Jonathan Choti, Associate Professor of African Languages and Cultures in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University, recently traveled to Kenya to lead a workshop focused on revitalizing that country’s indigenous languages, many of which face extinction due to the predominance of English and Swahili in education, government, and media.
Peter Johnston, Interim Director and faculty member in the Film Studies program at Michigan State University, relied on his high school quiz bowl experience and arts and humanities background to secure a spot on the iconic game show “Jeopardy!” Johnston’s appearance as a contestant aired July 15. He played a strong game solidly taking second place. “It was so surreal…
For nearly a decade, Dionne O'Dell has led the Sense-Ability Ensemble at Michigan State University, which develops multisensory theatrical works for audiences often excluded from traditional performance spaces. Dionne O'Dell O’Dell is an Academic Specialist in MSU’s Department of Theatre who specializes in teaching children’s theatre and writing and directing plays for youth and community, and Routledge has now published…
Blaire Morseau started doing beadwork 20 years ago, first learning how to create on a loom and then teaching herself beaded embroidery. Her beaded creations even helped pay her rent when she was a graduate student at the University of New Mexico. Morseau is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University and an 1855 Professor of Great Lakes Anishinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices at MSU.
Six College of Arts & Letters educators recently were recognized for their substantial contributions to undergraduate student success. They are among the 11 faculty and staff at Michigan State University who were awarded as part of the Five Opportunity Areas of Student Success Recognition Program presented by MSU’s Office of Undergraduate Education.
Yael Aronoff is the Director of the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, the Michael and Elaine Serling and Friends Chair in Israel Studies, and a Professor of International Relations at James Madison College. She is focused on research and teaching related to Israeli politics, culture, and society, as well as foreign policy. In this faculty voice, original published…
Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters will be well represented this year among the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artists-in-Residence Program. The 2025 artists-in-residence will include an assistant professor, post-doctoral research associate, and recent graduate, all from MSU's College of Arts & Letters. They will be joined by an artist from New York to…
Kathleen Fitzpatrick has been appointed Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies for Michigan State University's College of Arts & Letters, effective July 1, 2025, following a year serving in the interim role. A nationally recognized scholar of digital humanities, Fitzpatrick is uniquely positioned to guide the college's research and graduate programs, having spent her career creating open-source tools for…
Jonathan Choti, Associate Professor of African Languages and Cultures in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University, has been awarded a 2025-26 Walter and Pauline Adams Academy Fellowship.This annual MSU Office of Faculty and Academic Staff Development program brings together a cross-disciplinary group of faculty and academic staff for a year-long fellowship focused on advanced topics…
The story of techno music often focuses on a global narrative without acknowledging that it began in Detroit, Michigan — a place where Black people for decades have harnessed sound and music to reflect their experiences. During the 1970s and 1980s, techno was explored and celebrated by Black and queer communities across radio waves and in warehouse spaces around the…