The RC Podcast

Episode 32 – How can you enrich your undergrad experience by building community and leading mindfully?

In this collaboration episode of the Residential College Podcast and the Michigan Leadership Collaborative Break Away Podcast, the RC’s Robby Griswold talks with alum Mya Harris and fourth-year student Kaitlyn Colyer about their experiences as students in both the Residential College and the LSA Barger Leadership Institute. Mya and Kaitlyn discuss developing their leadership identities, the importance of practicing cultural humility, and what advice they would offer incoming students.

After listening, we recommend that you consider these reflection questions:

How has your narrative and self-reflection helped develop your understanding and practice of cultural humility?
How can you make time in your daily routine to pause and reflect?
Can you think of a time when you failed forward? How did you grow from that experience?
What are leadership qualities you would like to develop, and what qualities are you continuing to grow? What can you do now to work towards those goals?

Music on this episode provided by RC music faculty members Mark Kirschenmann, Katri Ervamaa, and Michael Gould.

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Episode 31 – “It’s a wild ride, this life”: Two RC trans* men sit down for a (virtual) cup of coffee

Season Three

13 years and a whole lexicon apart, and yet, so much in common. RC student Rellian deGraaf ’24 and RC alum Emmett Findley ‘07 explore “queer time”, the differences between stealth and passing, being weighed down by wearing the mantle of queer ambassador, and what makes a “queer space”. Where do trans men learn how to be in the world – from friends, from well-adjusted adults? What’s it like being a trans*parent? And what can young trans* people keep in mind when coming out to themselves? If this topic is newer to you, get a briefer on the trans* experience, – and if not, just enjoy the company.

Rellian deGraaf is finishing his first year of undergraduate study at the University of Michigan Residential College. He is from Grand Rapids, MI and is planning to study environmental sciences.

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Episode 30 – What Courses to Take in the RC Winter 2021

Season Three

We don’t really know when this pandemic will be behind us, though promising vaccines are on the way. Students and faculty prepare for Winter 2021, when the majority of courses will be offered online with some exceptions like some of our studio arts and music courses. Who better to fill us in on the RC’s academic offerings but director of RC Academic Services and long-time beloved advisor and mentor, Charlie Murphy? (Amirite?) Want to know about the history of race and the law, or about the elements that go into building an egalitarian metropolis? Want to apply your Spanish speaking skills – learned in school or from your heritage – to support the local Latino community? Or maybe you want to know how to live a life more aligned with your values of civility and justice? Listen up and get acquainted with a handful of the staggering 75 courses offered in the Residential College in Winter 2021. (And remember: RC courses are open to all LSA students!)

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Episode 29 -The $300 That Launched the RC Creative Writing and Literature Program

Season Three

You know the old cliché, “they grow up so fast”? It’s hard to believe, but 2020 marks the 50th birthday of the Residential College Creative Writing & Literature Program. We went right to horse’s mouth on this and checked in with the founder of the program, Warren Hecht, whose 47-year lecturer career may be the longest of its kind at U-M. He explains how, in 1970, a mere $300 irreversibly altered the course of his life and that of the Residential College. Ken Mikolowski, now retired long-time faculty member in poetry, and Laura Thomas, current head of the program, fiction writer, and alumna, join in for a conversation of reminiscence, unexpected heart-to-heart, and reflection on what has changed in the program and its students over the years.

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Episode 28 – “U-M Works Because We Do”: RCers on the Fall 2020 Strikes

Season Three

Over the summer 2020, U-M communicated a public health-informed reopening plan for on-campus and virtual learning in the fall. Meanwhile, many universities around the country – including MSU, about an hour away – announced plans for a totally virtual fall term to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between students. Well before the first van showed up for residence hall move-in day, students, staff and faculty sought clarity on testing policies, noticed inconsistent execution, and felt that their safety concerns weren’t being addressed. Fearful for safety and frustrated by slow communication with U-M leadership, the Graduate Employee’s Organization and dozens of resident advisors went on strike, which pressured the administration from several directions and in ways we haven’t seen in decades. In this episode, RC students and faculty weigh in on the GEO and RA strikes and the demonstration of MDining staff that, collectively, led to important public health gains for the entire U-M Ann Arbor campus community.

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Episode 27 – RC Life in the Time of COVID-19

Season Two

Life for every student at U-M – let alone for every person on earth – has undergone tremendous change recently. We’ll explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people differently even within the Residential College community. This episode features a Resident Advisor in an RC hallway in East Quad, a student studying abroad in Paris at the time of the U-M shutdown, a student who remained in University Housing after East Quad’s evacuation, as well as a member of the RC intensive language faculty. We explore family ties, procrastination, the strangeness of seeing other people in real life, and dealing with anxiety during these “unprecedented times”, all with humor and vulnerability.

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Episode 26 – Prison Creative Arts Project from the Artists’ Perspective

Season Two

Listen to the latest episode of the RC Podcast and celebrate the 25th Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners put on by the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP). It is one of the largest exhibitions of art by incarcerated artists in the country. Hear from formerly incarcerated artists, now on the outside, and members of the curatorial team about the founding of the exhibition, the process of and criteria for artwork selection, and what making art does for incarcerated people. Where is the most common place to make art in prison? How far – and deep – does the PCAP network span? Listen to find out.

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Episode 25 – Food at Michigan

Season Two

Honestly, how is the food at the University of Michigan? Can you survive on the meal plan? Hint: you can. But is the food good? What do students really think? Listen to the episode to find out ;-). From meal plans, to the seven all-access dining halls, to the East Quad Blue Cafe, to the EQ kitchen, to Ann Arbor restaurant recommendations, we’ve got you covered. You’ll hear from current RC Students—Mecca Durhal, Hayden Graves, Jasmin Lee, Arjun Thakkar, and Hannah Glass-Chapman—as they each describe their own dining experiences as U of M students.

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Episode 24 – Being STEM in the RC, imposter syndrome, and meeting RC people everywhere

Season Two

Sometimes prospective students ask us if they can pursue studies in STEM as an RC student. Our answer is always a resounding, “YES!” To set the record straight, Maeve Pascoe and Rachel Hurwitz from the class of 2018 talk on the latest episode of the RC Podcast about their experiences in STEM research and premed coursework while studying in the Residential College. We discuss how they’ve felt being women in the field, what imposter syndrome can look like, and how even a bad grade in organic chemistry can’t stop you from a successful career in medicine.

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Episode 23 – Student-facilitated learning spaces at U-M: RC Forums

Season Two

“When else are you going to have this opportunity where a world-class university is giving you credit on your transcript to talk about sex with your peers? When does that happen?” The answer is the RC Forums program, a fully student-initiated and -led learning space open to all U-M that grants Residential College participants credit to learn about a topic like diversity in politics, feminism, art, and dance, without a faculty or staff member in the room. There are currently 12 active forums, but students create new ones or retire legacy ones as their interests fluctuate like their major declarations. This episode features five student forum leaders and the RC student affairs coordinator, Esha Biswas.

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