Faculty

Ryan Claytor’s 20-Year Legacy as a Comics Education Trailblazer

March 11, 2025

Ryan Claytor is a trailblazer in comics education whose passion for teaching and talent as an award-winning comics artist and creator is fueled by his love of the expressive medium. Since joining Michigan State University’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design in 2008, Claytor has built a thriving academic and creative comics community at the university, having launched the first comics studio course in MSU’s history and later establishing the interdisciplinary Comic Art and Graphic Novels minor.

Two women wearing black sit on a theatre stage that is lit in red. One woman is sitting and looking straight ahead. The other woman is more in the background of the left and sitting at an angle. A group of discarded chairs surround both women. Photo by Federico Sigillo.

Arts MSU / English / Faculty / Faculty / Italian / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Lecture Series / Michigan Impact / News / Performance / Theatre / U.S. Impact

U.S. Premier of Italian Play Addressing Themes of Sexual Violence Coming to MSU, Other Universities

February 24, 2025

In the U.S. debut, acclaimed Italian playwright, actor, and director Giuliana Musso will explore the traumatic effects of silence when sexual abuse occurs at home through her play “Dentro (Inside): A True Story, If You Think So.” The play is a dramatized account of real-life conversations, Musso’s research on the topic, and her own attempt to bring awareness to the…

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / International Impact / Linguistics / News / Research / Scholarship

Faculty Invited to Teach at International Winter School for Language Testing Research

February 20, 2025

Assistant Professor Koen Van Gorp and Professor Paula Winke from the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC) at Michigan State University were two of five international professors invited by the European Association of Language Testing and Assessment and the Language Testing Research Group Innsbruck to teach at a Winter School for language testing research that was held in the…

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‘9 to 5: The Musical’ Is a Collaborative Showcase of Talents

February 19, 2025

The “9 to 5: The Musical” production, presented by the Department of Theatre and running through Feb. 23 at the Fairchild Theatre, is a collaborative showcase of the efforts of many different students and faculty members. The overall production includes 23 cast members, 11 musicians, and a large production team of choreographers, designers, and technical directors.

AAHD / Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Michigan Impact / News / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

Faculty Voice: I’m a Maker and a Storyteller

February 14, 2025

Teresa Dunn is a Mexican American artist raised in rural southern Illinois. Her identity life and art are influenced by her racial and cultural heritages and the complexities of being a brown woman in the Midwest. She's a Professor of Painting and Drawing in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design in the College of Arts & Letters. Dunn wrote the…

Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / News / Performance / Production / Student / Student / Theatre / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

MSU Department of Theatre Presents ‘9 to 5’ Musical Focused on Female Empowerment

February 4, 2025

Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre is pleased to present “9 to 5: The Musical,” based on the 1980 movie with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, about three hilarious female office workers who concoct a plan to get even with their sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, and bigoted boss. Performances are scheduled for Feb. 15-23, 2025, at the Fairchild…

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Lecture Series Showcases Strong Connection Between Religious Studies and MSU Libraries’ Special Collections

January 29, 2025

Religious Studies faculty will discuss how the MSU Libraries' Special Collections informs their teaching and research as part of the Collecting Religion Lecture Series offered this semester. Hosted by MSU Libraries and organized in collaboration with the Department of Religious Studies, the series will highlight how rare and historical primary sources bring Religious Studies to life. The series kicks off…

A composite image of three individuals. From left to right: A person with short, wavy dark hair, wearing a green blouse and bright magenta lipstick; a person with curly brown and blond hair, wearing glasses, a white blazer, and a colorful beaded necklace; and a person with short-cropped hair, wearing a burgundy shirt and a navy blazer.

Award / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

College of Arts & Letters Faculty Awarded for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

January 29, 2025

Three faculty members from the College of Arts & Letters are being honored by the university as recipients of 2024-25 Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards. These awards, presented by MSU's Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, recognize exceptional and innovative contributions that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at Michigan State University through their teaching, research, programming, service, community…

Four people stand behind a table that has brochures and a laptop on it. There’s a white tablecloth that says: “Knowledge Commons.” Behind the people are two large banners. The banner on the left says: “Discover. Connect. Share.” The banner on the right says: “Knowledge Commons” repeated across the banner.

Faculty / Faculty / News / Research / U.S. Impact

Online Repository at MSU to Host NEH-funded Research Expanding Public Access

January 28, 2025

Knowledge Commons, managed by Michigan State University, was awarded a multi-year contract from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to host and make publicly available NEH-funded research through the KCWorks online repository. The NEH is an independent federal agency that helps support national humanities research, education, preservation, and public programming. It awards around $150 million annually in support of roughly 850 projects and initiatives.

Side-by-side portraits of two women. On the left, a woman with short white hair with a dark streak, wearing a light blue blouse, smiles in an outdoor area. On the right, a woman with short brown hair wearing a white sleeveless top smiles against a plain white background.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / International Impact / News / Programs / Student / WRAC

Program Offers Cross-Cultural Teaching and Learning Experience with Faculty and Students in South Africa

January 24, 2025

Trixie Long Smith, Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures at Michigan State University, is part of the second cohort of the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Faculty Fellows Program-Africa and is partnering with a faculty member at the University of Pretoria in South Africa during the 2024-2025 academic year.