Retrospective
Detroit Summer School: Community Building – Cultural Participation & Placekeeping
Getting to know and exchanging ideas with students from Wayne State University Detroit and experts from the fields of culture, music, art and community building were at the centre of the week-long Detroit Summer School, which ended last week.
Over the course of an inspiring week, ten students from different years of the Arts Management and Cultural Work degree programme had the opportunity to explore Detroit through the themes of Community Building – Cultural Participation & Placekeeping. Through conversations, site visits, shared experiences and community work, we connected with inspiring organisations and people across the city. A big thank you to all the institutions, initiatives and individuals who made us feel so welcome in the Motor City during our Detroit Summer School.
The Summer School is part of the "Community Building – Cultural Participation & Placekeeping" project, which brings together the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Wayne State University and the Talking Dolls Gallery in Detroit in a joint international teaching initiative.
In addition to visiting and collaborating with Wayne State University students and staff and giving a presentation at Talking Dolls Gallery, our University of Applied Sciences Potsdam students discovered Detroit in their own unique way - using methods such as go-alongs, participant observation, interviews, (sound) mapping and sketching, attending punk concerts, skating, exploring community garden networks, basketball courts and liquor shops used as art galleries - spaces that shape everyday life in the city
Special thanks to our students, whose curiosity, thoughtful questions and inexhaustible energy made this exchange an unforgettable experience. Many thanks to the DAAD for the funding.
The results of this on-site research in Detroit will be presented in the form of a poster exhibition in House A in rooms 001/002 on the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam Open Day on 6 June 2026.
The research results of the Summer School will be incorporated into the joint online course developed jointly by students and teachers. In this course, qualitative methods will be used to present case studies from Detroit, Potsdam, the Brandenburg region and Berlin that deal with cultural participation, everyday practices of communities in diverse neighbourhoods and how they deal with space in post-industrial contexts.
Project management: Dr phil. Kerstin Niemann
Project participants: Prof. Constanze Langer, Prof. Wesley Taylor
Further information on this project
Participating students:
Ruby Glawion
Béla Godehardt
Harald Hilding
Merlin Liebe
Friedrich Littinski
Rudolfs Pomerancevs
Ella Rullmann
Dana Schneider
Laetitia Weihele
Charlotte zum Brook
People involved in Detroit:
Wesley Taylor
Ron Waters
Julia Yezbick
Bandy Lee
Maveric Guitar
Itai Moitz
Elvin Poskovic
Omar Galvez
Caleb Le Febvre
Cory Marie Podielsky
Colin Curr
Scott Grooves
Ivianna Feimster
Ana Cukovic
Daniel Eller
Mateus Huvaere
Will Lawson
Claas Kuhnen
Brendan Page
Hannah Kumba Niemann
Liza Bielby
Cindy
Cornelius Harris
Mateus Huvaere
Chido Johnson
Domenick Lemonious
Institutions and initiatives visited:
Wayne State University
College for Creative Studies
Barbershop Gallery
Submerge
DIE Systems
Talking Dolls Gallery
PlayHouse Laboratories
Barbershop Gallery
MBAD African Beat Museum
Sadza House
Hamtramck Historical Museum
Keep Growing Detroit
Shipherd Greens
Push Gallery
FILTER Detroit
Huckleberry Explorers Club
Shipherd Greens Community
