Please save the date for the annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom, which will take place on Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm. This event is sponsored by the Faculty Senate as a showcase event underscoring the U-M community’s collective interest in academic freedom. The invited speaker is Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D., who is the director of free expression and education programs at PEN America. He will be delivering a lecture entitled “Academic Freedom 2024: Educational Gag Orders, State Censorship, and the Fight for Higher Education.” An abstract is provided below.
The lecture is open to the public and will be given in Honigman Auditorium, 100 Hutchins Hall, at the University of Michigan Law School. More information on the event will be updated here: https://myumi.ch/zwVAZ. A reminder email will also be sent closer to the date of the event.
Sincerely,
Luke McCarthy, Ph.D., J.D.
Director, Faculty Senate Office
facultysenateoffice@umich.edu
Abstract
Across the country, state legislators are increasingly making clear their intentions to pass laws to tighten control over — or outright censor — public education in schools, colleges and universities. On campuses, this movement threatens to upend commitments to the free exchange of ideas and institutional autonomy in curricular, research, and hiring decisions, putting academic freedom in peril. Professors are already attesting to a chilled climate, in which they have become concerned with running afoul of new laws delimiting teaching about race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities. This talk will summarize the current state of play concerning this rising menace, why it must be confronted, and how the higher education community has a unique role to play in communicating this anti-democratic threat to the public. It will offer a clarion call and suggestions for how to create campuses that serve academic freedom for all in the lead up to the 2024 election and beyond.
The Honorable Shalanda H. Baker is the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy and Secretarial Advisor on Equity. Prior to her Senate confirmation, she served as the nation’s first-ever Deputy Director for Energy Justice. Before joining the Biden-Harris Administration, she was a Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University.
Moderated by Liesl Eichler Clark, U-M Director of Climate Action Engagement
This event is FREE event and open to the public. Although you may have a ticket, it does not guarantee you a seat. We will be seating ticket holders first and recommend you are in your seat 10 minutes before the start of the event. We will start to let in general public seating 10 minutes prior to the event.
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Topic: Pricing Physical Water Risk: Machine Learning Approaches to Quantify the Impact of Corporate Water Use Efficiencies in the Financial Markets
Corporate financial risk in their operations resulting from climate change and water resource limitations result in volatility in the capital markets. This has become a regulatory focus under the Task for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), forcing companies to disclose how climate is impacting their financial performance. This includes water risk exposures in water security and the impact of floods in supply chains, logistics, and operations resulting from water access. Corporate water intensity, a proxy for climate transition risk, relates water use efficiency to operational and capital asset risks. This information is generally not disclosed in financial or sustainability reports and is difficult for investors or regulators to assess, and for risk managers to address. This seminar focuses on the development of econometric models to price water risk in equities with the aim of informing corporate decision-makers and external stakeholders to assess and benchmark the financial valuation of water risk and to allow for comparison across industry sectors.
Zoom link
The First Annual A2 Climate Teach-In builds on this legacy by addressing another critical issue which has been clouded by misinformation and a lack of coordinated action.
As in 1965 and the many subsequent Ann Arbor teach-ins, this teach-in is not just about teaching and learning — it’s about about community building and creating momentum for action. It’s about bringing together individuals, climate action organizations, congregations, local government, and higher education to learn from each other, support each other, and find new ways to collaborate.
1:30 p.m. Opening keynote speaker: Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor
3:30 p.m. Closing Presentation: Shelie Miller, Ph.D., Professor, Director, Program in the Environment; Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professor of Sustainable Systems; University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainability
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The impacts of climate change on the world is overwhelming. The increase in droughts harm food production and human health. Flooding has led to the spread of disease and damages to ecosystems and infrastructure. Climate change impacts are seen throughout every aspect of the world we live in. However, climate change impacts are uneven across the country and the world. The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare has proposed 12 Grand Challenges for the social work profession to address, which includes to “create social responses to a changing environment.” Due to the impacts of climate change, social workers must be equipped to tackle climate change and to engage in strategies to promote environmental justice. This interactive webinar, informative in nature, explores definitions related to climate change, environmental justice, and climate grief. We will identify the role that social workers play in the environmental justice movement, including ways it can be addressed at all levels of practice.
Course link
Rooting for Change: The Economics, Society, and Politics of Food
Fri, March 24 at 11:30am, Michigan League, Koessler Room (Third Floor)
Students, faculty, and community members will share their perspectives on food justice and sustainability. A zero-waste meal will be provided by MDining.
Featured panelists:
Kiley Adams is from Puyallup, Washington, and is currently pursuing a dual degree in medicine and sustainability and development at the University of Michigan. She is interested in the intersection between human and non-human health and like thinking about how food systems, air and water quality, and accessibility to safe outdoor nature areas all collide to influence human health.
Nayethzi Hernandez is a graduate student at the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). Her passions include food sovereignty, environmental justice, transformative food systems, reducing barriers to education, indigenous sovereignty, and climate justice.
Alexandra Talty is a writer and multi-media journalist covering water ways, food production and the environment – or any combination of the above. She is a 3rd generation surfer and volunteer ocean lifeguard and also runs a hobby oyster farm.
Registration link
After three years of COVID, we are emerging from multiple crises: global pandemic, economic downturn and mass inflation, and a crisis of racial inequality. Earth Day 2023: Justice in Focus seeks to put justice and Earth in the same conversation, removing the silos of environment, human social systems, and political ecology. The University of Michigan, led by the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment at the School for Environment and Sustainability, will bring forth a critical dialogue with emerging and powerful leaders on the frontlines. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from local and national leaders on the inner workings of organizations, solutions, and leadership that emerged through the pandemic.
Registration link
