Volume 109 | January 2022
OGA Newsletter
The Office of Global Activities (OGA) is dedicated to connecting MSW students to international social work opportunities through fundingspecial programs, academic resources, internationalized curriculum, and arranging faculty and student exchanges at partner institutions.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27)
This Thursday, January 27, is designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. January 27 is the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops in 1945. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides. See the "Announcements" section below for a variety of virtual events in commemoration of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Spotlight: Palestinian Activism: A Conversation with Husam Jubran
Palestinian Activism: A Conversation with Husam Jubran
Wednesday, January 26 from 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT
The Jewish Communal Leadership Program is proud to present the upcoming webinar "Palestinian Activism: A Conversation with Husam Jubran" on Wednesday, January 26th from 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT. 

Husam Jubran is a Palestinian activist trained in nonviolence and dialogue. He is the facilitation director at Hands of Peace, a peace-building program for Israeli, Palestinian and American children. He also leads dual narrative tours of Israel and Palestine alongside a Jewish Israeli guide as part of a movement for socially responsible tourism. 

His talk will focus on the evolution of the nonviolence movement in Palestine, contemporary Palestinian strategies of nonviolent activism, and how Americans can best engage with the issue.


This virtual event is presented by the Jewish Communal Leadership Program in partnership with the Center for Global and Intercultural Study, Arab and Muslim American Studies, School of Social Work Office of Global Activities, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies.
Events
Date: Monday, January 24 from 3:00 - 4:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Sudan and South Sudan confront a wide array of challenges. Ever since South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, each has experienced political upheaval, security threats, environmental pressures, and economic deprivation. With a combined population of over 50 million, their success as nation-states impacts not only the lives of their own people, but the broader region as well.
The Brookings Institution's Africa Security Initiative will host a panel of experts—including Ambassador Susan D. Page, a professor of practice at the U-M Ford School of Public Policy— to discuss the future of the Sudans, and what the United States and its partners can do to support them.
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Significant shifts in legal immigration policies and developing trends in business immigration are poised to impact the work of employers, business owners and workers across Southeast Michigan in 2022. Join us for a virtual webinar exploring these important changes in legal immigration. The webinar will feature Rami Fakhoury, managing director of Fakhoury Global Immigration, one of the largest, independently-owned business-based immigration law firms in the United States, in conversation with Karen Phillippi, Global Detroit's board chair. Rami and Karen will also provide insights into developing business immigration trends in 2022. 
Date: Monday, January 26 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT
Brief Description: Join Professor Nandita Sharma (University of Hawai‘i at Manoa) as they discuss how racism is organized, practiced, and resisted in an era of postcolonialism (i.e. an era when national sovereignty is the hegemonic state form and when the distinction between 'national' and 'migrant' is institutionalized in national laws). In particular, they examine the growing autochthonization of politics in this era.
Date: Wednesday, January 26 from 4:00 - 5:30 PM EDT
Brief Description: Join the International Center for information on how to find and fund an international internship! During the presentation, they will cover:
  • How you can find an internship offered through U-M, as well as non-UM/external options
  • Funding opportunities available through U-M
  • Considerations for pursuing a self-arranged internship or utilizing a placement program
  • Benefits of virtual international internships
Date: Thursday, January 27 from 10:00 - 11:15 AM EDT
Brief Description: With over 5.6 million persons fleeing Venezuela, this mass migration is considered one of the largest displacements of our time. The majority of Venezuelan migrants and refugees have fled to and settled in neighboring countries across Latin America and the Caribbean serving as impetus for policy makers and international agencies to develop mechanisms to deal with this mass migration.
International Migration is proud to announce the publication of the Special Section ‘Policies and politics of Venezuelan migration in Latin America’ edited by Associate Prof. Cristian Dona-Reveco and Associate Prof. Luisa Feline Freier De Ferrari. The Special Section collection presents key analysis of the variation of politics and policies across Latin America. It serves as a pivotal guide for migration researchers, policy makers and practitioners concerned with this case of migration in Latin America or forced migration in general. This webinar will serve as a space for the guest editors to present the special issue, its impetus and coverage, and engage with wider audiences about the key considerations emerging with regard to this instance of mass migration.
Date: Friday, January 28 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM EDT via Facebook Live
Brief Description: The Office of Global Activities is excited to support the Culture is Power Project! Last year We The People - MI (one of the SSW's local field placement sites), Inside Southwest Detroit, and Garage Cultural worked with 8 local artists to uplift social issues in their community. For this project they decided to highlight Drive Michigan Forward, a coalition of immigrant rights advocates fighting to restore driver licenses for undocumented Michiganders. The Culture is Power Project provided a platform for authentic community voices to be represented. We believe that telling authentic stories through art and culture inspires action but also allows complex identities to be represented! 

Please join the Culture is Power cohort for their FB LIVE Artist Talk! You will meet the artists, witness their powerful pieces and get a chance to ask them questions about their work.
CAPS Nourish Lunch Series (Email to RSVP)
Date: Wednesday, February 9 from 12:00-1:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Nourish is a (virtual) lunch series open to all students, faculty, and staff that focuses on topics that disproportionately affect women of color. RSVP to nourish.info@umich.edu for each meeting. When received, a link and password will be sent. Nourish is a drop-in program held via Zoom.
Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 6:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Based on the struggle of young people in Goma (Northeastern Congo) against the prevailing Western reporting about war and misery, Stop Filming Us investigates how these Western stereotypes are the result of a skewed balance of power. Stop Filming Us creates a cinematic dialogue between Western perceptions and the Congolese experience of reality. Virtual viewing followed by a panel.
Announcements
International Holocaust Remembrance Day Events
To pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, please consider attending some of the events below. As we see a rise in antisemitism in the United States, these discussions and events have never been so relevant. For the entire UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day events calendar, see here.
Date: Monday, January 24 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: For its annual United Nations event in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day – this month marking 15 years of observance by the world body – B’nai B’rith International presents a global virtual program entitled, “Holocaust Remembrance: Responsibilities for All Society”. The event will include keynote remarks by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and messages from U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas. Best practices will also be highlighted by an array of diverse, distinguished speakers.
Date: Wednesday, January 26 at 6:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Eighty years since the Holocaust began, violent antisemitism remains a threat—as we witnessed at a Texas synagogue this month. The lessons of this history have never been more relevant and will be the focus of this solemn event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day—designated by the United Nations to be January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. We hope you will join us as survivors reflect on and honor the lives of Europe’s Jews—who were targeted for annihilation—other victims of Nazi persecution, and individuals who chose to help.
Date: Thursday, January 27 from 12:00 - 1:15 PM EDT
Brief Description: This virtual seminar is presented by Hedy S. Wald, PhD, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and Sabine Hildebrandt, MD, Harvard Medical School. Both Drs. Wald and Hildebrandt are Commissioners of the Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust, and Dr. Hildebrandt serves as co-chair. The Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust has urged the development of “educational approaches using this history to promote ethical conduct, compassionate identity formation, and moral development.” This seminar will catalyze critical thinking on the relevance of the Holocaust for contemporary medicine and help health care trainees and professionals reflect on their core values in the service of humanistic and ethically responsible patient care.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Events
To celebrate his life and legacy, please consider attending some of the below events in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his vision. For all U-M MLK Symposium events, see here.
Date: Monday, January 31 from 4:15 - 5:45 PM EDT
Brief Description: Some argue that the age of human rights is over. Yet that is hyperbole. It is clear, however, that for its many successes, the human rights corpus has met with many failures. It began as part of the colonial project of Empire, wittingly and unwittingly. Its deficits include its cultural illegitimacy in many places around the world, including the West; its inability to address economic privation; the movement's impotence as material for liberating the globe of racism and related inequities, especially for peoples of Black African descent; and its glaring normative incompleteness. Are these problems fatal to the future of human rights movement? Is it doomed to go the way of previous dominant ideologies? Where can it go from here to achieve its fundamental and still critical purposes?
Date: Wednesday, February 2 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM EDT
Brief Description: Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children presents: Global public health inequalities caused by race, socioeconomic class, and gender that have existed prior to the global pandemic have now become compounded. For instance, many of the lower economic class citizens in the USA have been struggling for access to adequate healthcare prior to the pandemic, and now they struggle even more as unemployment numbers have increased. This indicates that pre-existing socioeconomic disparities have seen a rise in inequity, and such kind of effect is seen across many other types of pre-existing disparities in healthcare across the globe.

This event will take place in person at Mason Hall (Room 3330) located at 419 S State St.
Date: Thursday, February 17 from 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Brief Description: The 2022 MLK Health Sciences Committee presents an Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion on racial and ethnic disparities in pain management. The panelists will discuss their experiences with this issue and will share their insights regarding potential solutions. This Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion is sponsored by the MLK Health Sciences Committee – representing the University of Michigan – School of Dentistry; School of Kinesiology; Michigan Medicine / Medical School / Office for Health Equity & Inclusion; Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research; School of Nursing; College of Pharmacy; School of Public Health; and the School of Social Work.
Date: March 21 from 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT (tentatively in person) and March 22 from 4:00 - 5:00 PM EDT (virtual)
Brief Description: The MLK Health Sciences Committee invites you to join them for discussions on selected topics from Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington. We will plan to discuss select chapters (8, 11, 13) that focus on clinical studies involving African American children as well as current studies involving citizens from African countries. This book dialogue is sponsored by the MLK Health Sciences Committee – representing the University of Michigan – School of Dentistry; School of Kinesiology; Michigan Medicine / Medical School / Office for Health Equity & Inclusion; Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research; School of Nursing; College of Pharmacy*; School of Public Health; and the School of Social Work.
Professional Opportunities
Application Deadline: Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Brief Description: The International Institute Student Fellowships (IISF) are designed to support University of Michigan students, regardless of citizenship, who are enrolled in a degree program and wish to participate in internships or conduct research abroad.  
Application Deadline: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (Rolling admission)
Brief Description: The Ottawa Internship Program is designed to provide a first-hand learning experience in Canadian government through placement with a Member of Parliament or Senator in the capital of Canada. Students will work in a parliamentarian's office for a period of five weeks. This program is open to graduate and undergraduate students from all majors and all colleges at U-M.
Application Deadline: N/A
Brief Description: The International Rescue Committee is seeking a Program Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) program, Switchboard. Switchboard is a one-stop resource hub for refugee service providers in the United States. The Program Officer, M&E will be responsible for maintaining and updating the project M&E plan, conducting ongoing M&E, coordinating needs assessments and evaluations, supporting training and technical assistance on M&E topics, and providing M&E support to the Research, Analysis, and Learning Team. This staff person may be located anywhere in the United States.
Grant Opportunities
Deadline: Tuesday, February 15 by 11:59 PM EDT
Brief DescriptionThe LACS Tinker Field Research Grants support master’s, doctoral, and professional school students conducting preliminary or pre-dissertation fieldwork in Latin America. Research projects must be conducted in the Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America and trips must last a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of four months. Awards, up to $2,500, are made based on the quality of the proposal and the academic progress of the applicant. Funds cover international airfare, in-country transportation, and some field-related expenses.
Deadline: Tuesday, February 15 by 11:59 PM EDT
Brief Description: The ASC awards student grants (up to $3,000) toward research projects or internships in or on Africa. ASC is committed to supporting students at all levels and in all fields, regardless of citizenship, to undertake research, internships, or other training activities in or on Africa. Projects may be for any length of time, with a project start date between May 1 in the calendar year the application is submitted and April 30 of the following year. In light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, travel to the continent may or may not be feasible. Alternative approaches such as virtual internships are welcomed.
Deadline: Monday, February 21 by 11:59 PM EDT
Brief Description: Awards will vary in amount based on proposal merit, budget, and need. Applications must meet one of two criteria:

  1. Conduct student-designed research that is tied to degree requirements and focused on issues of importance to women
  2. Travel abroad for students in public health, environmental health, or another health-related field (including but not limited to, nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, environmental health, and public health)

Most CEW+ Fellowships range between $2,000 and $5,000. CEW+ Fellowships are not intended to support travel for conference attendance and presentations.
Deadline: Monday, March 1 at 11:59 PM EDT
Brief DescriptionFor graduate students working on Thailand, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies is accepting proposals for conference travel support funds, research fellowships, and internship support. 
Preference will be given to those who have not received funding in the past and who enroll in Thai language courses at U-M.
Deadline: Rolling
Brief Description: The International Center offers a grant opportunity to help student organizations and University departments recognize the diversity of the U-M international student population through special events and programming. Organizations and departments should apply at least 14 days in advance of their event (the earlier, the better). Grants amounts will vary based on the submitted budget and the availability of funds.
Resources
To find previous OGA Newsletter volumes, click the OGA Newsletter Archive.
Email ssw.oga@umich.edu if you have any questions.