Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Michigan/Stories of Place (Fall ’25): Difference between revisions

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How do places take on meaning in the public imagination? How do the stories attached to places shape the experiences of those who inhabit or visit them? What are the stakes in ongoing debates about what kinds of place-making stories should — and should not — be told?

We will explore such questions, and many others, through a wide-ranging investigation of the role of narrative in our understanding of place. We will read works from non-fiction genres including literary journalism, travel writing, and ethnography, that have contributed to the imaginative construction of story-saturated places across the US and beyond. We’ll give special attention to writerly efforts at re-storying places central to the experience of historically marginalized groups.

To help connect our investigations with our own lived experience, we will devote part of the course to exploring how the human and non-human land- and water-scapes of the Great Lakes region continue to emerge through story. Students will have the opportunity to put their insights into practice by developing public-facing team projects in connection with the Detroit River Story Lab.

This course will appeal to students in any field who are curious about the work of language in the world, and it will be of special interest to students considering career pathways in journalism, museums, public history, and the Arts, Culture, and Tourism sector more broadly. Students can choose their own pathway through the course by selecting from among a wide variety of writing and other project options.