The Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Michigan supports cutting-edge research on issues related to ethnic and religious hatred and tolerance around the globe.
Current Research Projects
Pure Michigan: A History of Hatred in the Great Lakes Region
This project explores several leading individuals, publications, movements, and organizations that contributed to the spread of hateful ethnic, religious, or racial ideology in the Midwest and beyond in the twentieth century. Through archival exploration, student researchers uncovered that Michigan and the Great Lakes region occupied a unique position in the history of American hate. The Michigan in the World website is now live.
Santa in School: History of Religious Celebrations in American Public Schools
This project examines the ways in which religious holidays have historically been celebrated in public schools in the United States. The study will look at the interactions between educators, students, and parents regarding holiday celebrations and the ways they have included and excluded those who do not celebrate Christian holidays traditionally recognized in school settings. The study will examine the legal and social implications of holiday celebration and what it tells us about the role of religion in American life.
Survey of Undergraduate Perceptions of Religious and Ethnic Backgrounds (SUPERB)
This longitudinal survey (currently being developed and tested in partnership with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research) will begin collecting responses in Fall 2025, and will measure University of Michigan students' attitudes towards and about religious and ethnic minorities, and track changes of those views over their time at the University.
The Future of Antisemitism Research
The Institute co-organized and co-sponsored a conference of 50 scholars from around the world on antisemitism in partnership with NYU, University of Toronto, and University of Pennsylvania in January, 2025. Plans for an annual conference and network of scholars were established.
Contested: Opera & Research Study
Contested: Opera & Research Study will develop, test, and research the effects of an opera about confederate monuments on truth, racial healing, and transformation. Contested will optimize civic dialogue and public engagement to initiate the foundation for intergroup understanding that may inspire attitudinal shifts to combat discrimination which undermines social bridging, bonding, and cohesion. Contested asks communities to consider the question, what is the role of confederate monuments in a diverse, multicultural, multiracial, and pluralistic democratic republic? This project aspires to demonstrate what it means to lead in dark times, but also what happens when folx choose to stay silent and do nothing. Though Contested has national implications, we intend to engage deeply with residents from Virginia, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina because these states have the most confederate monuments.
