UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. SUPPORT JOURNALISTS.

Wallace House Presents our 2023-2024 lineup of live events with Rachel Swarns, Raney Aronson-Rath, and Kara Swisher. Please mark your calendars for the events below and join us.

For nearly two decades of reporting from and about Michigan, 2017 Knight-Wallace Fellow and ProPublica journalist Anna Clark has covered numerous consequential stories, from the Flint water crisis to the mass shooting at Oxford High School. Join her for a discussion on the dangers of a culture of secrecy for Michigan and beyond and what it takes to push back.

This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. A video recording will be available on our website after the event.

More information about this event.

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Human rights violations are systematic in Haiti. The situation has worsened considerably since the multiplication of massacres in 2018 and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. The gangs control large areas of the country and practice a scorched-earth policy. Knight-Wallace Fellow and Haitian journalist Roberson Alphonse will share his observations on the Haitian tragedy.

More information about this event.

Hosted by:
Donia Human Rights Center Lecture

Co-sponsors:
International Institute

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The U-M Space Institute will host a special screening of the Netflix documentary about the design and launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and a panel discussion featuring 2013 Knight-Wallace Fellow and Film Director Shai Gal and Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, the previous Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, as well as other experts in space and astronomy.

“Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine” follows the ambitious decades-long mission to create and deploy the largest-ever space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope. The documentary showcases a remarkable team of NASA engineers and scientists as they take a giant leap in trying to understand the mysteries of the universe.

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
University of Michigan Space Institute
Department of Astronomy
Aerospace Engineering

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For eight years, Martin Baron served as executive editor of The Washington Post, leading its newsroom from Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the paper to the election and presidency of Donald Trump. Join Baron in conversation with Stephen Henderson for a discussion on Baron’s new book “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and The Washington Post,” as he details his tenure at The Post and examines larger issues of the press and its role in democracy.

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
Detroit Public Television (DPTV)

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Join us for a special event featuring CNN anchor and Chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Tapper will be joined in conversation with Wallace House Director, Lynette Clemetson. Their wide-ranging discussion will cover the state of democracy and the role and responsibility of the press in a democratic society, as well as how Tapper’s experience of being an anchor and correspondent informs his craft of writing.

Tapper’s newly released book, “All the Demons Are Here,” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

This event is presented by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in partnership with Wallace House Center for Journalists and U-M Democracy & Debate. 

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
Alumni Association of the University of Michigan

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Literati Bookstore is proud to welcome Laura Meckler to present and discuss her book “Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity.” in collaboration with Wallace House Center for Journalists and the Department of English Language and Literature at The University of Michigan. She’ll be joined in conversation by Dr. Brianne Dotson.

More information about this event.

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What is the responsibility of American institutions in reparative justice?

Join New York Times journalist and author Rachel Swarns in conversation with Wallace House director Lynette Clemetson, as she discusses her book “The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold To Build the American Catholic Church,” a story of servitude and slavery spanning nearly two centuries and detailing the beginnings of Georgetown University and the U.S. Catholic Church. Swarns’s journalism started a national conversation about universities with ties to slavery.

Swarn’s book, “The 272,” will be available for purchase at the event.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Center for Racial Justice housed at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Center for Social Solutions
Donia Human Rights Center
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies

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Join Knight-Wallace Fellows Kat Stafford ’22 of Reuters and Anna Clark ’17 of ProPublica as they discuss “The Role of History in Investigative Reporting,” moderated by University of Michigan historian Stephen A. Berrey.

More information about this event.

Hosted By:
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies

Co-sponsor:
Wallace House Center for Journalists

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Join Knight-Wallace Fellow Iuliia Mendel for a discussion of her book “The Fight of Our Lives.”

Written with the sound of Russian bombs and exploding shells in the background, Mendel details life lived under the Russian siege of her home country, Ukraine, in 2022. She says goodbye to her fiancé, who joins the front lines like many other Ukrainian men. Throughout this story of Zelenskyy, Ukraine, and its extraordinary people, Mendel reminds us of the paramount importance of truth and human values, especially in these darkest times. Mendel held the position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Press Secretary for over two years until the spring of 2021.

More information about this event.

Hosted By:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

Co-sponsors:
Center for European Studies
International Institute
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

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An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war. The documentary shows vivid, harrowing accounts of civilians caught in the siege and a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone and the impact of such journalism around the globe.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producers Raney Aronson-Rath and Michelle Mizner.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia
International Institute
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

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During the period that spanned from the Revolution of Dignity to the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, accomplished Ukrainian film producers Pavlo Peleshok and Yurko Ivanyshyn assumed the dual roles of defenders of their nation and chroniclers of its unfolding tragedy. Drawing on their personal film archives and fragmented memories, the pair assembled a mosaic of the causes and consequences of today’s Russian-Ukrainian war, starting from the end of 2013. As volunteers, Peleshok and Ivanyshyn ventured to the frontlines and hotspots of the Donbas region, risking their lives to capture the reality of the conflict. Even amid the ceaseless turmoil, they remained steadfast in their determination to create content that would convey the stark truth of the war to the wider world. 

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Pavlo Peleshok.

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
Wallace House Center for Journalists
International Institute
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Center for European Studies

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Award-winning journalist Kara Swisher has interviewed nearly every consequential innovator and tech entrepreneur working today. Her new memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” is an insider’s tale of success, failure, hubris and optimism. As Detroit gains influence in technology and the EV revolution, Swisher sits down with Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors, to discuss her new book and explore the dynamic interplay of legacy companies, innovation, strategic bets on the future, and tech’s potential to solve problems and not just create them.

Co-sponsors:
Gerald R. Ford School
U-M Democracy & Debate
U-M School of Information

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Russian-born author, political journalist and historian Mikhail Zygar will discuss his book “War and Punishment,” a story about an alternative, anti-imperialist Russian historical narrative. Starting last fall, all high school students in Russia are required to study history using a textbook written by Putin’s former minister of culture (and his ghostwriter), Vladimir Medinsky. Zygar debunks all the myths Putin’s history textbook promotes, and the the myths Putin uses to justify the war in Ukraine.

Zygar’s book, “War and Punishment,” will be available for purchase at the event.

More information about this book this event.

Hosted By:
Center for Russian, East European, and

Co-sponsors:
Wallace House Center for Journalists
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

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Wallace House Presents returns to campus this semester with live events, bringing Scott Tong, Anna Quindlen, Jelani Cobb, and a special movie screening and discussion with Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey to our community. Please mark your calendars for the events below and join us.

Welcome remarks by Tabbye Chavous, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer

In 2013, longtime China correspondent Scott Tong came to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships to research China’s on-again, off-again ties with the global community and how it connected with his own family. The resulting book, “A Village with My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World,” examines nationalism and globalization through the stories of five generations of Tongs.

Now a co-host of “Here and Now,” Tong returns to Wallace House to discuss Beijing’s increasing authoritarianism and international aggression and what it means for its future and that of globalization.

This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. A video recording will be available on our website after the event.

More information about this event.

Michigan Radio is a co-sponsor of this event.

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Best-selling author Anna Quindlen says recording our daily lives in an enduring form is more important than ever, urging all of us to pick up a pen and find ourselves. Join Anna Quindlen and Anne Curzan, LSA Dean and English Professor, for an in-person discussion about Quindlen’s book “Write for Your Life,” and learn how anyone can write and why everyone should.

This in-person event will also be live-streamed.

More information about this event.

Co-sponsors:
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Department of English Language and Literature
Detroit Public Television
Literati Bookstore
Michigan Radio

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Join Ira Shapiro, author and former Hill staffer, and Chris Marquette, Knight-Wallace Fellow and congressional reporter, for a discussion on Shapiro’s new book, “The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America,” our current political climate, and the state of democracy in these fractious times.

Hosted by:
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Co-sponsors:
Alumni Association of the University of Michigan
Democracy & Debate

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In October 2017, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations and ignited the #metoo movement.  Meet the reporters behind the groundbreaking expose and watch the feature film, “She Said,” based on their book of the same name.  The conversation with Kantor and Twohey will follow the movie screening. 

This event will not be live-streamed. Wallace House and its co-sponsors will not receive any proceeds from ticket sales.

Co-sponsors:
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Wallace House Presents Linda Villarosa, journalist, educator and writer for The New York Times Magazine, as she examines racial inequities and bias in U.S. medical care and the devastating consequences on the health and well-being of Black Americans.

More information about this event.

THIS IS AN MLK SYMPOSIUM EVENT

Co-sponsor:
Center for Racial Justice

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Wallace House Presents journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb, in conversation with Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Watch Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, as he examines race, historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these inform our current moment.

More information about this event.

THIS IS AN MLK SYMPOSIUM EVENT

Co-sponsors:
Democracy & Debate
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Alumni Association

Ford School
Democracy & Debate
Alumni Association
With support from our media partners at Detroit Public Television (DPTV) and PBS Books

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February 24 marks one year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian-born retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council examines the current state of the war and its impacts on the Ukrainian people, the implications for global security, and prospects for peace and rebuilding.

Discussion moderated by Geneviève Zubrzycki, professor of sociology and WCEE Director, and John
Ciorciari, professor of public policy and director of the Ford School’s Weiser Diplomacy Center.

Featuring a special performance by members of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America.

The event will conclude with a candlelight vigil on the Diag.

This evening is organized by the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia in partnership with the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Ukrainian Club at U-M; Weiser Diplomacy Center; and Wallace House Center for Journalists.

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Wallace House Presents CNN Anchor Chris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Join this hour-long special event with Mr. Wallace and Governor Whitmer as they discuss politics, public service, the media, and the state of our democracy, with opening remarks by the University of Michigan President Santa Ono. 

More information about this event.

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As natural disasters become more frequent and devastating, how can newsrooms better prepare for the reporting and operations challenges posed by these emergencies?

Covering Natural Disasters is a one-day symposium developed by current Knight-Wallace Fellow María Arce to bring together journalists, extreme weather experts, and emergency managers in a small group to discuss best practices for covering disasters and solutions to working with limited resources amid the destruction and tragedy of these events.

This symposium is an opportunity for editors, staff reporters, and freelancers to learn, connect and be better prepared to cover the next natural disaster with new skills and trauma-informed practices

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Wallace House Presents Fred de Sam Lazaro, executive director of the Under-Told Stories Project and correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, as he takes a critical look at the world’s underreported events and awakens us to understand the daily concerns of faraway people who increasingly affect our lives. A 1989 Michigan Journalism Fellow (later named the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship), de Sam Lazaro founded Under-Told Stories a journalism project focused on the consequences of poverty and the work of change agents addressing them telling stories about the world’s biggest challenges including climate, food and water, and human rights.

More information about this event.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

This event is produced with support from Knight Foundation.

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