Detroit and Other Place-Based History
Scott Kurashige
Other than my undergraduate and graduate teaching in Asian American history, I devote my greatest attention to teaching classes on topics related to Detroit. I have lived in the City of Detroit for the past six years, and it has been a life-changing experience that has transformed the way I approach my intellectual work. On the one hand, Detroit is an open wound bearing all the scars of neglect (physical, social, emotional) in our culture. If history should prove that early-twenty-first-century America was a dying empire, then people will look back and see that Detroit was its capital. On the other hand, as one of my good friends notes, because Detroit is so materially deprived, it can be the most spiritual place on the planet for those struggling to survive and build community.
The relationship between Ann Arbor and Detroit is complex and could be the subject of an entire book. Though the 45-minute commute separating the two cities is nothing phenomenal, the pristine college town and gritty urban center are socially a world apart. In a nutshell, residents from predominantly white and middle-to-upper-middle-class suburbs are vastly overrepresented while residents of Detroit (predominantly working-class and African American) are vastly underrepresented at the University of Michigan. Moreover, racial, class, and social divisions in metro Detroit are so stark that the typical white suburban student at Michigan knows nothing about the city beyond its sports teams, major downtown entertainment venues, sensational media accounts, and the urban legends passed on as “common sense”—e.g. “Detroit would be a thriving city if [Black mayor] Coleman Young hadn’t ruined it.”
A class on Detroit history, therefore, becomes an opportunity to think about how our individual and social sense of identity, place, and politics is shaped by the stories we tell. Historian Thomas Sugrue has noted that at public readings of his book The Origins of the Urban Crisis (Princeton, 1996), Black Detroiters often report that the book’s recounting of patterns of employment and housing discrimination confirms what they knew to be true from individual experience. Whites, however, often claim to be shocked to read about incidents of racist violence and exclusion.
I have found this to be generally true among University of Michigan undergraduates. It can be a daunting challenge to recognize that the world is not the way it seemed as you were growing up—to acknowledge that the cultural geography you were immersed in as a child was not natural but a social construction and that your own ancestors may have played a direct or indirect role in fostering discrimination and segregation. I am fortunate, however, to attract students who are dedicated to overcoming these problems and divisions that prior generations once saw as the natural order of things.
The following syllabus provides an example of a service-learning course I taught on Detroit. These were some significant features of this course:
- I chose to incorporate Asian American history into the course as a step toward moving beyond the black/white binary, which is particularly symbolic of hardened divisions and entrenched ways of thinking in metro Detroit.
- The class met off-campus in a Detroit community center that was itself a building in the process of being rehabbed. Some students complained that they could not concentrate in such an environment and thought that the commute was over-burdensome. Others were more appreciative of these non-standard arrangements, and some even experienced an epistemological shift simply by overcoming their unfounded fears of the city.
- Meeting in the city provided a basis for field trips to sites we were studying and for meetings with community-based authors and activists. I have found that connecting readings and discussions to physical sites is a particularly effective pedagogical tool that motivates students to become more invested in topics. On other occasions, I have designed self-tours for large lecture classes and have hosted a summer “study abroad” class in Detroit.
- I used supplemental funds to hire four community teachers, two of whom were Detroit high school students. They became our on-the-ground guides to the city.
- I organized a community-based speakers series on issues such as education and urban planning in Detroit. Students attended these evening events, where community participants altered the dynamics of discussions and offered new perspectives beyond those offered during class time.
- Finally, rather than individual papers or final exams, students worked on collaborative group projects tied to the issues they studied with community guides and partners. These included an educational forum and video documentary on the crisis in public education, an educational forum and video documentary on Asian American community issues, and a fundraiser/awareness-raiser for a local non-profit youth organization.
Syllabus for American Culture 305/Center for Afroamerican and African Studies 358/History 468
Example of Service-Learning, Frequently Asked Questions
The University of Michigan is a large school with over twenty thousand undergraduates and hundreds of course options. I try to work with students as best as possible, but I have also learned that it’s foolish to think that you can please all students equally. While some of my classes follow a relatively traditional lecture/discussion format, I am constantly experimenting with new techniques designed to force students out of their comfort zones. In these cases, I try to be upfront about course expectations and explain how my class may be qualitatively different than what the typical student is accustomed to.
I created the following “Frequently Asked Questions” for a course I taught called “People of Color and the 2004 Elections”
Q: How does the University of Michigan define academic service-learning?
A: “Academic service-learning is a pedagogical model that intentionally integrates community service, academic learning, and civic learning. It is a response to the call for higher education to take responsibility for preparing active citizens for a diverse democracy. In service-learning courses, students are involved in the community in ways that are relevant to the academic content of the course.”
Q: Are their mandatory activities outside of regularly scheduled classes?
A: YES. In order to participate in the multiple facets of this class, you will be required to do things beyond the scheduled meeting time in the class schedule. Thus, if you are engaged in activities that make your schedule inflexible, it will be very difficult for you to adjust to the demands of this course.
Q: If I have trouble finding a time to meet with a student group or I don’t get along with my group, can I arrange to do individual assignments instead?
A: NO. Collaborative work is essential to this course. Some students find working in groups to be frustrating, time consuming, and/or unfair. However, learning how to develop your ability to learn from and cooperate with others is a primary goal in this course. If you prefer working as an individual at your own desired pace and do not wish to alter study/learning routines to which you are accustomed, this class is not best suited to your needs.
Q: Is it possible to “cram” if I fall behind on required work?
A: NO. Given the time-sensitive nature of class projects, you must complete work on time. You must also keep up with weekly readings and assignments to function effectively in this course.
Q: Will the professor provide all the information I am expected to “know” in the form of lectures and assigned readings?
A: NO. Course materials, whether provided by the professor or other students, will serve as building blocks for you to develop your own critical perspective of politics and society. There is no midterm or final exam. Class assignments will focus on analyzing social issues and problems for which there are no easy or automatic solutions. If you are most comfortable with assignments and examinations where an unambiguous distinction can be made between “correct” and “incorrect” answers and your performance can be easily quantified, you should only take this course if you wish to be challenged to step outside of that comfort zone.
Q: But isn’t the professor the “expert” in the class? Isn’t the professor getting paid to give me knowledge?
A: YES AND NO. The professor has training, experience, and education in historical research and analysis, which he will share with students. The goal, however, is not simply to be able to recite the professor’s ideas and opinions but to learn how to develop and communicate your own ideas. The knowledge we seek to acquire consists primarily of methods and skills to understand politics and deepen the practice of democracy.
Q: What if I want or need to learn more about a specific topic than what we have covered during regular class time?
A: You are encouraged and expected to make use of office hours, where the professor will be happy to discuss issues and ideas in greater detail with individuals and groups. The professor will also help guide you toward additional resources for learning.
Q: How will I benefit from working on non-traditional academic assignments?
A: By working collaboratively, engaging in projects that take you beyond the classroom, and reflecting upon the work you have done, you will be able to develop:
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Independent Research Skills
- Ability to Analyze Social Conditions
- Cooperative Working Traits
- Community Organizing Skills
- Public Speaking and Outreach Skills
Q: When doing work related to the elections, can I explicitly support a candidate or political party?
A: YES. You are expected to exercise your democratic free will in this class, including, if you desire to do so, engaging in partisan political work. However, be sure to recognize that you are not being evaluated based on any partisan choice you make. Rather, the purpose of project work is to elevate political awareness, participation, and discourse.
Q: Am I required to support a candidate or political party?
A: NO. You can satisfy all requirements for this course through non-partisan activity. Choosing to engage in non-partisan activity will NOT in any way affect your evaluation. Do NOT attempt to make partisan stances just because you think they are more likely to please the professor or other students.