891, 139, 219, 221, 239, 339, 423, 425, 527, 539, 540

This grant allowed students from various Applied Voices classes to travel to Detroit and attend a performance of Handel’s Rinaldo by the Detroit Opera. The classes studied the plot of the opera, worked on pieces from the show, and discussed the process of preparing a role for a professional setting. Students also had the chance to speak to cast members backstage after the performance.

March 15th 2025
Zeynep Özcan, PAT 315/525 (Diversity in Music Technology)

Students attended the UMS performance of Shamel Pitts | TRIBE BLACK HOLE: Trilogy and Triathlon. The PAT 315/525: Diversity in Music Technology course focuses on the work of people of color, women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming artists in music technology, including afrofuturism which is a movement that explores the intersection of African diaspora culture, science fiction, and technology. Students learned about the ways in which Afrofuturism has had a significant impact on electronic music, both in terms of its musical innovation and its engagement with social and political issues. The TRIBE arts collective is inspired by the Afrofuturism movement, and students observed firsthand how Afrofuturism shapes performing arts.

Traditional Arab Folk Dance Workshop

March 17th 2025
Mohammad Alhawary, MIDEAST/ISLAM 315 (Introduction to Arab Culture)

This grant funded a hands-on participatory workshop guiding attendees through a range of dances from different parts of the Arab world. Karim Nagi, an Egyptian musician, folklorist, percussionist, and dancer, traveled to provide accompaniment and instruction along with the lecturer. Students in Introduction to Arab Culture were able to see how performing arts complement visual arts and that both are important parts of Arab culture.

Giulina Musso’s Visit to Michigan: A Show and A Talk

March 21st 2025
Giulia Ricco, ITALIAN 300, 232, 415 (Attivismo in Italia; Topics: Global Feminisms; Elena Ferrante, Authorship, and World Literature)

This grant brought students from three Italian classes (ITALIAN 300, ITALIAN 232, ITALIAN 415) to see the play Dentro by Guiliana Musso, one of Italy’s leading theater artists. Students traveled to the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on Thursday March 20, 2025 and the next day, Guilia Ricco hosted Musso on campus to talk about her practice to the students. Juliet Guzzetta, an associate professor of English at MSU, a specialist in narrative theater, and an alumna of the PhD program in Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan, joined the conversation. This was an opportunity for students to engage with live Italian theater in Southeastern Michigan; second and connect to their course readings of Dentro.

Field Trip to Motor City Dance Factory

March 21st 2025
Alana Howard, Dance 100.004 & 100.008 (Jazz Funk and Hip Hop)

This grant brought students from Jazz Funk and Hip Hop classes to Motor City dance factory, a local dance studio that specializes in those genres. The excursion provided students with a practical, hands-on experience that goes beyond the traditional classroom environment. By engaging with professional dancers and instructors in a dedicated studio setting, students deepened their understanding of these dance styles and gained exposure to new techniques and forms of expression. The visit to this local dance studio provided students with a diversified perspective on regional styles and offered students a broader historical context to the genre.

March 22nd 2025
Deborah Field, History 434 (Russia/USSR in the 20th and 21st Centuries)

This grant allowed students in History 434 to attend a film with live music presented by UMS: Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, with contralto Meredith Arwady, the UMS Choral Union, and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. The class focused on the film during their discussion of Stalinist culture, and later in the semester, contrasted it with thaw era cinema and discussed Putin's politicization of history.

Attending UMS concert of Alexander Nevsky

March 22nd 2025
Kira Thurman, HISTORY 322 (Origins of Nazism)

60 students in History 322: Origins of Nazism attended the performance of the film Alexander Nevsky hosted by UMS on March 22. The film is from 1938 and depicts anti-German sentiment from a Soviet perspective on the eve of WWII. Because the class focuses on the rise of Nazi and the far right, the screening integrates in course discussions of German-Soviet entanglements and hostility and how it manifested in WWII violence and maltreatment of Soviet prisoners of war.

Virtual Class Visit with Writer Hannah Louise Poston

March 25th 2025
Megan Behrend, WRT 160 003 (Multimodal Composition: If Clothes Could Talk)

This grant allowed poet, essayist, and social media creator Hannah Louise Poston to give a virtual visit with students in “Multimodal Composition: If Clothes Could Talk.” Poston presented her work as a writer across genres and media followed by a Q&A. “If Clothes Could Talk” explores the rhetoric of clothing itself, as well as art, media, and writing about clothes. Students watched one of Poston’s videos for class and were able to ask her questions about her composition process as well as about the relationship between her multimodal composing as a Youtube creator and the other kinds of writing she does as a poet and essayist.

Ypsilanti Zine Jamboree

March 29th 2025
April Conway, WRT 160; LSWA 230; ENGL 221 (DIY Cultures; Making Comics; Zine What do You Mean!)

Students from three courses tabled, volunteered at, and attended the Ypsilanti Zine Jamboree, a new zine festival at the Ypsi Freighthouse on March 29th, 2025. The Zine Jamboree is a chance for local zine makers — community members and students from around Ann Arbor, Ypsi, and Detroit — to vend their zines and art and to network with other local creatives. The event connects to course content on DIY cultures, comic creation, and art outside the classroom. This grant allowed a U-M student to design the Zine Jamboree logo and poster, as well as speak with students about his art-making process.

Speculative Design Workshop with Detroit-based Artist Lauren Williams

April 9th 2025
Luciana Chamorro, Anthro 298 (Power and Resistance)

Detroit-based designer Lauren Williams (she/they) was invited to present her design-based research and facilitate a speculative design workshop with students. Williams is a Detroit-based designer, researcher and educator who works with visual and interactive media to understand, critique, and reimagine the ways social and economic systems distribute and exercise power over Black life and death. Williams presented Artifacts from/for a Liberated Detroit, a collection of objects and experiences from a Detroit without policing, incarceration, jails, prisons, and detention centers. Through design, students observed how Williams contends with and challenges the carceral infrastructures that surround us today.

April 11th 2025
Maryia Zilberman, English 221.004 (Zine What You Mean!)

This Course Connections grant funded a free and public event at the Hatcher Library for students and local zinesters to share, trade, and make zines. The annual event included a maker space with art and collage supplies, as well as tables for zine artists to set-up and display their works. Students in English 221 helped to plan and run the event, in collaboration with three other courses with a total of 72 students.