Centers and Institutes (Undergraduate Programs)

Center for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics

Director: Steven Kahn, Ph.D.
1309 Faculty Administration Building
313-577-2558
http://clas.wayne.edu/ceem/

The Center for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is a research and educational center with a two-fold mission: to find ways to significantly improve the quality of K-12 and introductory college-level mathematics instruction across the United States; and, by using mathematics as a tool, to provide students from inner cities and underrepresented minority groups with the kinds of educational and lifetime opportunities that should be available to all students.

The Center currently operates five core programs: the WSU Math Corps, an outreach program serving Detroit middle and high school students; the WSU Middle and High School Math Network, which provides day to day instructional and/or operational resources to Detroit are a middle and high school math departments; the Math Corps Learning Community at WSU, a University support and retention program for Math Corps "kids" now attending WSU; and the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP), a WSU honors-level calculus and pre-calculus program; and the Rising Scholars Program (RSP), serving WSU students at the developmental level.

Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies

Director: Jorge L. Chinea, Ph.D.
790 Student Center Building
313-577-4378
https://las.wayne.edu/

The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies is a multi-service unit engaged in teaching, research, and service. The Center plays an important role in the urban mission of Wayne State University and involves four components:

The Center hosts two learning communities: the CBS Scholars Program and the College-to-Career Program. The first one recruits students into the University, facilitates their transition between high school and college, and promotes increased retention. The second program supports students through completion of their degrees and beyond, especially in the areas of career development and graduate school preparedness. It also offers courses and related educational activities for students interested in Latino and Latin American Studies.
It promotes research on issues relevant to the Latino/a community, especially in the urban and workplace environment; and Latin American cultural studies and current issues.
It creates and fosters the interaction and exchange of personnel and resources between the University and the Latino/a community; and it serves as a source of expertise on Latino issues to the larger metropolitan community.
As an advocate for the awareness and advancement of Latino/a issues within the University, the Center contributes to the University's continuing efforts to create a richer multicultural campus environment.

Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics

Director: Lawrence I. Grossman, Ph.D.
3127 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield
313-577-5323
https://genetics.wayne.edu/

The Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics is the University’s premier site for interdisciplinary research and education focused on modern molecular medicine, genetics, and genomics. The Center’s strong interdisciplinary environment and highly collaborative faculty include primary and jointly-appointed members with broad expertise in genetics, genomics, computational biology, and molecular biology. Together, they conduct leading-edge research that advances precision medicine to improve the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human disease. The Center occupies over 28,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art research space in the Medical School, including both open and closed laboratories, faculty and administrative offices, shared equipment and special procedure rooms, conference rooms, and interaction areas. Center faculty labs are also located in key satellite campus locations including the Integrative Biosciences (iBio) Center and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The Center’s dual mission of research and education is realized through its research-intensive graduate programs (PhD and MS) in Molecular Genetics and Genomics and an accredited MS program in Genetic Counseling. These programs prepare the next generation of scientists to lead advances in genomics and precision medicine.

Center faculty also train undergraduate students in their laboratories, providing an outstanding opportunity to gain valuable research experience. In addition, the Center hosts a highly selective Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), through which participants engage in immersive research and professional development. Many SURP alumni have gone on to attend prestigious universities and graduate programs to pursue advanced degrees in biomedical science and medicine.

For more information on the Center’s research and training opportunities see www.genetics.wayne.edu.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

Opportunities for research in Molecular Medicine and Genetics are available each summer as part of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics SURP. The program provides sophomore and junior undergraduate students with experience in the research laboratories of the Center, located at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Over the course of the summer students work in the laboratories of Center faculty members and attended weekly research seminars. When the program ends in August the students present their work to their mentors, peers, and the WSU research community at a symposium.

Center for Peace and Conflict Studies

Director: Pontus Leander, Ph.D.
2320 Faculty/Administration Building
313-577-3453
https://cpcs.wayne.edu/

On November 20, 1965, the Center for Teaching about War and Peace opened its doors under the leadership of Director Russell Broadhead and a committee of distinguished faculty members. The mission then was to provide interdisciplinary, University-wide, academic programs in the field of domestic and international conflict and peace issues. In 1987, the WSU Board of Governors, building upon this rich heritage, created the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.

The mission of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies is to develop and implement projects, programs, curricula, research, and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social justice, arms control, globalization, multi-cultural awareness and constructive conflict resolution. The Center addresses this mission in three ways. CPCS supports undergraduate and graduate student excellence through its academic programs. CPCS staff and students engage in scholarly research initiatives on aspects of domestic and international conflict management. CPCS provides community outreach programs that emphasize: conflict resolution, development of inter-cultural understanding, and enhance local knowledge of global affairs.

Center for Urban Studies

Director: Lyke Thompson, Ph.D.
Managing Director: Charo Hulleza, M.P.A.
5700 Cass Avenue, Room 2207 Academic/Administration Building
313-577-2208
http://www.cus.wayne.edu

The Center for Urban Studies improves understanding of and provides innovative responses to urban challenges and opportunities. The Center conducts and disseminates research, develops policies and programs, and provides training, capacity-building, and technical assistance. The Center participates in defining and influencing local, regional, State, and urban policy. The Center's current initiatives have a real, substantial and lasting impact on Detroit's challenges across a number of areas ranging from crime reduction to healthy homes. Committed to serving Detroit and its metropolitan area, the Center exemplifies Wayne State's urban research and service mission. The Center employs a highly trained multi-disciplinary team consisting of social science Ph.D. and master's-level researchers, as well as WSU graduate and undergraduate students.

Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence (CAPEWAYNE)

4201 St. Antoine, Suite 5C-UHC
313-576-3997
http://www.capewayne.med.wayne.edu

CAPEWAYNE is an interdisciplinary academic center bringing together scholars, educators, researchers and clinicians dedicated to improving the quality of end-of-life care. The main focus areas of this center are education, research and clinical practice, all of which permeated by the field of humanities.

Education: The Center offers an end-of-life curriculum for students, trainees and clinicians across disciplines and levels of training.

Research: The Center gathers researchers who have a shared interest in the conduct of collaborative, interdisciplinary interdepartmental research. Current research projects include evaluating the impact of a palliative care curriculum, called the Compassionate Allies, sponsored by Seasons Hospice Foundation, on the skills and attitudes of pre-medical students.

Clinical Practice: The Center provides resources to clinicians across disciplines and settings that practice palliative care, through a paradigm of sharing and ensuring optimization of clinical care in our community.

Fraser Center for Workplace Issues and Center for Labor Studies (Labor@Wayne)

Director: Elizabeth Faue, Ph.D.
249 Walter P. Reuther Library, 5401 Cass Ave.
313-577-6601 (main office)
https://labor.wayne.edu

The Fraser Center for Workplace Issues and the Center for Labor Studies are comprehensive labor research and education centers under the leadership of Labor@Wayne. They are committed to strengthening the capacity of organized labor to represent the interests of workers in their relationship to employers, while at the same time strengthening the University’s interdisciplinary research and teaching on work, employment, and labor relations issues. The Center’s primary areas of research and practice include contemporary workplace and employment conditions and laws; the organization, history, and analysis of the labor movement and labor unions in the United States and globally; labor and working-class culture, politics, and history; training and research assistance to unions on labor relations and workplace issues; student internship opportunities; the promotion of best practices in labor-management relations and human resource management, particularly in the public sector; support for labor-community coalitions; and the impact of new technologies on workers, the workplace, and labor relations.

The Fraser Center for Workplace Issues supports research through research grants for faculty, staff, and graduate students and strengthens academic and non-credit labor education through Labor Education Development grants for full- and part-time faculty. The Centers engage the public through Fraser Center workshops and lectures, the annual Bluestone and Miller memorial lectures, and the Workers in Solidarity and Education (WISE) and the North American Labor History conferences, which are held in alternate years, and bring academics, labor leaders, business and community leaders, and policymakers into conversation on employment and labor policy and practice. The Center also supports undergraduate, graduate, and non-credit students through a range of endowed annual scholarships.

Humanities Center

Director: Jaime Goodrich, Ph.D.
2226 Faculty/Administration Building; 656 W. Kirby; 313-577-5471
https://humanities.wayne.edu/

The Humanities Center serves as a campus-wide hub for Wayne State faculty and students working in the humanities, arts, and related disciplines. Through its events and fellowships, the Center pursues three major goals: 1) to nurture scholarly and creative work in the humanities and allied fields; 2) to promote intellectual exchanges relevant to the humanities; 3) to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration and community. The Center also aims to encourage public humanities initiatives that will allow Wayne State faculty and students to conduct innovative community-based work, especially in the Detroit metro area and Michigan. With its various programs, the Center brings together humanists of all kinds to showcase the centrality of the humanities to our contemporary moment.

In addition to hosting brown bag talks and other events, the Humanities Center provides funding support to both faculty members and students. Two of the Center's most prominent faculty programs are the Faculty Fellowship Competition (two course releases), the Summer Faculty Fellowship (research funds) and the Marilyn Williamson Endowed Distinguished Faculty Fellowship (two to four course releases plus research funds). Prominent student programs are the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship ($25,000 plus health care coverage and tuition remission), the Graduate Summer Grant (research funds), and the Graduate Travel program (travel funds).

Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute

Director: Alissa Huth-Bocks, Ph.D.
71 East Ferry Ave.
313-664-2500
https://mpsi.wayne.edu/

The Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on urban children and families. It has a long and distinguished history as a research and educational institution, serving as a pioneer in the field of child development and early education. Since it became a part of Wayne State University in 1982, the Institute has encouraged collaborations among faculty from many departments within the University.

The Institute emphasizes research, research training and community engagement and service in the areas of children’s health and development. Current research strengths range from prenatal exposures and child development, infant mental health, cognitive development of high risk infants as well as adolescent health and development. The service programs of the Institute are an outgrowth of its research mission. MPSI operates one of the nation’s oldest preschools. Community outreach and engagement through MPSI’s Healthier Urban Families Program includes training of mental health workers who serve very young children in the care of public and non-profit agencies; consultation to education and child care organizations; workshops for teachers, parents and the public; and the annual Metropolitan Detroit Teen Conference.

Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI)

Director: Sharon Milberger, Sc.D.
Leonard Simons Building
4809 Woodward Avenue, Suite 268
313-577-2654 or middi@wayne.edu
https://ddi.wayne.edu/

The Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI) is one of a national network of 68 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs). MI-DDI’s mission is to contribute to the development of inclusive communities, which enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families through a culturally-sensitive statewide program of training and education, community support and services, research, and sharing of information.

Staff and faculty engage in technical assistance, training, and research programs throughout Michigan via collaborative efforts with schools, community agencies, community colleges, and other Universities. Over 10,000 individuals with disabilities benefit from these activities annually. MI-DDI offers a wide range of opportunities for students and faculty to engage in state-of-the-art community-based research, education, and technical assistance.

MI-DDI develops activities and projects based on needs of persons with disabilities and the communities in which they live and work. The Community Advisory Council, composed of representatives of twenty-five key statewide organizations, meets bi-annually to provide information and assistance to Institute staff and faculty in establishing priorities and evaluating activities.

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