Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact

One of this year’s Road Scholars, Shanna Kattari, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work with a courtesy appointment in Women’s Studies. She researches health disparities among transgender and nonbinary people, disability and ableism, and examines sexuality in marginalized communities, particularly in LGBTQIA individuals and people with disabilities.

In this Q&A, Kattari reveals her motivation for joining the Road Scholars, and what she hopes to learn.

Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, ACS; University of Michigan School of Social Work faculty, board certified sexologist, experienced sexuality educator, and social justice advocate.

What interested you in the Road Scholar tour?

As someone relatively new to Michigan — I’m just finishing up my second year at U-M — it’s really important to me to learn about my new state and all of the different facets that make up Michigan. I do community-based research and it is incredibly difficult to know what type of research is needed when I don’t know much about the communities in my new home, and what their needs are. Plus, I haven’t been further north than Lansing and really wanted to get to see more of the state.
– Shanna Kattari

The Michigan Road Scholars Tour — an annual five-day traveling seminar that takes U-M faculty through the state — increases mutual knowledge and understanding between the university and the people and communities of Michigan.

You can keep up with the happenings on the tour May 6–10 by following #MIRoadScholars on Twitter.

Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact

Read full report here

Read the story on UM Detroit

A growing partnership on economic mobility with the city of Detroit, a new collaboration with Harvard University, community voices, policy impact and student engagement are among the highlights in the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions impact report released today.

Detroit Mayor, Mike Duggan

The report includes efforts at Poverty Solutions that have led to concrete policy changes based on data and evidence, including changes in the way that Detroit Community Schools collects data on homelessness and housing stability, and a partnership on the evaluation of a new policy in the city related to keeping renters in their homes.

“This fellowship program is helping us increase our ability to reach more residents in need of greater access to affordable housing, the internet and youth employment,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “We appreciate this collaboration with the University of Michigan and the work it is doing to expand economic opportunity to all Detroiters.”

Read full article here

Three teams from the University of Michigan swept the honorable mention categories, which included interactive design, product design and overall design. Participants came from U-M’s School of Information and the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

The multi-school competition was funded by U-M, and organized by Paul Fontaine, a lecturer at the Taubman College and program manager of the Michigan Engaging Community through the Classroom Initiative.

Vice Provost for Global and Engaged Education; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
NERS

James Holloway, vice provost for global engagement and interdisciplinary academic affairs, said the university got involved as a way to engage students.

“We supported this project first because it was a terrific opportunity for student learning, to work in parallel with the professional design competition on a real project with authentic stakeholders who are truly invested in the outcome,” Holloway said “And also because we saw it as a way to further connect the schools of higher education — including U-M, Wayne, the College of Creative Studies, and others — and the institutions in the cultural district.”