Save the Dates: Fall 2026 at the Stone Center
This fall, the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics will bring scholars to the University of Michigan for conversations about education, families, poverty, discrimination, and democracy. The season includes six research talks as well as the launch of Whose Democracy?, a new two-year series from the Stone Working Group on Inequality and Political Economy (SWIPE).
Introducing Whose Democracy?
Across four semesters, Whose Democracy? will examine how inequality shapes democracy. The series begins with Who Runs?, a conversation about who runs for office and how candidacy and social class can shape the course of American democracy.
Who Runs?
Thursday, September 17, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
Room 1430, ISR Thompson Building
Featuring Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University, and Nick Carnes, Duke University
Moderated by Roberto Carlos, U-M Political Science
Free and open to the community
More information about Whose Democracy? | Add to calendar
Fall speaker lineup
A (Lottery) Ticket to the Middle Class: The Changing Structure of Downside Risk Among American College Graduates
Tuesday, September 29, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
Room 1430-ABCD, ISR Thompson Building
Tom VanHeuvelen, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota
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The talk examines a growing but underappreciated trend: even as the earnings premium associated with a college degree has risen, the share of college graduates experiencing clearly negative labor-market outcomes has also increased.
Subjective Divorce Risk, Perceived Outside Options, and Intra-Household Allocation
Thursday, October 15, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
6050 Large Conference Room, ISR Thompson Building
Basit Zafar, Reuben Kempf Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
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Using new survey data from married individuals and couples, the research examines how perceived divorce risk and expectations about life after divorce shape labor supply, fertility, health, and the allocation of resources within marriage.
Jordan Conwell
Wednesday, October 21, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Room 1430, ISR Thompson Building
Jordan Conwell, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
Co-hosted by the Stone Center and PSID; co-sponsored by Sociology
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Conwell’s research focuses on educational opportunity and socioeconomic well-being across lives, generations, and historical periods.
Health Insurance, the Affordable Care Act, and Black-White Inequalities in Poverty
Thursday, October 29, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
Room 1430, ISR Thompson Building
David Brady, Professor of Public Policy and Management, University of Southern California
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The talk examines whether accounting for the value of health insurance changes how we understand Black-white inequalities in poverty and whether Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act reduced those disparities.
Affirmative Action and Racial Integration
Thursday, November 5, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
6050 Large Conference Room, ISR Thompson Building
Zachary Bleemer, Assistant Professor of Economics, Princeton University
Jointly presented with U-M Economics – Labor Economics Seminar
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This event will examine affirmative action, academic match, and whether exposure to diverse college peers produces lasting racial integration.
Missing Results of Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis of Racial, Gender, and Intersectional Discrimination Using Correspondence Audits
Thursday, November 19, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
6050 Large Conference Room, ISR Thompson Building
S. Michael Gaddis, Clinical Associate Professor of Management and Policy, Georgia State University
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Drawing on 52 correspondence audits encompassing nearly 330,000 tests, the study identifies patterns that can be missed when racial and gender discrimination are analyzed separately rather than through an intersectional framework.
Each event title links to its individual page with current details and RSVP. Questions? Contact Ian Burnette.
We hope to see you this fall.