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Community Engagement

The College of Arts, Sciences & Education collaborates with organizations throughout Flint (and beyond!) to provide enriching activities, educational workshops, and cultural events to the community.

Learn more about how each of the College’s programs foster a love for lifelong learning and create spaces for creativity, conversation, and connection. We look forward to seeing you at one of our community events soon.

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On this page:

Art & Design Economics Education
English History Music
Political Science Psychology Theatre

Featured Events

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Community Events & Programs

Art & Design 

Art & Design Student Exhibition

This annual event showcases the creative projects art and design students have produced throughout the year. The exhibition is held at the end of the winter term in April and is hosted at the Greater Flint Arts Council.

Past events

A flyer for the University of Michigan-Flint's Student Exhibition in Art and Design, running from May 10th to June 7th. It features abstract yellow and blue artwork with outlines of hands, art tools, and the university logo. The opening reception and awards ceremony is on May 10th at 5:30 p.m., followed by an art walk from 6-9 p.m. at GFAC, 816 Saginaw St. The flyer notes the original design by Megan Pellegrini.

2024

A flyer for the 2023 Art & Design Student Exhibition at the University of Michigan-Flint. The exhibition runs from May 12th to June 2nd, with an opening reception, awards, and art walk on May 12th from 5-9 p.m. at GFAC, 816 Saginaw St. The flyer features bold text, abstract yellow and blue artwork, and the university logo. It also includes the text "EXHIBITION.CLICK" in blue.

2023

A flyer for the University of Michigan-Flint's 2022 Annual Student Exhibition in Art and Design, held at the Greater Flint Arts Council from May 13th to June 3rd. The opening reception is on May 13th from 5-9 p.m., with awards announced at 5:30 p.m. The flyer features colorful abstract art in the background, with prominent text displaying the event details and noting juror Ash Arder.

2022

Riverbank Arts

Launched in 2022, Riverbank Arts is a community-centered space for creatives, community members, and academics to connect and support each other in their artistry. Regular art exhibitions are complemented by artist-led workshops produced in collaboration with several community partners, including Buckham Gallery, the Arts Initiative, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, and more.

Learn more about Riverbank Arts

Economics

My Econ @ My City Magazine

Professor Chris Douglas provides insight into economics-related topics for general readers in this monthly column for My City Magazine.

Education 

Ci3T Collaboration

Ci3T explores proactive, systemic methods of looking for students who require additional assistance to experience success in schools.

As part of a multi-university research team with the University of Kansas as the site lead, Associate Professor of Education Eric Common helps lead Ci3T coaching, leadership training, and free professional development sessions for preK-12 educators, administrators, related service providers, paraprofessionals, and parents. 

Early Childhood Development Center

Open to the community, the Early Childhood Development Center offers childcare, pre-K, and interactive summer camps to young children. The program is designed to promote the development of the total individual by enhancing children’s skills through play.

Learn more about ECDC

Inclusive Halloween

This popular annual event creates a safe and supportive environment for kids with special needs and their families to experience Halloween fun. Featuring sensory support, physically accessible activities, and a variety of sweet treats, this is one spooky celebration you won’t want to miss!

Five individuals in Star Wars costumes, including two Stormtroopers, a TIE fighter pilot, and a character in Michigan Wolverines-themed armor, stand outside on a brick-paved area. They are positioned beside a banner that reads "Inclusive Halloween" and displays cartoon characters dressed in various costumes, along with pumpkins at the bottom.
A hallway is decorated for Halloween with a large inflatable archway shaped like a smiling jack-o'-lantern pumpkin. The archway has the words "Trick" on one side and "Treat" on the other. Inside the hallway, there are colorful lights and various Halloween decorations leading to a distant end, creating a festive atmosphere.
A diverse group of adults and children, some dressed in various costumes, participate in Halloween activities outside a large building. Activities include blowing bubbles, face painting, and other crafts. The scene is lively and colorful, with people interacting and enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Officer Friendly Day

Let’s face it: Interacting with law enforcement can be nerve-wracking for anyone, but it can be especially concerning if you—or someone you love—have Autism Spectrum Disorder. Each spring, we invite the community and local officers to a fun, casual picnic that features sensory tools, toys and games, officer storytime, and simulated pull-overs to help take the anxiety out of the experience.

A police officer in uniform sits on a white chair reading a book to children on a grassy lawn. The officer is smiling and engaging with the children, one of whom is wearing a white shirt with colorful cartoon characters on the back. The scene is set in front of a large building on a sunny day.
A chalk drawing on a concrete sidewalk features a colorful infinity symbol in shades of red, yellow, green, and blue, above large letters "OFD" in yellow. Above the infinity symbol, "Officer Friendly Day" is written in smaller chalk letters. The drawing is bright and cheerful.
A large group of people, including adults and children, stand together on a grassy area in front of a blue and yellow tent labeled "M Flint K-12 Partnerships." All the group members are wearing yellow "Officer Friendly Day" shirts with a star emblem. Two uniformed police officers stand at the sides, smiling. The background shows trees, a building, and a cloudy sky.
Six people stand closely together and smile behind a table featuring a detailed model city. They are all wearing yellow "Officer Friendly Day" shirts with a star emblem. The model city includes miniature buildings, vehicles, and roads. The background shows a grassy park with trees and a partly cloudy sky.

Teacher Leadership Symposium

In collaboration with the Greater Flint Educational Consortium and UM-Flint’s K-12 Partnerships Program, UM-Flint’s Education Department hosts this annual symposium to guide Genesee County high school juniors and seniors interested in pursuing a career in education. Attendees engage in various workshops and panel discussions, exploring what it’s like to be a teacher, how to get the most out of their college experience, professional development and outlook, and more.

Coverage of previous year’s Symposiums:

English

Free English Language Classes

Students in our Teaching English as a Second or Other Language Certificate program complete a teaching practicum in the local community. We often collaborate with an immigrant-serving organization to offer these free classes to immigrants who want to improve their English language skills.

Garland Street Literary Club

Founded in 1888, this is the oldest women’s social club in Flint. UM-Flint is founding an adjunct group and is looking for new members! For more information, please contact Mary Jo Kietzman.

Read more about this organization:

MiPilgrimage App 

Professor Mary Jo Kietzman is collaborating with regional guidebook writers to develop a new phone app that allows users to take quests around Flint. The app is currently in the beta test phase and is projected to launch in fall 2024.

Learn more about MiPilgrimage App

Rough Draft Cafe Community Writing Center

University of Michigan-Flint The Rough Draft Cafe Community Writing Center logo

Need help with a writing project? Stop by the Rough Draft Cafe each Thursday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Flint Public Library. K-12 students and adults can get support with academic writing, business writing, creative writing, cover letters, resumes, mock interviews, and digital literacy. The RDC is a community-based extension of the UM-Flint Marian E. Wright Writing Center. 

Supervising Intern Partnerships

We collaborate with local organizations to offer supervised internships to our students, enabling them to gain real-world experience while giving back to our local community. Current partnerships include St. Luke’s N.E.W. Life Center and St. Mary’s Mission on Flint’s Eastside.

Writers’ Circle @ The Writing Center

Join us each Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. for a hybrid (in-person/online) creative writing group. Students, faculty, staff, and community members meet to share their writing process and dedicate time to writing. To get more information and to join, please contact Vicky Dawson.

History

Annual History Quiz Night

What started as a group of history nerds getting together to test their knowledge in a pub-style quiz night at a downtown pub has evolved into a highly-anticipated annual event now capped at 150 participants! Each spring, teams from around the campus and community compete for fun prizes and—of course—bragging rights. Local nonprofits and foundations also join in, offering information and resources to the community. If you’d like to be added to our History Quiz Night mailing list, contact Audrey Scribner.

A man at a podium, speaking into a microphone, hosts a history quiz night event. Behind him, a projector screen displays "8th Annual History Quiz Night, Firkin & Fox, March 23, 2024 - Burton, Michigan" with an illustration of a ship. The room is filled with attendees seated at round tables under a large chandelier, engaged in conversation and watching the presentation.

Civic Park Historic District

What happens when the scholarship is finished, and we leave the community? In collaboration with the Urban Rennaissance Center and the St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center, Professor Henthorn and other UM-Flint faculty continue to build connections and maintain relationships with the citizens of this underserved community. As the scope of historians and historic preservation scholars is limited to their disciplines, the work can be seen as “finished” once the papers are published, but that doesn’t mean that the challenges this community has have been met. This is an ongoing case study and collaboration to discover how academic scholarship can have an ongoing, positive impact on the communities they study.

Collaboration with Flint City Bike Tours

Professor Henthorn offers two guided tours through Flint City Bike Tours, with all the proceeds donated to charity. Ride the Redline tour explores the history of residential segregation in Flint and is an excellent example of how work rooted in peer-reviewed scholarship can produce a public-facing experience. Vehicle Cities of the Dead takes you to six of Flint’s historic cemeteries.

Learn more and book at Flint City Bike Tours

Forge at Factory Two

Factory Two is Flint’s Community Makerspace, featuring an array of hands-on classes and workshops. Members take courses that qualify them to use the community equipment and resources, including screen and 3D printing, sewing, and blacksmithing. UM-Flint students and the community can take blacksmithing courses from Professor Henthorn.

Learn more and book a workshop at Factory Two

Interpretative Tours of the Glenwood Historical Cemetery

Join Professor Henthorn on one of his regularly scheduled guided tours of the Glenwood Historical Cemetery that leverage placed-based interpretive history to provide deeper insight into our collective past. Discover how the cemetery’s motifs, architecture, and other physical features reflect mourning and concepts of death in the 19th century in the Victorian Mourning Traditions tour. Or consider what the city of Flint might have felt like on the day that J. Dallas Dort was interred, as the entire city shut down and the cemetery filled during the Famous Funerals tour.

Learn about upcoming tour dates and how to register at Glenwood Historical Cemetery

Local Cemetery Preservation & Workshops

Funded partly by the Wyatt Endowment, Professor Henthorn and student interns work with local communities throughout Michigan to provide hands-on workshops on cemetery preservation. While some preservation work requires specialized tools and equipment, Professor Henthorn and his students offer guidance on cleaning and caring for headstones and monuments to preserve them against the ravages of time proactively. Workshops have been offered as far north as Alpena and south as Three Oaks on the Michigan-Indiana border.

Partnership with the Whaley Historic House Museum of Flint

Whaley Historic House Museum

Through this long-standing partnership, UM-Flint and the Whaley Historic House Museum offer student internships, classes, and coursework featuring their location as a Gilded Age house. Three UM-Flint alumni, including the current director, Justin Wetenhall, have served as the executive director of WHHM.

Lumber City Baseball Club of Flint, Michigan

In association with WHHM, Professor Henthorn founded a vintage baseball club comprised of history enthusiasts aged 18 and older who want to wear old uniforms and play baseball by the rules of the 19th century—including no mitts! The team meets from May to August yearly and plays games against 20 other vintage baseball teams around Michigan.

Lumber City Baseball Club of Flint, Michigan- Two baseball teams, dressed in vintage uniforms, pose together on a grassy field. One team wears red jerseys, and the other wears white jerseys with blue lettering.
Baseball players in red vintage uniforms sit on a bench under trees, with one player drinking from a cup. They are wearing blue pants and black caps.
Learn more about the Lumber City Base Ball Club of Flint, Michigan, on Facebook

Music

Chamber Choir Invitational

Each year, UM-Flint Music looks forward to welcoming local high school choral ensembles to campus for a day of singing, learning, and performing. Hosted by the Chamber Singers, this event culminates in an evening performance of all participating choirs at the Court Street United Methodist Church in Flint. We are proud to see our music alumni, once singers in this event, now bringing their own choirs to participate! 

The Chamber Choir Invitational is held mid to late October. If you are a local high school choral director and would like your ensemble to participate, please contact Gabriela Hristova.

High School Honor Band

UM-Flint Music hosts the High School Honor Band Weekend each year, bringing over 100 band director-nominated high school students from area mid-Michigan schools to rehearse and perform together. Any wind or percussion student currently enrolled in grades 9 – 12 who is in good standing with their high school band or orchestra may be nominated for participation. 

Honor Band is typically held in mid-November. If you’re a local high school band director and want to ensure you receive notifications about High School Honor Band nominations, please contact UM-Flint Music, and we’ll add you to our communication list.

  • 2024 Honor Band Weekend: Nov.23 & Nov. 24
  • 2024 Closing Concert: 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24

Master Classes & Workshop for High School Musicians

UM-Flint Music offers single-day master classes and workshops for high school vocal and instrumental students.

Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Festival for District 3 – Hosting Partner

In 2023, UM-Flint was proud to host the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Festival for District 3. This festival brought hundreds of middle and high school students from local schools to our campus to perform pieces for adjudication and ratings and qualify for the State Band & Orchestra Festival.

Seasonal Music Performance Schedule

UM-Flint’s Music program features various concerts and performances in and around Flint.

2024

2025

Summer Vocal Academy of Music

For over forty years, musically inclined 5th through 12th graders from the surrounding area have met to explore and develop their love of music. Students meet each weekday for two weeks to learn music theory and history, explore artistry, develop their vocal and collaborative skills, and prepare for a final public performance.

Learn more about Summer Vocal Academy

TubaChristmas!

Legendary tubist Harvey Philips began Merry Tuba Christmas in 1974 as a tribute to his teacher, William J. Bell. It is now celebrated in over 300 cities worldwide to spread the Christmas spirit and promote the instruments. Typically, the tuba and euphonium play the role of the accompanying voice, the ensemble’s bottom notes, supporting the melody. At TubaChristmas,  we switch it around, allowing listeners to hear the rich, warm sounds of these two instruments, front and center.

The TubaChristmas event began here in Flint in 1984 and is typically held the first Saturday in December at the Flint Farmers’ Market. 

If you’d like to be added to our TubaChristmas mailing list, contact Audrey Scribner.

A band is performing in a large hall decorated with Christmas decorations, including a large tree. The audience, seated at tables, enjoys the music.

Political Science 

Coffee & Conversation

Once a month during the fall and winter semesters, Political Science faculty and students gather over coffee and refreshments to discuss current issues related to local, state, and federal politics, policy, and law.

Coffee & Conversation began in 2016 and continued via Zoom during the COVID shutdown. Some recent topics have included upcoming elections, Trump’s Legal Woes, and Gaza and Israel.

Check out upcoming Coffee & Conversation events

Legal Scholars Exploration Program

In collaboration with UM-Flint’s K-12 Partnerships, our Political Science program hosts this annual 2-day summer camp for students in 8th – 12th grades interested in learning more about a legal career. Participants will learn from UM-Flint faculty and work with current Pre-Law students as they hone their writing, speaking, and presentation skills.

Learn more and register

Psychology

Camp Hope

Beginning in August 2024, psychology students will intern at Camp Hope, a local three-day camp that provides a supportive environment for children and teens (ages 6-17) to process the grief that follows a loved one’s death.

Psyched for Psychology

Is a career in psychology right for you? During these monthly presentations and discussions, UM-Flint’s Psychology faculty explores various topics within the field. High school and community college students join current UM-Flint students interested in learning more about psychology.

Theatre 

Seasonal Theatre Performance Schedule

UM-Flint’s Theatre program produces several shows throughout the year.

2023-2024 Season Productions:

Host Partner for the Region 3 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

In 2022 and 2023 UM-Flint was proud to host the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for Region 3. This festival brought hundreds of college students from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and western Ohio to our campus to celebrate, compete and learn more about the varied aspects of theater.

Read more about UM-Flint Theatre’s hosting here: