Symposia & Lectures | History of the University of Michigan

To put living force into the symbols: Journeys of Anatol Rapoport

September 29, 2022

In this installment of the Making Michigan lecture series, join us for an exploration of Anatol Rapoport's journeys -- personal and intellectual -- with three panelists: Shirli Kopelman, leading researcher, expert, and educator in the field of negotiations at the U-M Ross School of Business; Anthony Rapoport, son of Anatol and principal violist with Sinfonia Toronto and the Windermere Quartet; and Roger Rapoport, LSA '68, award-winning author and filmmaker and author of "A Professor's War for Peace."

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A Library for All: U-M, Google, and the Importance of a Copy

March 9, 2023

Can a universal library be achieved? It is an age-old dream. Google Books and HathiTrust have endeavored to fulfill it in the modern age. They are now well-established digital archives, used by citizens, scholars, and students from around the world. The path to their creation was filled with aspirations and visions, obstacles and hurdles, negotiations and compromises. And the University of Michigan was at the center of these and other efforts in library digitization.

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“Keeping resistance alive”: Chandler Davis and Academic Freedom at Michigan

February 2, 2023

This Making Michigan episode focuses on the activism and life of H. Chandler Davis, champion of academic freedom at U-M and beyond.

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Making Michigan: Native American Students and Activists at U-M, with Bethany Hughes

January 19, 2023

The University of Michigan has a complicated history with Native American communities, which were vital to its very existence. Join us for a discussion with Bethany Hughes, assistant professor of American Culture, on the historic and ongoing activism of Native American students.

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A Difficult Archive: Reckoning with the University of Michigan’s Complicity in the US Colonization of the Philippines

October 13, 2022

In this installment of the Making Michigan lecture series, join us for discussion with Professor de la Cruz about the historical relationship between the University of Michigan and the Philippines in the first decades of the American colonial period, out of which came some of the most extensive collections of Philippine material (historical, cultural, and natural scientific) in North America.

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Discovering a Forgery: Jupiter’s real moons and U-M’s fake Galileo manuscript

October 6, 2022

A discussion with historian Nicholas Wilding and U-M Librarian Pablo Alvarez of the purported significance of the Galileo Manuscript, how its authenticity came to be questioned, and what went into the determination that it was a fake.

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Wolverine Writers: History and Storytelling Across Campus and through the Years

June 30th, 2022

In this installment of the Making Michigan lecture series, a panel of professionals from a range of publications answer questions regarding the process of writing the University's history and explore how this history helps us better understand current events.

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Seeing Anew: Welcome to the Reimagined Detroit Observatory

April 8, 2022

Join us for a series of events, where we will explore the history of the Observatory, its impact on American astronomy, and the new educational potential that it has as a result of the new addition generously funded by the Frankels.

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First Antiwar Teach-In

March 26, 2022

March 25, 1965. The US is bombing North Vietnam. On the University of Michigan’s campus, students and professors are gathered for a first-of-its-kind protest event.

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Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX

November 11, 2021

Editor and journalist Sara Fitzgerald details the executive order that came before Title IX and women at the University of Michigan's role in overcoming sex bias. Fitzgerald takes a look at this history with a nuanced, multidimensional approach.

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