Faculty

Trixie Smith Awarded Outstanding Service Award by International Writing Centers Association

December 5, 2025

Trixie Smith, Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures and Director of The Writing Center at Michigan State University, was awarded the 2025 International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) Muriel Harris Outstanding Service Award, which recognizes outstanding service that has benefited the writing center community in significant and broad-based ways.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / International Impact / News / Research / Theatre

Theatre Professor Leads English Program in Thailand Through the U.S. Department of State

December 3, 2025

Deric McNish, Associate Professor of Theatre at Michigan State University, led a four-week U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist Program at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU) in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Sasiporn Phongploenpis, SSRU Assistant Professor and Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, hosted and facilitated the drama-based English education program with McNish during October 2025. McNish brought his expertise…

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Esther Belin Joins MSU as the Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies

December 2, 2025

A citizen of the Navajo Nation and an acclaimed poet, artist, and educator, Esther Belin joined Michigan State University this fall as the new Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies in the Department of English. She is the second scholar to hold this position, following Gordon Henry, who retired in 2023 after…

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Faculty Awarded Grant to Advance Community-Engaged Research and Women’s Empowerment in Tanzania

November 21, 2025

A Strategic Partnership Grant from MSU’s Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen) will help strengthen the cross-institutional collaboration between Michigan State University and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania, focusing on gender, environment, and community sustainability. The grant supports a collaborative research project that examines the livelihoods of Maasai women in Naitolia, Tanzania, and a community-engaged learning workshop for UDSM faculty interested in women’s empowerment and sustainable community development.

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Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Grant / International Impact / News / Scholarship / WRAC

Trixie Smith Invited to International Conference on Water in Africa for the Second Year

November 18, 2025

Trixie Smith, Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures (WRAC) at Michigan State University, recently was awarded a Strategic Partnership Grant from MSU’s Center for Gender in Global Context to attend the Fifth Annual International Conference on Water in Africa (ICWA), scheduled for March 2026, with additional support from MSU’s College of Arts & Letters and WRAC.

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Faculty Voice: Art Is What We Need Right Now

November 13, 2025

Meghan Collins is the lead educator for K-12 and family programs at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and an Assistant Professor of Art Education in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design. She also is a proud alum of MSU’s Art Education program and rejoined the university community after teaching art in K-8 public schools in Lansing, Michigan, and Montgomery County, Maryland.

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Faculty / News

Former College of Arts & Letters Dean Retires, Leaving Lasting Legacy

November 12, 2025

After nearly 40 years of service to Michigan State University, Professor of German and former Dean of the College of Arts & Letters, Karin A. Wurst, has retired. Her career reflects a legacy of scholarship, leadership, and innovation in the humanities. Wurst first came to MSU in 1988, joining the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures as a tenure-track faculty member in German Studies.

A large, diverse group of faculty, alumni, students, and guests pose together in a bright atrium with green walls during Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies Ph.D. program 20th anniversary celebration. Many wear MSU name badges and SLS-branded shirts.

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Celebrating 20 Years: Second Language Studies Program Honors Its Past and Looks to the Future

November 11, 2025

While Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies (SLS) Ph.D. program may have started by being in the right place at the right time, the efforts made by its administrators, faculty, alumni, and students have propelled the program into an international powerhouse. During the 20th anniversary celebration held Oct. 17-19, 2025, students, faculty, and alums of the program shared their experiences,…

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Professor Researching Indigenous Environmental Stewardship with Support from Newberry Fellowship

November 10, 2025

Elan Pochedley, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and 1855 Professor of Great Lakes Anishinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices, was awarded the Newberry Consortium in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (NCAIS) long-term faculty fellowship to research how Indigenous peoples’ expressions of environmental stewardship and governance have been practiced, sustained, interrupted, and/or rekindled throughout the central and western Great Lakes region.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Faculty / Faculty / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Research / U.S. Impact

MSU and Georgia Tech Receive Mellon Funding for Research Project Combining Afrofuturism, Humanities, and Horticulture

November 5, 2025

Michigan State University has joined the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in The Earthseed Project, a humanities-centered research initiative that uses Afrofuturist literature to connect horticulture, climate resilience, and food sustainability knowledge and practices. The Earthseed Project at Michigan State University uses spaces like the Beal Botanical Garden to bring people together to discuss current topics and develop a…