Multimedia Features | The University Record

September 22, 2023

Earthfest fun

From left, LSA undergraduate students Minh-Thu Nguyen and Joseph Coleman provide information about the U-M Museum of Natural History to Earthfest visitors Sept. 21. Earthfest is U-M’s annual celebration of environmental initiatives across the university. About 40 student organizations, university units and local nonprofits were on the Diag, sharing opportunities to learn about and get involved in sustainable operations, environmental advocacy, research and environmental justice.
(Photo by Scott Soderberg, Michigan Photography)

September 20, 2023

Holistic admissions

A study by Michael Bastedo, professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education, found that universities and colleges that have adopted holistic admissions practices tend to be fairer to students from many different varying high schools and neighborhoods because schools are highly stratified in this country. The study found that contextualizing high school grades and test scores may allow institutions to identify students from diverse backgrounds with strong academic achievement who will graduate.

A ‘GIFT’ to U-M

The word “GIFT,” painted in white porcelain clay slip on the columns of the U-M Museum of Art building, is the start of an ongoing experimental installation by artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. “GIFT” is a reference to the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs, which states that Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi tribes gifted land to U-M, upon which the Ann Arbor campus was built. The installation is designed to explore the meaning of gifting within both the contexts of colonialism and Indigenous communities. (Photo courtesy of UMMA)

Celebrating innovation at U-M

From left, Abdallah Kamhawi and Ali Fahmy, graduate students in the Digital Architecture Research & Technologies Laboratory at the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, discuss 3D-printed concrete with Rebecca Cunningham, vice president for research, at the Celebrate Invention reception Sept. 14. The annual event to recognize innovations that got their start at U-M, also included the announcement that U-M research generated a record 580 new inventions and launched 25 startup companies during fiscal year 2023. (Photo by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography)

Read more about inventions and innovations at U-M

September 13, 2023

Underrepresented composers

This photo is from a production of “De Organizer” staged at U-M in 2006. After only one verified complete performance at Carnegie Hall in May 1941, “De Organizer,” an opera by James P. Johnson and Langston Hughes, vanished. The first full recordings of “De Organizer” and “The Dreamy Kid” performed in 2006 in Hill Auditorium were recently released. The aim of this recording and the future publication of the printed music was to make these historic pieces available to the public while shining a light on the operatic compositions of Johnson as part of an ongoing commitment of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance to bring attention to underrepresented composers and their work. (Photo courtesy of SMTD)

Read more about the impact of releasing the recordings

September 11, 2023

Inspiring future architects

ArcPrep, a collaboration between the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Detroit Public Schools Community District, expands opportunities for high school juniors who want to learn about opportunities in the architecture field. In this video, current and past ArcPrep students share their experiences.

Season of new beginnings

President Santa J. Ono welcomed the university to a new year “full of maize and blue possibilities” in his September video message. There will be new beginnings and challenges that won’t always be easy, he said, but the character that grows out of those challenges will mold the community and help renew the promise to “learn and lead with honor, excellence and integrity.” The president also highlighted Martino Harmon, vice president for student life, as this month’s Portrait of a Wolverine, and thanked Harmon and his team for everything they do.

September 7, 2023

Cultural connections

Sixteen U-M students who are members of the Global Scholars and the Michigan Community Scholars programs went to Makhanda in South Africa this summer to work closely with the Inkululeko Organization. They were among many U-M students who traveled abroad over the summer in pursuit of knowledge, cultural interchange and enriching personal growth. (Courtesy photo)

Read about the experiences from some students who traveled around the world

September 6, 2023

Assessing the ecosystem in BioBlitz

During a three-day period in late July, researchers and private citizens logged 503 species of aquatic and shoreline life in and around Douglas Lake during the U-M Biological Station’s first BioBlitz in 16 years. This video shows how scientists from across the country and families who live along Douglas Lake near Pellston worked together to assess biodiversity and ecosystem health in that area of northern Michigan.

Becoming part of the Block M

An annual tradition for new students at U-M is a group photo on the Michigan Stadium field. This time-lapse video was taken Aug. 27 after the New Student Convocation, and captures students forming a Block M at the Big House.