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We would like to invite you to join us on a special Culture Bus trip that introduces you to the many resources that Detroit has to offer. This trip is sponsored by The Division of Student Affairs and Arts at Michigan and is open to DSA staff ONLY.

The tour will serve to shed a positive light on of the city of Detroit by demonstrating the rich diversity of the city while exploring its racial history and current development. Our goal is to break down barriers and provide opportunities for you to connect to Detroit and the resources the city has to offer you in your work with students.

When: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at 9:00 am
Where: Bus will pick-up at 535 State St. in front of the Michigan Union

This trip is now full! If you are registered and can no longer attend, please e-mail Jackie Simpson

Itinerary: (A few of the stops that will be included on the tour, time allowing)

Professors Larry Gant, School of Social Work, and Reynolds Farley, Sociology, will serve as our guides, offering their unique perspectives and historical knowledge of the city of Detroit. Resources and maps will be provided. A response using creative writing and disposable cameras to capture images will also be incorporated into the trip. A follow-up Brown Bag Lunch to further explore the creative response and dialogue about participants experience on the trip is planned for Tuesday, May 22nd from 12:00–1:30pm.

Arab American National Museum
The Arab American National Museum is the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. Arab Americans have enriched the economic, political and cultural landscape of American life. The Museum brings to light the shared experience of immigrants and ethnic groups, paying tribute to the diversity of our nation. Includes a drive-though the Chaldean and Yemeni neighborhoods.
For more info: http://arabamericanmuseum.org

8 Mile: The Gates of Detroit
Sometimes called Detroit's mini Berlin Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall, this seemingly innocent looking wall in Joe Louis Park does little to betray its shameful past.
For more info: "The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit"

Detroit/Grosse Pointe Boundary
Jefferson Avenue is notable as being a true indicator of the racially and socio-economically segregated nature of communities in the Detroit area. Starting in Detroit and driving north to Selfridge Air National Guard Base provides a sense of the most extreme living conditions that flank the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Jefferson Avenue's most stark transition is at its intersection with the controversial Alter Road, which separates southeastern Detroit from Grosse Pointe Park—from one of the poorest and most crime-ridden communities in the United States to one of the most affluent with multi-million dollar mansions on Lake Shore in the Grosse Pointes. Many of the neighborhoods along Jefferson Avenue in Detroit between the city's downtown and Alter Road are badly blighted, with Detroit's "Indian Village" community being an exception.
For more info: Wikipedia

Los Galanes in Mexicantown (Mexican buffet lunch)

St. Anne/Bagley Housing
Bagley Housing Association (BHA), a not-for-profit Michigan Corporation, serves as a leader and provides resources for community development in the Hubbard Richard and Hubbard Farms districts (and other designated areas) of Detroit. BHA seeks to complement other efforts in the area to build a thriving, economically, ethnically and culturally diverse residential/business urban environment.
     Participate in a guided walking tour of the neighborhood featuring a history of BHA, including local development projects and community murals, as well as a tour of the Bagley Art Gallery.
For more info: http://www.bagleyhousing.com

YouthVille Detroit
A program of the Detroit Youth Foundation, YouthVille Detroit is a comprehensive, 75,000 square foot youth development center that opened October of 2005. It provides young people (11-19 years of age) with a central neighborhood place to learn new skills and develop positive peer and adult relationships in a safe diverse environment. Any young person that expresses an interest will be welcomed. With an onsite youth health clinic, ceramics department, three IT labs, a digital recording studio, indoor basketball court, three story atrium, dancerooms and an indoor weight program, YouthVille Detroit provides a safe, year-round supportive alternative for youth and help them avoid risky behaviors.
     As Detroit YoStuth Foundation Executive Director Gerald K. Smith notes, "When kids are provided with opportunities to be constructively involved and have caring adults in their lives, they make better choices, which help them to become better adults."
For more info: http://www.detroityouth.org

A drive by of Downtown Detroit developments to highlight:

GM - Riverwalk
Perhaps the most sizeable element of transformation planned along the riverfront is the creation of a RiverWalk pathway that ultimately will span from the Ambassador Bridge in the west to beyond the MacArthur Bridge on the east side, into Gabriel Richard Park, about a five-mile stretch.
For more info: http://www.detroitriverfront.org

Campus Martius Park
Campus Martius Park is the result of a public/private sector partnership between the City of Detroit and the Detroit 300 Conservancy. Campus Martius Park has quickly become an extraordinary public space where residents, workers and visitors come together to relax, enjoy, play and celebrate Detroit.
For more info: http://www.campusmartiuspark.org

5:00 pm - Arrive back in Ann Arbor

For further information about this trip, please contact culture.bus@umich.edu.