Register Here Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event updates and reminders.
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.
“The 272” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.
About the speaker
Rachel Swarns is a journalist, author and associate professor of journalism at New York University, who writes about race and race relations as a contributing writer for The New York Times. Her articles about Georgetown University’s roots in slavery touched off a national conversation about American universities and their ties to this painful period of history. Her book, “The 272,” emerged from her reporting at The Times and focuses on Georgetown and the Catholic Church and their roots in slavery. It was selected as one of the best books of 2023 by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time magazine, The Washington Post, the Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Reviews. “The 272” was also one of 24 books longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
About the moderator
Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.
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
This is a 2023 U-M Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium event.
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.
The 36th Annual Hovey Lecture with ProPublica’s Anna Clark
“Government Secrecy from Flint to Oxford: Freedom of Information and the Public’s Right to Know”
5 PM | September 12, 2023 Reception following lecture
Wallace House Gardens, 620 Oxford Road An in-person outdoor event
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.
“Haiti’s Current Crisis: A Human Rights Perspective” 4 PM | Monday, Sept. 18, 2023
An in-person event at Weiser Hall Room 555 500 Church Street
Free and open to the public
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.
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.
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.
CNN anchor and Chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper
4:00 PM | Friday, Nov. 3, 2023
Lydia Mendelssohn Theater 911 N University Ave, Ann Arbor
Free and open to the public Register Here Registrations are not required, but allow us to send you event updates and reminders. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
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.
Co-sponsors: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan
A Book event with Laura Meckler
“Dream Town: Shaker Heights and The Quest for Racial Equity”
6:30 PM | Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2023
Literati Bookstore 124 E Washington Street, Ann Arbor
Free and open to the public
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.
In-person and open to the public Event will also be streamed here.
Register Here Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event updates and reminders.
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.
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
Knight-Wallace Fellow Kat Stafford ’22 and Anna Clark ’17
EIHS Symposium: The Role of History in Investigative Reporting
Noon | Friday, January 19, 2024 1014 Tisch Hall
Free and open to the public
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.
Hosted By: Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies
Co-sponsor: Wallace House Center for Journalists
2024 Knight-Wallace Fellow Iuliia Mendel
WCEE Distinguished Lecture: “The Fight of Our Lives”
5:30 PM | Monday, Feb. 19, 2024
Rackam Amphitheatre, 4th Floor
Free and open to the public
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.
Co-sponsors: Center for European Studies International Institute Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
WCEE Film and Eisendrath Symposium Event
20 Days in Mariupol Oscar nomination for Best Documentary
Documentary screening and discussion 5:30 PM | Monday, February 5, 2024
Michigan Theater 603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis
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.
Co-sponsors: Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia International Institute Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
WCEE Film: Life to the Limit
Documentary screening and discussion
5:30 PM | Monday, February 12, 2024
Michigan Theater 603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis
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.
Co-sponsors: Wallace House Center for Journalists International Institute Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Center for European Studies
An Evening with Kara Swisher and Mary Barra
6 – 7:30 PM | Monday, March 18, 2024
Rackham Auditorium 915 E Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Register Here Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event updates and reminders.
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
CREES Lecture With Author Mikhail Zygar
War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
5:30 – 7 PM | Thursday, March 21, 2024
Rackham Amphitheater | 4th Floor 915 E Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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.
