This course will explore the history of Detroit, focusing on its transformation during the twentieth century and continued evolution as a majority-black city. The course is intended to clarify how the city’s past has created the conditions and circumstances of the present. Potential topics and themes to be examined in the course include (but certainly are not limited to): the histories of indigenous peoples in the region before the founding of Detroit; practices of slavery and abolition; the persistence and impact of racial and ethnic conflicts across time periods; the ways in which class conflicts have shaped the urban landscape and the workplace; the Great Migration and the social and political development of Black communities; the impact of immigration on Detroit’s social and political development; profiles of specific neighborhoods; musical traditions such as Blues, Jazz, Motown, Techno, and Hip Hop; the interplay between the auto industry and the urban environment; the on-going struggles over political power and for control of the city; and the changing ways the city is represented, both among its citizens and in the broader American consciousness.

While open to any U-M undergraduate student, this course is part of the full curriculum for students accepted into the Semester in Detroit Program. Students interested in this class might want to consider applying to spend the entire fall 2022 semester off-campus in Detroit