During Fall Break this year, I joined several MUP classmates on a road trip to Grand Rapids (our mini version of the annual MUP Expanded Horizons trip). We were a small group, which meant that we could leisurely meander the city streets and make group decisions about which neighborhoods to explore, where to eat, and when to take a break to explore a venue or ponder an art installation.
This fall, AGORA begins a blog series focused on UofM planning students' summer and other professional experiences in the planning field. UofM students work in an impressive range of planning roles, and we aim to highlight some of the ways we "get some practice". All of the blog pieces in this series are authored by students and provide an avenue for them to describe what may be their first experiences as practicing urban planners.
This is the first post in AGORA's "Getting Some Practice" blog series, which focuses on the recent professional experiences of urban planning students - particularly summer internships.
This fall, AGORA begins a blog series focused on UofM planning students' summer and other professional experiences in the planning field. UofM students work in an impressive range of planning roles, and we aim to highlight some of the ways we "get some practice". All of the blog pieces in this series are authored by students and provide an avenue for them to describe what may be their first experiences as practicing urban planners.
Looking for a way to get your hands a little dirty this Spring? Look no further than the Master of Urban Planning Class of 2014 service project this Saturday, April 12th from 10: 30 AM to 1:00 PM at Growing Hope in Ypsilanti. We will be celebrating the impending end of this big adventure we call grad school by giving back to the community, having fun together, eating pizza, and soaking up some of Michigan’s rumored sunshine*.
So what exactly is Growing Hope? It is a local non-profit that uses a capacity-building approach to help improve individuals’ lives through gardening and access to healthy food. Growing Hope assists local home, school, and community gardens; runs a farmers market in downtown Ypsilanti; and provides a bevy of outreach programs centered on feeling good about what you eat and who you are.
If you are in interested in participating in the service project on Saturday, April 12, please click here to reserve your spot. Due to the organization’s capacity, space is limited, so please RSVP!! Preference will be given to 2nd year MUPs (including dual degrees) and URP faculty if more than 30 people sign up.
The service project is part of a wider effort by the Class of 2014 to give back to the community. The Class of 2014 established the Urban Planning Professional Development Fund as part of the 2014 MUP Class Gift. The Class of 2014 is proud to launch this fund as a unique opportunity for continuing students to pursue important professional pursuits while alleviating some of the financial burden associated with these opportunities. The Urban Planning Professional Development Fund supports unpaid or low-paying summer opportunities that substantially further the professional development goals of continuing Master of Urban Planning students in Taubman College. The fund is still accepting donations! Please help us make this effort successful so that it can continue for future classes!!
Click here to donate to the 2014 MUP Class Gift. The suggested donation is $10-$25 but any and all amounts are greatly appreciated!
*Sunshine may not be guaranteed, but good times are.
Through examining personal narratives, our new series explores the diverse backgrounds and aspirations of our peers. We are inspired by the concept of making planning personal and the capacity of passion to motivate action and meaningful public policy. Dustin Hodge shares his background and motivations for becoming and urban planner in the latest Agora blog post.
'Where Are They Now?' features the words and wisdom of previous Agora staff as a thank you for their contribution to the journal. Without them - their leadership and their commitment - Agora would not be where it is today. In preparation for Preview Weekend Friday, March 28th, we invited them to share their story with Agora and with prospective students. We asked: What was most memorable about your experience with Agora? How did your role with Agora influence your career as a planner? If you could make one recommendation to the journal what would it be?
'Where Are They Now?' features the words and wisdom of previous Agora staff as a thank you for their contribution to the journal. Without them - their leadership and their commitment - Agora would not be where it is today. In preparation for Preview Weekend Friday, March 28th, we invited them to share their story with Agora and with prospective students. We asked: What was most memorable about your experience with Agora? How did your role with Agora influence your career as a planner? If you could make one recommendation to the journal what would it be?
'Where Are They Now?' features the words and wisdom of previous Agora staff as a thank you for their contribution to the journal. Without them - their leadership and their commitment - Agora would not be where it is today. In preparation for Preview Weekend Friday, March 28th, we invited them to share their story with Agora and with prospective students. We asked: What was most memorable about your experience with Agora? How did your role with Agora influence your career as a planner? If you could make one recommendation to the journal what would it be?
'Where Are They Now?' features the words and wisdom of previous Agora staff as a thank you for their contribution to the journal. Without them - their leadership and their commitment - Agora would not be where it is today. In preparation for Preview Weekend Friday, March 28th, we invited them to share their story with Agora and with prospective students. We asked: What was most memorable about your experience with Agora? How did your role with Agora influence your career as a planner? If you could make one recommendation to the journal what would it be?
Through examining personal narratives, our new series explores the diverse backgrounds and aspirations of our peers. We are inspired by the concept of making planning personal and the capacity of passion to motivate action and meaningful public policy. Lucina Navarro shares her background and motivations for becoming and urban planner in the latest Agora blog post.
How do planners reconcile abstract theory with complex practical challenges? Jake Gottfried gives a summary and analysis of John Forester's recent talk on planners as mediators and problem solvers in the latest Agora blog post.
Do we live with an imperative to map? At the Taubman College’s Winter 2014 Emerging Voices lecture, Bjørn Sletto discussed the implications of not mapping and what we lose when we do not map. Danielle Rivera gives her thoughts on Sletto's work in the latest Agora Blog post.
About a week ago, Buzzfeed’s “What City Should You Actually Live In?” rapidly made the social media rounds. Since then, we have seen a number of other “What ___ Should you Actually__?” appear, but, as urban planning students, my peers and I were particularly drawn to this intriguing test.
Do we live in a post-racial society? The existence of this question, and its inclusion in the title of Taubman College’s Symposium, suggests that a “post-racial” America is not a completely far-fetched notion. However, as the symposium panelists asserted the new dialogue on race in America might not be post-racial. In fact, what may be passing as post-racial might really be race blindness, or the blindness of difference.
How does the Southeast Michigan Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) compare to other RTPs and more importantly, how does it work to shape our region's future? ... If we really want to transform our region into an innovative, competitive, equitable and sustainable region, and if the Metro Detroit area is truly experiencing the “rebirth” that both residents and national media outlets claim, shouldn’t our regional transportation plan follow suit? More importantly, if we can’t demand transformative Change from our urban and regional planners, where else will we find it?
In anticipation of the “Planning in a ‘Post-Racial’ Society (?): New Directions and Challenges,” Agora hosted a salon on Thursday, October 31 at the Trotter Multicultural center, where presenters discussed their work and art related to planning, race, and space...
For a lecture billed as “political” and named “New Realism”, I would have expected the lecturer to deal more directly with things like “politics” and “reality”. Perhaps it is my inexperience with the architect’s lexicon, but I found these two elements missing from the work she presented...
Sounds like Dundas West is the place to be right now. I have it on good authority from the Toronto Planning Department’s design division, and they would know, right? Even Toronto isn’t immune to the ethnic village turned hipster hot-spot pattern of development we’ve been seeing all over the states, but at least it seems they’ve got their priorities set up to deal with the hot commodity that such neighborhoods can become....
June Manning Thomas, Centennial Professor at Taubman College, is interviewed by Alexandria Stankovich, editor-in-chief of Agora.
