Umbreit awarded Residency in Restorative Justice at UMD

School of Social Work Professor Mark Umbreit was awarded the Distinguished Residency in Restorative Justice at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Susan Maher, dean of Duluth’s College of Liberal Arts, awarded the residency, which involves Umbreit spending a week on the Duluth campus each semester for the next several years.

While at UMD the last week of February, Umbreit provided a lecture to the Department of Social Work on “Restorative Justice in the 21st Century: A Social Movement Grounded in Core Social Work Values.” He also spoke in classes and met with students, faculty, and college leaders, as well as conducted a training in the community and met with a number of criminal justice system officials.

Umbreit has been director of the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking since its inception in 1995. Recently, the center opened a second site at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The partnership will strengthen the center’s base of operations and expand its scope of work. At Duluth, the center is housed in the Department of Anthropology, Sociology, Criminology, and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Site director,  Professor Emily Gaarder, a restorative justice practitioner and scholar, brings new energy and vision to the center. The UMD Social Work Department is an active partner in the initiative.