Interviews for graduate student research

Hi all,

My name is Nate and I'm a graduate student in geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I'm doing some research in Detroit for my masters thesis.

Basically, my primary interest is about how images and representations come to influence policy decisions in cities. I'm particularly interested in historic preservation, largely because of the ways that decisions over preservation and demolition are so tied into economic development and the ways that cities are imagined. I think that preservation is an interesting concept because its a way of making history real or tangible, which raises a lot of interesting questions about what histories are being preserved and how sites that are semi-traumatic can be reused and reinterpreted. The Michigan Central Station [[as well as the Lafayette in some respects) is an interesting example of that, because its a structure that, to many, seems to bear witness to many of the problems that have plagued post-War Detroit. At the same time, it also gestures towards the future and serves as a possible way forward for the city. I'm especially interested in the images of Detroit that are so common [[ie. of blight, decay, etc.) and how they're resisted by preservationists, activists, city officials, and ordinary residents. Or, on the flipside of that, how images made by Detroit residents are used to encourage economic development, tourism, etc. Ultimately, it all comes back to politics and economics and its interesting how preservation gets entangled in present day problems and conflicts.

For my research, I'm trying to interview anyone in Detroit's historic preservation community that would be interested in speaking to me. The interviews, with the option of anonymity, would consist of open-ended interviews about preservation in Detroit. I'm interested in how members of preservation organizations became active in preservation, why they became active, and their general thoughts on the state of preservation in Detroit. Additional questions would be about interviewee's memories of the city, their opinion on its future, and their feelings on how Detroit is perceived by those outside of the metro area. I can't offer any compensation for the interviews but I hope that this project may help to raise awareness about preservation activity in Detroit. Honestly, I basically just envision these interviews as an informal conversation about Detroit and the metro area. I'll be back in the area the first week of August.

Feel free to be in touch via email [[natemillington@gmail.com), private messages, or just on this thread if you'd be interested in being interviewed. I know that Detroiters are often at the mercy of students, journalists and photographers who come to the city to document blight and publish horror stories. Thats not my intention at all, and I'm instead interested in how Detroiters envision the past and present of their city, especially as it relates to preservation and redevelopment.

Thanks! Please be in touch if you're at all interested or have questions / comments.

Nate