The Michigan Council for the Social Studies proudly presents its 2027 Olympiad theme: “Migration and Movement: Stories of People on the Move.” Throughout history, people have moved across rivers, oceans, borders, and continents, sometimes by choice and sometimes without. They have moved in search of opportunity, safety, freedom, land, work, and a place to call home. Each journey changes the people who make it and the communities they leave behind and help build. Michigan’s own story is a story of movement: the seasonal travels of the Anishinaabe peoples and the forced removals they endured; the freedom seekers who crossed through Detroit on the Underground Railroad; the Italian, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, Cornish, and German families who settled our towns and mines; the African American Southerners who came north during the Great Migration to build cars and new lives; and the Arab, Latino, and many other communities who continue to shape Michigan today.

This year’s theme asks students to explore the “why,” “how,” and “what happened next” of human movement. Through research, debate, creative expression, and community engagement, participants will examine the push and pull factors that drive people to leave home, the hardships and hopes that travel with them, and the ways newcomers have changed and been changed by the places they arrive. Students will look at migration through the lenses of history, geography, economics, and civics, and connect past journeys to present-day questions about borders, refugees, climate, and belonging. Many students will discover that their own families carry stories of movement. By listening to and telling these stories, students will build empathy, think critically about a complex issue, and come to see that the story of people on the move is, in many ways, the story of us all.

Good luck to all Olympiad participants!

For more information, email olympiad@mcssmi.org or check our website www.mcssmi.org

View the Olympiad Handbook Here