The College of Arts & Letters is pleased to recognize the faculty members who recently were promoted to full professor, associate professor, or associate professor-fixed term. These faculty were honored during special ceremonies at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in October and November.
Part of Michigan State University’s Film Studies Program core faculty for five years, Kaveh Askari is now the director of the program. He began his tenure as Film Studies Director in August 2021.
Among the first generation on her mother’s side born outside the Jim Crow South and the first generation on her father’s side born outside Ghana, West Africa, Dr. Chamara Jewel Kwakye’s family, on both sides, have always placed education as paramount, and not just any kind of education, but rather an education that clearly connects to the freedom of the…
A community-accountable scholar, educator, and poet, LeConté Dill joined MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) on September 16, 2021, as an Associate Professor of Black Feminisms, Genders, and Sexualities Studies. She has a commitment toward transdisciplinary research and is guided by Black Feminist epistemologies to listen to and show up for Black girls and other youth of color. Dr. Dill was born…
A scholar, cultural critic, and award-winning author and documentary filmmaker, Trimiko Melancon joined MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) on September 13, 2021, as a Full Professor with tenure. She brings with her an expertise in critical race, gender, Black feminist and sexualities studies; African American and American literary and cultural studies; African American and Black German studies; and race, media,…
In recognition of his comprehensive and sustained record of scholarly excellence, instruction, and outreach, Peter Glendinning, Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, has received the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award. Supported by MSU’s Office of University Development, the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Awards are made each year to faculty members for their outstanding total service to the…
Jonathan Ritz is a licensed counselor and serves as the Director of Student Wellness for the College of Arts & Letters, MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) Counselor, and is an Assistant Professor and Academic and Professional Advisor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. As Director of Student Wellness, Ritz works with the College’s Undergraduate Studies team to support the mental health and wellness of students.
Last year, at the start of Black History Month, College of Arts & Letters alumna Asmaa Walton began posting covers of art monographs, exhibition catalogues, and art biographies of African American visual artists to Instagram. An Art Education graduate, Walton was in the middle of her appointment as the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow at the Saint Louis Art Museum…
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…
Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre has produced a new sensory-friendly musical for children who are neurodiverse and will begin offering free virtual performances this month. Written by students and faculty at Michigan State University, Soda Pop Shop! is an interactive musical that invites audience members to relate to the experiences of the characters in the show and help them cope with their feelings as…