Sessions For: Rackham Graduate School

Our meetings cover a wide range of topics, including proposal development, book discussions, and critical reviews of recent papers. We also host presentations by faculty and alumni. To enhance this interdisciplinary approach, our workshop is designed to foster collaboration by engaging students and professionals from diverse fields.

This track focuses on programming (such as workshops and events) for student caregivers.

Created by the MORE Committee, these workshops are designed to strengthen the student–faculty mentoring relationship through the development of shared expectations, sharing mentoring best practices, and understanding of mentoring across differences.
The Getting Your Mentoring Relationship off to a Good Start Workshop is attended jointly by faculty mentors and their graduate student mentees.The Mentoring Across Difference 2.0 Workshop is attended only by faculty mentors.The Mentoring 101 New Faculty Workshop is attended only by faculty new to U-M or starting a faculty mentoring role.

Separate registration for students is available at: https://myumi.ch/11ANg.

Created by the MORE Committee, these workshops are designed to strengthen the student–faculty mentoring relationship through the development of shared expectations, sharing mentoring best practices, and understanding of mentoring across differences.The Getting Your Mentoring Relationship Off to a Good Start Workshop is attended jointly by faculty mentors and their graduate student mentees. Mentors and mentees first participate in separate parallel sessions, where they reflect on their own goals, working styles, and approaches to common challenges. Afterwards, each student–faculty pair collaborates to create a written mentoring plan that outlines key elements such as needs, objectives, and mutual expectations. Among Rackham doctoral students who have drafted mentoring plans, 83 percent report finding them helpful. Mentoring pairs are encouraged to consider attending the optional one-on-one discussion time at the end of the workshop, where they have dedicated time to work together on developing the mentoring plan.
Separate registration for faculty is available at: https://myumi.ch/61V6J.

Lunch with the Rackham Deans | 2026–2027Want to connect with Rackham leadership? Join the Rackham Student Government (RSG) for our Lunch with the Deans series!
This is an opportunity for graduate students to meet the Rackham Deans, share their experiences, ask questions, and engage in open conversations about graduate student life at the University of Michigan.
RSG will host four in-person events throughout the 2026–2027 academic year on Central and North Campus.
Fall 2026North Campus — Tuesday, November 17, 2026
Central Campus — Monday, November 23, 2026
Winter 2027North Campus — Tuesday, February 9, 2027
Central Campus — Tuesday, February 16, 2027
Have a question for the Deans?We encourage all graduate students to participate! Whether you have questions, feedback, or simply want to get to know Rackham leadership, we welcome your voice.
Unable to attend? You can still share your questions with the Deans by emailing [email protected] or submitting them through the RSVP form.
RSVP is highly encouraged. We look forward to seeing you there!

Rackham’s public scholarship programs are designed to help graduate students like you to develop the experience and knowledge necessary to lead collaborative research, teaching, and creative projects with community partners and organizations beyond the university through workshops, funding, and resources.

Are you curious to learn more about any of the four core public scholarship programs Rackham offers, including the Institute for Social Change, the Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellowship program, the Rackham Public Scholarship Grant program, or the Community Engaged Course Design Workshop? Then this info & speed mentoring session is for you!

In the first part of the session, Rackham staff will briefly introduce each of the four programs, outlining how they can help you become a more community engaged scholar and educator.

During the second part, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk directly with program alumni. In two rounds of speed-mentoring conversations in small breakout rooms, alumni of the program you are most interested in will share with you a bit more about their experience in the program and how it contributed to their career trajectory in and beyond graduate school.

You will be able to ask alumni any questions you might have regarding the programs, their career paths, and current work. These might include questions about the application process, navigating conversations with your advisor, or connecting your program experience to your scholarship and other professional development opportunities at Michigan.

The 90-minute info & speed mentoring session will take place on Tuesday, November 17, from 12 to 1:30 pm via Zoom. After an initial 10-15 minutes of information sharing, the remainder of the session is reserved for two rounds of speed-mentoring conversations depending on your interests. Students are welcome to join one or two breakouts as their schedule allows. If you are curious, you can find out more about the invited alumni in this overview.

Staff will reach out to registered participants at least two weeks prior to the event with a form for participants to sign up for up to two mentoring breakouts they would like to attend.

We hope to see you on November 17! If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to get in touch with the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship team at [email protected].
If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to get in touch with the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship team at [email protected].

The Poetry & Poetics Workshop is committed to providing a forum in which faculty and graduate students can exchange works-in-progress and explore recent work in the fields of poetry and poetics. For more information, please visit our website. If you have any questions, please contact Renee Wehrle ([email protected]), Kelly Wenzka ([email protected]), or Ally Bergman ([email protected]).

Rackham/Sweetland Workshops, co-sponsored by the Rackham Graduate
School, cover a host of topics designed to help graduate students in
various aspects of writing.

SCOR is hosting a bi-weekly coworking sessions as an avenue for students to study, write and build connections with the SCOR community. Light snacks will be provided. Please see our calendar for schedule.

Sign up here for one of our info sessions about grad student arts research opportunities

The Rackham Graduate School is excited to announce a new opportunity to gain practical skills for engaging across differences within our research and professional communities, including real-world examples from U-M alumni.

The Research Leadership in a Global Context Certificate Program is an eight-week professional development program that prepares graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to lead research with clarity, confidence, and cultural awareness. Designed for scholars working in increasingly global, interdisciplinary, and collaborative environments, the program integrates leadership development, intercultural understanding, project management, and ethical research practices.

Participants build concrete skills for leading teams, navigating complex research settings, and preparing for diverse career paths within and beyond academia. By pairing weekly workshops with peer feedback groups and individualized feedback through the Cultural Intelligence framework and the Michigan Model of Leadership, the certificate creates a supportive environment for reflection, growth, and practical skill-building.

Learning Objectives:
Participants in the Research Leadership in a Global Context Certificate Program will be able to:
Cultivate the ability to lead research with effective communication and strategic decision-making.Develop personalized career strategies as graduate scholars to prepare for professional paths both within and beyond academia.Build knowledge and critical thinking skills to address local, national, and global challenges in research and professional environments.Enhance cross-cultural collaboration skills by understanding and respecting cultural differences in your scholarship, including research, teaching, and service.Foster research environments that recognize and thoughtfully engage multiple viewpoints.



Please note: You are required to participate in one information session in order to apply for the Research Leadership in a Global Context Certificate Program. Additional dates can be found in Sessions. Reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

The Reparative Justice Research Group (RJRG) is currently partnering with the Washtenaw County Advisory Council on Reparations to undertake research and document the role of county government in racial injustice, as well as the historic and ongoing harms experienced by African Americans in Washtenaw County from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
Join University of Michigan students and faculty from the RJRG as they showcase research projects in history, political science, education, climate science, public policy, and social work. The projects collectively offer a more complex and wide-ranging view of historical and present-day systemic harms to Black residents in Washtenaw County and point the way to potential pathways for repair, justice, and opportunity today and in the future.

Rackham program staff and faculty are invited to attend the Rackham Merit Fellowship (RMF) Information Session with the PACE team. During this virtual meeting we will discuss the goals of the RMF program, how to assess eligibility and evaluate for the RMF criteria, review the award process including the new application for RMF allocations, and answer any questions you have about the administration of the fellowship. Whether or not you attend the information session, we encourage you to visit our website or contact the PACE team ([email protected] or 734-615-5670) with any questions. Zoom meeting details will be provided after registration.

Join us in the Assembly Hall at Rackham Graduate School for an evening of powerful storytelling. Rackham graduate students will take the stage and tell stories that weave together their lived experience, scholarly work, and reflections on this year’s MLK Symposium theme.

2027 MLK Symposium Theme:
Nobody's Free Until Everybody's Free: Diverse Moments for Collective Liberation

Event Agenda
12:30 p.m. – Doors Open & Reception
1:00 p.m. – Program Begins
We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful evening of stories, dialogue, and connection.

The graduate school offers a series of meetings designed to orient faculty members who have recently taken on the role of chairing a department/program or directing the graduate program in their department/program. These sessions, hosted by Rackham associate deans, focus on various aspects of your role. We provide opportunities to discuss and learn how you can partner with Rackham and what Rackham resources you can rely on while carrying out the work of your role.