Michigan Society of Fellows: 55th Anniversary Symposium View Other Sessions

Celebrate with Us

The Michigan Society of Fellows’ 55th Anniversary Symposium will take place on November 6 to 7, 2025, at the historic Rackham Graduate School on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. This landmark gathering celebrates more than 55 years of interdisciplinary scholarship and artistic innovation and the vibrant community that has flourished through the society.

About the Symposium

The program features 16 fellowship alumni in interdisciplinary panel dialogues exploring urgent and enduring questions across the sciences, humanities, and arts. The symposium also includes a recital of chamber music from the Haitian Revolution, recovered by a recent fellow.

Together, these panels and performances highlight the society’s ongoing contributions to scholarship, public discourse, and creative expression. The symposium offers a rare opportunity for intellectual exchange, community building, and collective reflection on the past, present, and future of the Michigan Society of Fellows.

Schedule

Thursday, November 6, 2025

4:00 p.m. – Welcome Remarks

4:20 to 6:00 p.m. – Panel: Sounding History

  • What insights into the human and cosmic past can be gained through sound?

6:00 p.m. – Welcome Reception 

7:00 to 8:30 p.m. – Performance, Rackham Auditorium

  • Enjoy an extraordinary musical experience and commentary on the music of the Haitian Revolution.

Friday, November 7, 2025

9:00 a.m. – Breakfast, Assembly Hall

9:20 a.m. – Welcome Remarks

9:30 to 11:00 a.m. – Panel: Forest Thinking, Amphitheatre

  • How do forests change as multiple forms of life interact?

11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. – Panel: Inequalities, Amphitheater 

  • What are the forms socio-economic inequality has taken in different global regions in the modern era?

12:45 to 1:45 p.m. – Lunch, Assembly Hall

1:45 to 3:15 p.m. – Panel: Migrations & Media, Amphitheater 

  • Mass geographic dislocations have made our present world. What do their assemblages and depictions tell us?

3:30 to 4:45 p.m. – Panel: Healing Dilemmas, Amphitheater 

  • Medical practice now faces adaptive pathogens and mental health crises. What paths can it take?

4:45 to 5:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks



Recital: Fit for a King: The Music of Henry Christophe’s Court

Session Is Over Registration Is Closed
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Rackham Graduate School (Horace H.) (Rackham Auditorium)
Jean Bernard Cerin Baritone, Cornell University, Music | Henry Stoll American Council of Learned Societies Fellow, Musicology

Experience the music of the Kingdom of Haiti! From fierce anti-colonial anthems to moving royal tributes to virtuosic operatic excerpts, this lecture-recital brings to life the sounds of a fledgling monarchy striving for grandeur and recognition in the wake of the Haitian Revolution. Through performances of these works—most of them presented for the first time—audiences will hear how Henry Christophe, Haiti’s one and only King, strategically used music to glorify his nascent kingdom, enrapture foreign dignitaries, and wreak havoc on Atlantic narratives of Black incapacity for self-rule and artistic achievement.


  • Introduction: Rebecca Scott, Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Law Emerita

  • Vocalist: Jean Bernard Cerin, baritone, Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Music

  • Commentary: Henry Stoll (2022-2025, Musicology), American Council of Learned Societies Fellow

  • Piano: Matthew Bengtson, Associate Professor of Music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance

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