Virtually hidden behind grimy industrial sites, unsightly infrastructure and bland parking lots, the Detroit River was practically an afterthought for decades. But as the city continues its renaissance, centering the river’s historic, ecological and cultural importance has become a higher priority for many. That’s the goal of the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab, which partners with local organizations to reconnect communities, particularly young people, with the river and its unique contributions.

Several Schoolcraft College students recently did what those on Gilligan’s Island couldn’t do: return to civilization after a three-hour boat tour. Instead of being stranded on a tropical island, those students made it back to land after spending part of the day on Sept. 11 on the Alliance, a 105-foot schooner with three masts that takes guests back in time to the days of sailboats dotting the Great Lakes.

Launched in response to the growing crisis of narrative infrastructure, the Detroit River Story Lab is a collaborative, public-facing initiative that leverages the sociocultural, economic, and ecological centrality of the Detroit River corridor to reimagine it as an urban case study in narrative placemaking and civic renewal. 

LSA’s Detroit River Story Lab teaches students from elementary school through college about the past and future of the vibrant body of water.

Four University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) master’s students are currently working with U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab to highlight the history of the Detroit River and surrounding communities. “The river is the lifeblood of Detroit. The more I learn [about the river], the more important I’ve learned it is [to the city],” said Natasha Vatalaro, a SEAS master’s student and Detroit native.

The students of Western International High School may have come prepared for sailing the Detroit River in mid-September. They also may have been ready for hoisting sails, steering the ship, and learning about the wildlife in their backyard. But nothing would prepare them for what they pulled out of the water. The associate director told them they were searching for plankton. But with Juliana Lisuk pulled up the long white tube-shaped net out of the… Read more: Sailing the Detroit River, Western International students study biology and reconnect with their home

Sprinkles of rain accompanied a breeze just strong enough to keep a two-masted tall ship coasting down the Detroit River. It’s part of the third annual Detroit River Skiff & Schooner Program, hosted by the U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab, which offers hands-on educational opportunities for Detroit-area youth focused on the the river’s rich historical, cultural, and environmental heritage.

Marquise Griffin, a U-M doctoral student pursuing a joint degree in English and education, led an onboard learning station about Detroit as a river city. He explained to the students that Black and Indigenous people were fundamental to harnessing the river’s resources to build the city. But, over time, their communities were pushed away from the Detroit River due to structural racism. 

When Michigan Chief Justice Augustus Woodward drew up the University of Michigan’s founding charter in 1817, he saw the new educational program as part of Detroit’s urban renaissance. In 1805, a devastating fire had reduced the timbered city to ashes. Faced with the task of rebuilding, Woodward drew up an ambitious city plan that hinged on long boulevards radiating from the riverfront. Some of Woodward’s plan for the riverfront still survives today (such as the… Read more: Digital Exhibit: The Detroit River and the University of Michigan

Turn off your phone. Close your eyes. Tune in to your senses. What do you hear? What do you feel? Students aboard the two-masted schooner Inland Seas this summer shouted out answers as they sailed along the Detroit River: Waves! Gulls! A noisy freighter! “The wind is all in your eyes!” one student exclaimed. The students were participating in the Skiff and Schooner program piloted by the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab in partnership with Detroit’s Green Door Initiative.… Read more: Detroit River Story Lab program connects students to cultural, environmental heritage

As a grey sea of heavy clouds opened up to release a downpour of warm rain, cyclists and pedestrians fled the Detroit Riverwalk. Not far away aboard the Inland Seas, it was business as usual as we drifted through the rain past the Renaissance Center near downtown Detroit, plankton net swirling through the water as teenagers donned brightly colored raincoats. Leaning over to a nearby instructor, I smiled, saying “I’m so happy! The weather is perfect… Read more: Combining Health and Environment Learning on the Detroit River

The currents in the Detroit River danced calmly Friday afternoon as a group of teens went out for a boat ride — on a vessel they built with their own hands. Over the course of the week, the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab, in partnership with the Green Door Initiative, hosted the third in a series of riverside boat-building workshops through its Skiff & Schooner Program. The workshop at Riverside Marina in Detroit… Read more: Detroit youth launch boats they built themselves at Riverside Marina

The waters were clear and blue the morning of the schooner outing, but students were still apprehensive. Some had never been on a boat before, and the sailing ship was an intimidating start to getting one’s sea legs. The schooner outings are part of the Detroit River Skiff and Schooner Program, which was created by the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab in partnership with the Detroit Outdoor Adventure Center, the Green Door Initiative, and… Read more: Power of Place: Transformational experiences on the Detroit River thanks to Skiff and Schooner Program

U-M English Major Katie Moore is working as a Communications Intern this summer with Tall Ships America through a partnership with the Detroit River Story Lab. This blog post describes her introduction to the world of tall ship sailing on the Great Lakes. Read additional blog posts by Katie here or follow her on Instagram @tallshipsamerica.

As part of a DRSL-sponsored internship with the Inland Seas Education Association, U-M graduate student Marquise Griffin has been developing a ship-board learning activity focused on local communities’ historical ties with the Detroit River.

What does literary theory have to do with the Detroit River? A lot, it turns out! The Detroit River Story Lab is a great example of what practical humanities looks like – in practice. It is a collectively led interdisciplinary project at the University of Michigan. It is also, importantly, a partnership between several UM schools and colleges and a whole range of local organizations on both sides of the Detroit River.

There’s no better place to learn about the impact the Detroit River has had on our region than from a skiff you’ve built with your own hands or from aboard a large schooner, sails aloft in American and Canadian winds. A pilot project developed last summer by the Detroit River Story Lab at the University of Michigan and achieved through partnerships with the Green Door Initiative of Detroit and the Suttons Bay-based Inland Seas has… Read more: Story Lab receives Community Foundation grant to continue Skiff & Schooner program

(Taubman College, 1/19/22) During the fall 2021 semester, Taubman College students in the Detroit River StoryLab Physical Planning and Design Workshop experimented with storytelling and representation strategies in collaboration with the Detroit Historical Society. Led by María Arquero de Alarcón, associate professor of architecture and urban and regional planning, students explored Wahnabezee — or Belle Isle, as the island park is known today —

(University Record, 1/10/22) Helping to hoist the sail on the tall ship Inland Seas was a unique experience for Leya Phinisee, a sixth-grader from Flint. She and her dad, Jason, joined one of the three educational sail outings aboard the 77-foot schooner on the Detroit River that the University of Michigan sponsors for local nonprofit groups in the summer. “I learned about the plankton in the water, and I learned about climate change,” she said.… Read more: What Lies Beneath: Detroit River Narratives Emerge Through Schooner Trips, Boat Building

(Michigan News, 3/8/21) The University of Michigan ramped up its collaborations on a multitude of projects in the city of Detroit during the pandemic, including outreach to residents on issues ranging from unemployment to the COVID-19 vaccine. Initiatives such as Poverty Solutions, which created an Economic Mobility Partnership with the city of Detroit, and a partnership with four community organizations to help lower utility bills for residents are among a host of endeavors that touch… Read more: Detroit partnerships, initiatives on the rise during pandemic

(Graham Sustainability Institute, 2/18/21) The Detroit River Story Lab was one of seven University of Michigan projects to receive funding  from the Graham Sustainability Institute’s Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program. Each project has dramatic potential to help reduce net carbon emissions. “I congratulate the U-M researchers of the CNAP teams whose exciting projects apply multidisciplinary problem-solving to the challenge of climate change,” said President Mark Schlissel. 

Darin Stockdill’s work with Detroit youth at a community center and as a middle and high school social studies and English teacher will certainly inform his current project. As part of the larger Detroit River Story Lab project led by University of Michigan English professor David Porter, Stockdill will support history scholars and educators connected to the Detroit River Project and the Essex County Black Historical Research Society in Windsor, Ontario to develop curricular materials for… Read more: Q&A: Darin Stockdill talks about the need for Detroit River curriculum in middle school

(All Things Considered, 11/23/20) After years of work, the University of Michigan is launching the Detroit River Story Lab. It’s a multi-faceted partnership between the university, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several local environmental organizations. The project was created by David Porter, an English professor at the university, who says that the goal is to put regional perspectives and storytelling at the heart of project.

(Michigan News, 10/22/20) Two years in the making, the Detroit River Story Lab lifts off at the University of Michigan this semester with grant-funded partnerships and several multidisciplinary courses devoted to the international waterway’s long and deep store of sustaining narratives, past and present. As envisioned by David Porter, professor of English and comparative literature, the multiyear project spans both sides of the river and collaborates with many groups including the Detroit River Project, Michigan… Read more: U-M story lab to amplify Detroit River narratives