TDS-807A: Learning from Detroit: Studio

The city of Detroit, once the epicenter of the US auto industry, has come in the 21st century to represent American innovation, decline, and revitalization alike. As such, the city stands at the forefront of ongoing debates related to issues of land use and "ungrowth", infrastructure, urban redevelopment and displacement, community activism, labor and manufacturing, racial justice, neoliberalism and globalization, and the transformation of the built environment. This research-driven transdisciplinary studio course (TDS), which will include an opportunity to live and study in Detroit for a month, will challenge students to identify new frameworks and vocabularies for thinking about this city and its role in the US and the world. What can artists and designers learn from--and contribute to--the communities of Detroit? This course will introduce students to methods for incorporating community immersion and social engagement into the creative process. Students will learn about competing visions for the future of Detroit as imagined by residents, organizers, policy makers, artists, activists, scholars, and other stakeholders. Partnerships with local institutions and organizations will facilitate access to key sites and launch student research projects responding to various issues and concerns related to Detroit's past, present, and future. Ideal applicants will demonstrate an interest in participating in partner organizations' ongoing projects, helping these organizations achieve their own stated goals; this may include activities like gardening, building, and organizing as well as those more typically associated with art and design. Applicants will have the opportunity to partner with organizations in the context of three thematic territories: ecology/ conservation, community identity, and access. In this course we will examine how participating in and supporting community work can promote design's critical engagement with pressing contemporary issues. Students will learn how research methods such as interviewing, observing, and participating can be used at various stages of the creative process to reveal diverse social perspectives and cultural phenomena. Frameworks from design research, ethnography, public policy, visual culture, history, community organizing, and related modalities will provide critical lenses for creative practice. The ethical dimensions of methods and outcomes will be addressed throughout the term and examined through concrete contexts. The TDS will culminate in a publication and public presentation featuring student work. This course will be hosted by Humanities & Sciences, and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Designmatters credit may be earned through participation in this course.