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- Interns and community partners gathered at the Tierney Alumni House (the former Hecker mansion) on August 21 for a stakeholders luncheon.
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- Pictured here are interns and community partners, along with Emily Swafford from the American Historical Association, Prof. Elizabeth Faue, Director, and Lillian Wilson Szlaga, Coordinator, of the Humanities Clinic.
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- Humanities Clinic Coordinator and History PhD candidate, Lillian Wilson Szlaga, emphasized the value of the Clinic in establishing new connections between Wayne State and Detroit communities.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, the Wayne State Humanities Clinic held its first Stakeholders Luncheon at Tierney Alumni House. Thirty attendees, including Provost Keith Whitfield and Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Sharon Lean, along and several community partners of the Clinic were in attendance including: Neil Barclay, CEO at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History; Roz Keith, director at Stand with Trans; Sharon Venier from the River Raisin Institute; Janette Phillips and Pam Debono from the Mercy Education Project; Kathy Wyszacki from Community Connections Grant Program; Bob Sadler from Motor Cities National Heritage Area; Meghan Courtney and Kristen Chinery from the Reuther Library; Professor Jennifer Hart who worked with Clinic interns at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul and the Public Humanities Working Group; and Professor Tracy Neumann who worked with interns at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute.
The Clinic, which matches humanities and social science Ph.D. students with local organizations and cultural institutions, provides support to its community partners ranging from grant writing and archival research, to curriculum development and community outreach.
The event featured presentations by Clinic interns on their work for the 2019 Humanities Clinic which closes on August 31. Emily Swafford, Director of Academic and Professional Affairs at the American historical Association also presented on career diversity as a broad trend among Ph.D. students at universities across the country, and the value of the Humanities Clinic to graduate education at Wayne State. Humanities Clinic Coordinator, Lillian Wilson Szlaga, made a presentation about how the Clinic meets the demand for humanities and social science expertise throughout Detroit communities, especially among underserved and underrepresented populations.