Wallace House Presents our 2026-2027 lineup of live events with Eric Schmitt of The New York Times, Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian and Rebecca Blumenstein of NBC News and more. Please mark your calendars for the events below and join us.

Upcoming 2026 Events

Disagree Better, in partnership with the University of Michigan, will bring together Governors from across the political spectrum for a panel discussion on reviving America’s democracy through healthy conflict and constructive dialogue. 

Kicking off the University of Michigan’s Democracy Week as the keynote event, and in the lead-up to the November 2026 elections, the conversation will highlight our shared civic values and spotlight leaders modeling disagreement as a civic skill. At a time when higher education is often the epicenter of polarization, this partnership offers a tangible way to model constructive conflict resolution and champion civic engagement in our Leaders. 

The event offers students and members of the University community an opportunity to engage directly with elected leaders who are disagreeing better and charting a new path for democracy, one characterized by passion, determination, dignity, and respect.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Democracy & Civic Empowerment
Disagree Better
Detroit PBS

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Two hundred fifty years ago, a group of delegates in Philadelphia signed a document that risked everything on a single conviction: that ordinary people, given truthful information about those in power, could govern themselves. But that promise is harder to keep every year. Join Christopher Baxter, 2016 Knight-Wallace Fellow and founder of the Pennsylvania nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA, for a discussion on how local news lost its way, why the future of our free society and the future of a free press are inextricably linked and what journalists and the public can do to ensure the press can fulfill its constitutional role in service to “We the People.”

This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. However, a recording of the lecture will be available on our website following the event.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsor:
Michigan Public

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When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, Rebecca Blumenstein, then a top editor at The New York Times, was deeply involved in the company’s effort to evacuate more than 200 Afghan colleagues and family members, eventually resettling 124 people in the United States. Among them were four young Afghan women who had been on the path to careers as doctors and lawyers.

Join co-authors Rebecca Blumenstein and Diana Kapp in conversation with Mursal Rahim, one of the women profiled in The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America, and journalist and novelist Anna Quindlen. Together they will discuss the extraordinary evacuation and the journey of Mursal, Marwa, Maryam and Samira as they build new lives in America.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Donia Human Rights Center
Global Islamic Studies Center
Global Scholars Program
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

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After The New York Times reported on Secret Service concerns about President Trump’s use of the Qatari-donated 747, the administration subpoenaed Times journalists involved in the reporting. The Justice Department later withdrew the subpoenas.

Join Eric Schmitt of The New York Times and Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for a conversation about government pressure on journalists, the legal boundaries of government power and the public’s right to be informed. Moderated by Lynette Clemetson.

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Detroit Story Fest returns October 8 for one night only at Detroit Opera. This year’s theme is Villains, featuring stories about what we fear, what we misunderstand, and what we become. Villains are the ultimate contradiction, and this season explores them in all their humor and humanity; fear and foolishness; vice and virtue. The stories featured will be both personal and rooted in place, with some telling Detroit’s story and others scratching at the complexity of those who call it home. The most interesting villains are not stagnant. They move. They become. They will and are willed into being. Join us for a night of unfolding and reveal.

More information about this event.

Presenting Sponsors:
Detroit Opera
Americans United

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As the country heads into the 2026 midterm elections, the University of Michigan welcomes journalist Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at The New Republic and columnist at The Guardian, for a public conversation with Elizabeth Anderson, the John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy.

The evening centers on Nwanevu’s new book, The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, which argues that America’s democratic troubles run deeper than any single election. The real problem, Nwanevu contends, lies in institutions that were never designed to let majorities govern, and in an economy that keeps power far from ordinary people.

Anderson, one of the country’s most influential political philosophers, brings her own work on democracy, equality, and the workplace to the exchange. Together they take up the questions this election season keeps surfacing. Who really holds power in America? Why do so many people feel unheard, and what would it take to build a democracy worthy of the name?

The conversation is free and open to students, faculty, and the broader Ann Arbor community, with time for audience questions.

More information about this event.

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Museums are the classrooms of our country. They play a crucial role in helping us understand the nation’s complex past. Join us for a dynamic conversation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, as they reflect on the significance of the 250th anniversary of the United States. At a moment in which discussions about our shared past and collective future feel especially urgent, this event offers an opportunity to learn from a leader who has devoted his career to informing and inspiring Americans to strive for the public good.

More about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Institute for Humanities
Democracy and Civic Empowerment
The University of Michigan Museum of Art
Life-Changing Education
Museum Studies Program
The University of Michigan Library

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What happens to a war after the war is over?

Vietnamese journalist and documentary filmmaker Van Le reflects on the Vietnam War through the memories of those who lived through it. Drawing on her years of reporting and documentary filmmaking, she explores how the war continues to shape Vietnamese identity, relationships, and understandings of the past—both in Vietnam and across the diaspora. The talk focuses on personal memories of loss, fear, displacement, loyalty, and silence, and how trauma is remembered, carried, and passed across generations.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies
International Institute
Asian Languages and Cultures