David Porter is a faculty member in English and Comparative Literature and director of the Detroit River Story Lab. A scholar of narrative and transcultural studies with a strong interest in place-based and experiential learning, he took a lead role in the creation of U-M’s new MA program in Transcultural Studies and Great Lakes Arts, Cultures, and Environments summer program at the BioStation, as well as the organization of LSA’s Great Lakes Theme Semester and the launch of the Detroit River Story Lab. As Chair of U-M’s Department of English, he spearheaded the development of new community-based learning courses in first-year writing and long-form journalism, built internship programs for graduate and undergraduate students, and established the presidentially funded Great Lakes Writers Corps.