Note: Registration is now full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please email eli-information@umich.edu

On September 21, U.S. Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis and his co-authors Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell will deliver a Penny Stamps Lecture at the Michigan Theater about their 2016 National Book Award-winning graphic novel March, based on Congressman Lewis’s life, and in particular his leading role organizing and leading major actions of the civil rights era. 


The English Language Institute invites you to join us for a reading group designed to help international students better understand this important part of U.S. history and to prepare for Congressman Lewis’s lecture. 

This small group will be led by ELI Director Angelo Pitillo and Lecturer IV Judy Dyer. Participation is free of charge and open to all current and former ELI students. Each participant can borrow a free copy of March for the duration of the group. Our goal is to provide participants with the opportunity to discuss landmark events of U.S. history in an informal, supportive environment, to connect the themes in March with other global social justice movements, and to explore how we might emulate Congressman Lewis as we seek to build a more respectful, inclusive Michigan campus. 

Reading Group Discussions
Space is strictly limited, so please sign up now. This reading group will meet three times (participants should plan to attend all three):
Tuesday, August 29 | 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 5 | 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 26 | 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Participants are also invited/encouraged to attend two related (optional) events:

Special screening of the film Selma, which dramatizes some of the events depicted in March.
Tuesday, September 12 | 4:00-7:00 p.m.

Stamps Lecture by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Thursday, September 21 | 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Tickets for this free event are expected to be in great demand, and reading group participants will have priority in obtaining them.

We hope you will join us!