As we distance ourselves to help stop the spread of a deadly virus, a new department is being built within Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters — the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS). At the helm of this momentous effort are Ruth Nicole Brown, Inaugural Chair of AAAS, and Tamura Lomax, Founding Associate Professor. “We…
Haley Rooney’s MSU education helped her a great deal in preparing for her teaching career and now for the changes in how education is being delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rooney teaches Spanish, grades sixth through eighth, at Williamston Middle School in Williamston, Michigan. She graduated from MSU in 2017 with bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education, Spanish, and Linguistics and…
Spanish alumna Eileen Thompson began her journey at MSU with the goal of being a veterinarian while studying a second language to expand her possibilities. She now works as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, fighting against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “My main role in the response is to act as a liaison or conduit between…
MSU College of Arts & Letters alumna Zekiye Salman is helping her community in the fight against COVID-19 as a member of the Ingham County COVID-19 Response Task Force, a position for which her MSU education helped prepare and lay the groundwork for. Salman, who graduated from MSU in 2013 with dual bachelor’s degrees in Religious Studies and History, is…
While the pandemic has been a trial by fire for most, Social Studies and Science teacher and MSU Spanish alumna Hannah Kahn smoothly adapted to the new norm of remote learning this past spring, even though it was only her first year teaching. Prior experience with online learning helped Kahn tremendously. Because of platforms such as Summit Learning, she was…
As art and design students and faculty take on the task of remote learning, it seems as if some of their subjects pose seemingly insurmountable challenges. How can painters learn to paint outside of the studio? How can apparel students learn to make patterns at home? What might a home ceramics studio look like? Faculty in the Department of Art,…
In uncertain times, what we value most helps to guide us. Our top priority remains the health and safety of all members of the College of Arts & Letters. For two years, faculty and staff also have been working hard to establish a Culture of Care in the College. Multiple initiatives focus on implementing inclusive practices across all aspects of…
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety of our community and the success of our students have been our top priorities. Yesterday’s communication from MSU President Stanley asking undergraduate students to continue their MSU education remotely has re-emphasized our commitment to these priorities. The recent spread of the virus over the last few days at other universities, coupled with our own outbreak in East Lansing this past June, make it clear we need to minimize the number of people on campus to protect the health of our community.
Michigan State University has created a number of support programs and materials to help Michigan’s K-12 school districts prepare for online instruction this fall. Among these programs is the Foundations of Successful Online Teaching & Learning series that was collaboratively developed by MSU's Enhanced Digital Learning Initiative and Okemos Public Schools. This series is designed to help teachers understand and adopt the…
COVID-19 has had a major impact on people around the world, but how is the pandemic changing our language and the way we communicate? That is the question being studied by a team of researchers at Michigan State University, led by Associate Professor Suzanne Wagner and Assistant Professor Betsy Sneller. The MI COVID Diaries project, run by MSU’s Sociolinguistics Lab, has been…