InSPIRE Rackham interdisciplinary workshop

The InSPIRE student group brings together graduate students across diverse programs, including Public Policy, Engineering, Environment and Sustainability, Public Health, and many more, to broaden their understanding of a wide range of contemporary science and technology policy issues.

All STPP students are encouraged to engage with InSPIRE, and have the opportunity to participate in activities including writing workshops, alumni webinars, movie nights, and memo writing competitions. 

InSPIRE is a Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop, and operates with generous support from the Rackham Graduate School. 

Current InSPIRE co-leads are Txai Sibley, doctoral student in Materials Science and Engineering ([email protected]), and Farah Pitcher, master's student in Public Policy([email protected]).

2024-2025 Highlights

Recent activities have included a "Welcome Back" happy hour, an alumni webinar with Vineet Shahini, and a lunch and learn session with Mirzayan Fellowship alumnus and current STPP student Lotte De Jong.

In anticipation of New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill's visit to campus, InSPIRE hosted a book club discussion of "Your Face Belongs to Us: A Tale of AI, a Secretive Startup, and the End of Privacy." creating a space to learn about how AI is compromising privacy and how policy can help. The discussion continued with the author herself, as an interdisciplinary group of students met for lunch with Kashmir Hill on October 7th.

Photo of a group of STPP students at Kashmir Hill lunch.

Featured Event

Students enjoyed a lunch with New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill as a part of her conversation with Shobita Parthasarathy on October 7, 2024.
Read about and watch the event here.
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New STPP publication

Where Harris and Trump stand on science and technology issues

STPP students have summarized the two main presidential candidates’
positions on issues likely to be of interest to STEM students: scientific research funding, technology policy, immigration policy, energy policy, environmental policy, and environmental justice policy.
Read more
Student Speaker

Former InSPIRE co-leads Jackson Voss, MPP, and Lindsey Michocki, Ph.D. candidate in physical chemistry, facilitate a Q&A at an STPP lecture.