Professor Receives Award for Scholarly Edition in Translation

Professor Aurora Wolfgang Aurora Wolfgang, Professor of French in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies, has received the 2020 Award for a Scholarly Edition in Translation from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender (SSEMWG) for her edition and translation of Gabrielle-Suzann Barbot de Villeneuse’s Beauty and the Beast: The Original Story, which was published by…

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Faculty voice: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

My family and I were attending a virtual Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) service when our son texted us that Ruth Bader Ginsburg — or RBG, as he and all his young generation knew her — had just passed away. Minutes later, the rabbi, clearly shaken by the news, gave a heartfelt tribute to Ginsburg. My heart dropped at hearing…

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Welcome AAAS Minors

Dear AAAS Minors,Welcome to the new Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at Michigan State University! We are Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown, the Inaugural Chair, and Dr. Tamura Lomax, Founding Associate Professor. Together we make up the two 100% appointed faculty in the new AAAS Department. On the first day of classes, it is our pleasure to officially welcome you to an exciting upcoming academic year!  We bring with us densely rich…

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Professor Publishes Poetry Compilation Addressing Trump Administration

Cheryl Caesar, Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, recently published a book, Flatman: Poems of Protest in the Trump Era, which is a compilation of 40 poems that explore the actions of the Trump administration from September 2018 to May 2019. It’s an artistic response to the emotions evoked within Caesar during the Trump presidency. “The process of writing this…

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Interim Director of Projects and Education Appointed for Writing Center

Karen Moroski-Rigney has been appointed Interim Director of Projects and Education for the Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as the Writing Center Director in January 2021.  As the Interim Director of Projects and Education, Moroski-Rigney…

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Grace Pregent Appointed Interim Director of The Writing Center

Grace Pregent has been appointed Interim Director of The Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as The Writing Center Director in January 2021.  Pregent began serving as the Associate Director of The Writing Center in 2019,…

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Paula Winke Named Director of Second Language Studies

Paula Winke, Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has been appointed Director of the Second Language Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters, effective August 16, 2020, through August 15, 2024.   The Second Language Studies (SLS) Program is an interdisciplinary research and pedagogy program whose members investigate the acquisition and teaching…

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Salah Hassan Appointed Director of Global Studies in Arts and Humanities

Salah Hassan has been appointed Director of the Global Studies in Arts and Humanities (GSAH) program. This three-year appointment is effective August 16, 2020, to August 15, 2023.  Hassan served as Interim Director of GSAH during the 2019-2020 academic year. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and a core faculty member in the GSAH and Muslim Studies programs.  A…

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Examining the Power of Pop Culture to Shape Perception, Issues, and Trends

Kinitra Brooks grew up connecting ideas, asking questions, and demanding the freedom to do so. Today, the Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of English continues to push boundaries through her study of Black women, genre fiction, popular culture, and the work of conjure women as intellectual history. “Basically, I teach and research Black women creating weird stuff,” Brooks said. “That includes Black women…

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Philosophy Professor Recognized for Anti-Violence Research

Elena Ruíz’s anti-violence research has attracted the interest and support of advocacy organizations and philanthropic groups world-wide, including the Me Too Movement Organization for which she was named principal researcher for gender-based violence in January 2020.  An Assistant Professor in MSU’s Department of Philosophy, Ruíz identifies strategic interventions for sexual violence and social structuresthat harm and keep people from meeting their basic needs. Through cross-disciplinary…

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