University of Michigan Program on Intergroup Relations

We're hiring a Student Administrative Assistant Senior! This full-time role is a backbone of IGR, coordinating course enrollment operations and academic minor advising, supporting recruitment and national programs, and managing our student space.

Apply by May 31: https://careers.umich.edu/job_detail/277719/student-admin-asst-senior

24th annual IGR Award Ceremony and Graduation Celebration

At the 24th annual Award Ceremony and Graduation Celebration, IGR honored the classes of 2026 and the recipients of the minor in intergroup relations education, certificate in dialogue for community change, Patricia Gurin Certificate of Merit, and liberatory education cord. Rackham Assembly Hall, April 30, 2026. More: igr.umich.edu

This photo is copyrighted by Michigan Photography and the University of Michigan. To purchase and use this photo, contact Michigan Photography directly or visit photography.umich.edu to find this image in their public web gallery.

📚 University of Michigan undergraduates—Add "Pop Culture and Dialogue" or "Foundations of Intergroup Relations" to your spring or summer schedule!

View all courses: igr.umich.edu/courses

From Forbes: "The curriculum encourages students to make the most of all that the school's programs have to offer. A course called Making the Most of Michigan is facilitated by upper-level students to help underclassmen navigate a new environment, connect with other first-year students, and build skills for career and leadership opportunities."

"Making the Most of Michigan" is an IGR course taught through the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Learn more about it: https://igr.umich.edu/article/making-most-michigan-helps-students-flourish

The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor joins the for its rigorous academics and student-centered approach to career preparation. Programs like "Making the Most of Michigan" ensure that graduates—joining an alumni network that includes JetBlue co-founder David Barger and Sasha Obama—are ready to meet the high standards of today’s employers.
Read how the University of Michigan make the list here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2026/04/08/the-new-ivies-20-great-employer-friendly-colleges-embracing-ai/?utm_campaign=ForbesMainFB&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_medium=social

In courtyards and classrooms, University of Michigan faculty, staff and students are navigating difficult conversations and asking for more ways to build skills for engaging across difference.

Effective immediately, the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Division of Student Life are taking important structural steps to deepen their long-standing partnership through IGR and strengthen coordination through a new campus dialogue leadership structure.

As part of this change:

➡️ Donna Rich Kaplowitz, currently IGR’s LSA co-director, will become senior director for campus dialogue education, reporting jointly to LSA and Student Life. In the role, she’ll provide strategic leadership across a campus dialogue portfolio that includes IGR, Dialogue Michigan, a growing partnership with Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center, and related initiatives.

➡️ Roger Fisher will become IGR’s program director and serve as senior associate director of campus dialogue education. Previously an associate director, Fisher has been IGR’s Student Life interim co-director since August 2025.

➡️ Christina Morton, currently IGR’s LSA associate director, will become the IGR curriculum and instruction program director and associate director for campus dialogue education.

Read more: https://myumi.ch/mRbDG

“IGR has pushed me to listen deeply, speak honestly, lead with compassion. It’s given me the language to talk about power, privilege, and systems, but more importantly, it’s given me the tools to do something about them.”—Zahrria Smith, BA ’25

Right now, as communities grapple with deep division, this work feels more urgent than ever.

The University of Michigan Program on Intergroup Relations established the fields of intergroup dialogue and intergroup relations education as a proactive response, developing approaches to learning and collaboration that reach across campus and far beyond Ann Arbor, serving as a national model.

This Giving Blueday, please help sustain and expand this life-changing education. Make a gift today, designate it for IGR, and share this post with your family and friends:

Giving Blueday 2026 Join me and make a gift to Giving Blueday!

We‘re thrilled to launch a new offering for University of Michigan staff and faculty this winter: Dialogic Facilitation Training.

In this engaging four-week training—part of IGR's growing Community of Scholars—staff and faculty participants will grow their facilitation skills rooted in dialogic pedagogy and practice.

Learn more and apply by Monday, February 23, 2026: https://igr.umich.edu/dialogic-facilitation-training-faculty-staff

📢 We’re marking three major milestones as we expand our impact on campus and nationally—shaping the future of dialogue at U-M and strengthening the University of Michigan 's standing as a national hub for intergroup dialogue:

1. Launching Dialogue Michigan—a campus-wide program empowering students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan to engage deeply across differences.
2. Welcoming Adan Hussain to IGR as the inaugural Dialogue Michigan director.
3. Celebrating a strengthening partnership with Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center.

Keep reading: https://record.umich.edu/articles/program-on-intergroup-relations-launches-dialogue-michigan/