- Why I Fight
- The Community of Food, Society & Justice Conference, October 2019
- Shakespeare in the Arb
- Center for World Performance Studies
- East Quad Garden
- Freedom House
- Migrant Worker Outreach and Education Program
- PALMA
- Prison Creative Arts Project
- Semester in Detroit
- Spanish Language Internship Program
- Telling It
- U-M Gamelan Orchestra
Why I Fight, a theatrical adaptation of the 2019 Michigan Quarterly Review novelette by James Munro Leaf, dramatizes the perils of being defined by a mental illness and being caught in the psychiatric system. It probes the presumption of labels and the complex dynamics of power, dehumanization, and abuse in clinical settings. Creative director Gillian Eaton and actor Malcolm Tulip, faculty of the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, engage students in this production at U-M Residential College’s Keene Theater from March 26–29, 2020.
Based on collaboration with the U-M Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program and other University units, a series of panels on mental illness and the arts follow each performance. Panelists will expand on themes in Why I Fight and invite conversation with audience members. Individuals and family members who live with mental illness; U-M faculty conducting psycho-social, public health, and biomedical research; and practitioners in the arts will explore the roles of creativity and the outdoors in healing. Dr. Melvin McInnis, Director of the Prechter Program, and other U-M mental health experts, will moderate the panels.
A catered reception and information tables for community resources in the arts and mental health follow each performance.
Thursday
March 26
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Friday
March 27
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday
March 28
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday
March 29
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
These events are free and open to the public. Although we will have limited space available for walk-ins, we request that you reserve your tickets in advance, if possible. 100 free tickets are available for each performance and can be reserved here:
All performances and conversations will be held in the Keene Theater, located at 701 E University Ave, East Quadrangle, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
This event is for those who want to
- ask questions about research and treatments for mental illness
- explore the relationship between mental illness and the impact of the arts in healing
- support family members, friends, and students with mental illness
- prevent suicide among young adults
- shift the legal system towards more humane interventions
Our partners are:
- Residential College
- School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD)
- Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program
- Michigan Quarterly Review
Sponsors contributing $1,000 or more are (as of 2/21/20):
- Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)
- College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) Dean's Office
- Department of Psychology, LSA
- Division of Student Life
- Honors Program, LSA
- MCubed
- Michigan Medicine
- Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI)
- Office of the Associate Dean for Social Sciences, LSA
- Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, LSA
- Rackham Graduate School
- U-M Office of Research (UMOR)
Sponsors contributing up to $1000 are (as of 2/21/20):
- English Language Institute (ELI), LSA
- Global Scholars Program (GSP), LSA
- Health Sciences Scholars Program, LSA
- Institute for the Humanities
- Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts, LSA
- School of Nursing
