This research seminar is a HistoryLab course that will investigate unsolved or un-prosecuted cases of racial violence and police misconduct in the city of Detroit during the 20th Century. Members of the seminar will work in teams, conduct archival and database research, interview historical participants, and collaborate in creating website exhibits and other online publications that combine historical narratives with documents, images, and interactive maps. This seminar will be the third project of the Policing and Social Justice HistoryLab, a component of the UM Carceral State Project and a multiyear initiative to research the history of policing and criminalization in Detroit and to provide a comprehensive accounting of homicides by law enforcement. Student teams will investigate topics that range from the extraordinary violence of the 1920s era of Prohibition of alcohol to the wave of deadly force in the 1990s that resulted in federal oversight of the Detroit Police Department. This lab/seminar will take students off campus, including multiple research trips to Detroit, and produce investigative reports designed to contribute historical knowledge to current debates over policing and crime, racial and social justice, and mass incarceration in modern America. “Cold Cases” is a pilot project of the UM HistoryLabs program, established in 2018 by the History Department to promote public engagement through student-faculty research collaborations and to enhance career skills through applied research, digital technologies, and multimedia publishing platforms. Learn more and view previous research publications at the Policing and Social Justice HistoryLab website.

Course Requirements:

Collaborative production of a website exhibit and other investigative reports

Intended Audience:

History majors and minors; advanced undergraduates in DAAS, RC, and other departments; students planning careers in law, public policy, and social justice. Interested students should contact the professor directly at mlassite@umich.edu.