Distinctly Detroit UM Detroit Center

Welcome back to the Distinctly Detroit Podcast!

Today our guest is Ameer Stein, better known as Mersiless Amir.

Ameer’s first release was A Day Without a Rhyme in 1989 and grabbed attention from record labels like Def Jam Records, Smash Records, and Warner Brothers to name a few. He has performed across the world, in Chicago, L.A., NYC, London, and more. His discography is continuing to grow with his most recent release True Legend streaming now. Please help us welcome the Hip Hop legend Mersiless Amir!

Welcome back to the Distinctly Detroit Podcast! Today our guest is Professor Dara Hill. Professor Hill works at the University of Michigan Dearborn Campus in Reading and Language Arts. She recently received praise and a grant from the 2023 Engage Detroit Workshop for her current research called The Best Classroom Project. This research project aims to assist parents in Detroit make informed decisions about their children’s school choices in Detroit while also supporting students in the college admission process. Please help us welcome the innovative Professor Dara Hill! 

Welcome back to the Distinctly Detroit Podcast! Our guest, Senghor Reid is an artist and an educator. Senghor is the Fine Arts Department Chair with Cranbrook Schools and has an upcoming solo exhibition with Michigan Contemporary Art in Detroit in May 2024. He is an alum of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Stamps School of Art & Design, and earned his Master of Arts in Teaching from Wayne State University. He was recently featured in American Masters with PBS. The film, Senghor Reid: Make Way for Tomorrow, was showcased at the 2023 FREEP Film Festival. Please help us welcome the prolific Senghor Reid!

Professor Jerry Davis earned his A.B. in Philosophy with high distinction from the University of Michigan, his M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is the Gilbert and Ruth Whitaker Professor of Business Administration at the Ross School of Business and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. Prof. Davis is also a faculty director at the Ross Business + Impact which has the vision to serve and empower the community through the lens of business with one initiative that equips entrepreneurs. Please help us welcome Prof. Jerry Davis!

Welcome back to the Distinctly Detroit Podcast! Our guest, Professor Angela Dillard was the Chair of the Department of History at the University of Michigan, but since the recording, Professor Dillard has been promoted as the first Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. She is also the Richard A. Meisler Collegiate Professor of Afro-American & African Studies in the Residential College. Professor Dillard is a native Detroiter whose interdisciplinary research focuses on racial issues in America within the scope of religion and bi-partisan politics. She is working on her third book tentatively titled A Different Shade of Freedom that will examine the unexpected relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the New Right. Please help us welcome Professor Angela Dillard!

In this episode, we have our Faculty Director, Prof. Paul Draus. Inspired by working with tuberculosis control, he wrote his first book, Consumed in the City: Observing Tuberculosis at Century’s End. Today, he is a professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan Dearborn and the new faculty director for the University of Michigan Detroit Center. Please help us welcome Prof. Paul Draus.