Public Engagement & Impact
The Michigan Road Scholars Tour — an annual five-day traveling seminar that takes U-M faculty through the state — increases mutual knowledge and understanding between the university and the people of Michigan.
Now in its 20th running, the tour connects U-M faculty to Michigan’s communities, culture, economy, politics, history, educational systems, social issues, and geography. The Road Scholars Tour also encourages public service and outreach, revealing ways faculty can address important state issues through research, teaching, and creative activity.
You can keep up with the happenings on the tour May 6–10 by following #MIRoadScholars on Twitter.
One of this year’s Road Scholars is David Gerdes, Arthur Thurnau Professor, professor of physics and astronomy, and chair of the physics department. He studies objects in the outer solar system such as the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. His research has also looked at the origins and evolution of the universe.
What interested you about the Road Scholar tour?
Gerdes: I’ve lived in Michigan for more than 20 years and been to many parts of the state, including the U.P., but it’s usually been as a tourist. I know much less about the state as a place where people live, work, struggle with problems, and try to grow communities and businesses. So I really want to know about the forces that shape Michigan such as government, manufacturing, and people working to bring Detroit back. I am looking forward to going out and not talking for once and just listening and absorbing.
Why do you think it’s important for faculty and staff to connect with communities in the state?
Gerdes: I’ve been teaching introductory courses in physics for years. When students hold up their hand, point to it and say “I’m from this place near my forefinger” I would like to have a better sense of where they’re from and what shaped their upbringing. Also, the liberal arts are somewhat under siege across the country as people question the value of a liberal arts education. I would like to put a human face on the university and show that we care about the state and doing the right thing for our students.
Without the support of communities and parents who send us their kids, we can’t teach and we can’t educate students who go back to their communities and try to make Michigan a better place. We can’t do research. It’s all of the people in the state who make our work as teachers and scholars possible.
What are you hoping to learn?
Gerdes: I’m especially looking forward to learning about what’s going on right now in Detroit. Despite living here for 20 years, my experience in Detroit is fairly limited. I know very little about the history, geography, and struggles of the place other than what I’ve read in the news. And that’s just the story of the month, not the bigger picture. There’s nothing like meeting the people who are working there and learning about it myself.
How do you envision incorporating what you see and learn on this tour into your teaching or research?
Gerdes: It’s not obvious to connect directly with what I study, but I imagine there are interesting physics lessons at the iron works, and when you teach mechanics it’s hard to beat something like the Mackinac Bridge for a lesson on how you balance stresses and forces.
I study outer solar system objects and my students and I have discovered a number of new ones in the Kuiper Belt. Someday we’ll get to propose names for these objects, and they are supposed to be named after creation gods. I would like to explore the idea of naming an object after the creation stories of the peoples of the Great Lakes whose land we are on. I want to know if those communities would support having their culture recognized in this way, and I would like to make a connection in the Native American community to start that discussion.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MICHIGAN ROAD SCHOLARS
