Greetings

Hi 2007-2008 Weiss Fellows, this is Mike Woolley, former Weiss Fellow and current faculty member in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. This blog idea is fabulous and I have enjoyed reading about some of the very interesting issues you all have been having presentations about and the stimulating discussions that have ensued. I have a couple brief comments. First, I applaud the discussion on race and Erin's comments, I wondered if the training you did Erin was with someone from the People's Institute out of New Orleans, they are fabulous and I highly recommend everyone to seek out the opportunity to do one of their trainings about race. Maybe that should be Weiss-organized activity each year at UNC. Similarly, I participated in a "Middle Passage Experience" which takes participants through a little of what it was like being captured and brought across the ocean as a slave during the slave trade, very powerful for me as a white American, and I highly recomend that as well. Finally, as a new resident of Chicago (I spent my first 4 years out of UNC at the University of Michigan, this is my first year here at UofC), I wanna live in the new Spire...but as an academic I will probably not be able to afford it...