Typical Detroit Orientation Program*
Day One Agenda, 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Our journey begins with continental breakfast at the Spencer Partrich Auditorium in the Wayne State University Law School.
Who are We? Where are We? How Did We Get to Be This Way?
Video introduction to metro Detroit.
Metropolitan Detroit's Diverse Population: a Closer Look
Candid discussion with local representatives of the Arab-American, Asian, Latino, Polish, African-American and Jewish communities follows a look at metro Detroit's demographic profile.
Arts, Culture and Entertainment: Detroit is Connected!
Bus tour followed by lunch at Orchestra Hall or the Detroit Opera House and a conversation with area cultural leaders. A walking tour of Detroit's Theatre District takes the group through the streets of downtown.
Crime in Metropolitan Detroit: Analysis and Action
A realistic overview from high-ranking officials in law enforcement and criminal justice from the tri-county area in a 36th District Courtroom.
Day Two Agenda, 8 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Public Education: Many Paths to Improvement
A look at issues being debated and implemented in Michigan and locally, and an opportunity to meet students and teachers in their classrooms at a Detroit public school.
Touring the West Side
History and lore of Detroit's west side come to life on a bus tour of neighborhoods, commercial life and religious and cultural institutions.
Community Action At Focus: HOPE
Lunch and a visit to this unique organization which was born in 1968 as the response of a priest and a parishioner to Detroit's 1967 riot.
Rebuilding Downtown Detroit: One Step at a Time
Developers, corporate executives, architects and public servants describe successes and challenges in re-creating Detroit's central core with sports arenas, entertainment venues and loft housing.
Living Here: Meeting a Community's Residents
A close look at one of Detroit's neighborhoods features an opportunity to meet residents and business owners over dinner at a favorite locale.
Day Three Agenda, 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Think of Detroit - Think of Cars: The Automobile Industry
A discussion with experts about the auto industry's role in metropolitan Detroit today and in the future.
Touring the East Side
Neighborhoods, demographics, commercial life and history of Detroit's east side are discovered as our bus crosses the "great divide," Woodward Avenue.
Meeting one of Detroit's Own
A notable Detroiter shares points of view with the DOI audience following lunch on the Wayne State University campus.
All Politics is Local: Public Issues in Southeast Michigan
Political luminaries from throughout the region engage in a free-wheeling discussion of topics that bind and separate local governing units and their citizens.
A Talk Among Ourselves
DOI participants share reactions and observations about what they have seen and heard during the DOI experience at a closing reception - a favorite with Institute groups.
* Speakers, places and topics may change from program to program.