Lansing-East Lansing Impact

Portrait of a woman wearing a burgundy turtleneck, smiling with her arms folded on a white table in a bright, modern interior with glass walls and blue structural elements in the background.

Shaping the Future of Science: MSU Philosophy Professor Joins National and Global Science Committees

February 24, 2026

From national research ethics to global scientific freedom, Heather Douglas, Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University, has been appointed to two high-profile committees: one at the National Academy of Sciences redefining ethical research practice for the next generation of scientists, and another at the International Science Council where she is the only American member monitoring threats…

The bronze Spartan statue on Michigan State University’s campus is shown in the foreground, backlit by the sun, with trees, blue sky, and campus buildings visible in the background.

AAHD / Art, Art History, and Design / Digital Humanities / Event / Faculty / Faculty / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Philosophy / Research / Student / Student / XA

From AI to Urban Trees: College of Arts & Letters Faculty and Students Lead Ethics Week Events Inviting MSU Community into Critical Dialogue

February 16, 2026

This week, Feb. 16-20, 2026, Michigan State University celebrates Ethics Week, a week-long series of events designed to engage students, faculty, staff, and the community in meaningful discussions about ethics and to encourage campus-wide engagement with contemporary moral challenges. Organized by the Ethics Institute, Ethics Week is dedicated to exploring the key roles ethics plays in our professional and personal…

A composite image featuring five movie posters arranged in a grid. The top row contains three posters: "Boca Chica," "La Cocina," and "La Singla." The bottom row contains two larger posters: "We Shall Not Be Moved" and "Zafari." The posters span a diverse range of cinematic styles, from high-contrast black-and-white to lush, colorful photography.

Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Film Screening / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Spanish

Largest Latinx Film Festival in Michigan Returns to MSU Feb. 19-22

February 12, 2026

The MSU Latinx Film Festival (LxFF), the largest Hispanic/Latino/Latin American film festival in Michigan, returns Feb. 19-22 with screenings and events across Michigan State University’s campus and the city of Lansing. A biennial, curated festival, LxFF brings acclaimed independent films from Latin America and the Latinx diaspora to the Midwest, featuring works that are rarely screened in the United States and that invite audiences to engage with the world from new perspectives.

A promotional graphic for Douglass Day on February 13, 2026, featuring the Colored Conventions Project. The top half of the image has a dusty rose background with the event title and the website DouglassDay.Org in white text. The bottom half features a collage including a vintage sketch of a Black man and woman, an archival illustration of a convention assembly, and a torn paper element referencing the Fourteenth Amendment from June 1866.

Digital Humanities / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / U.S. Impact

Preserving Black History: MSU Celebrates Frederick Douglass’ Legacy with Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

February 11, 2026

Michigan State University is celebrating the life and legacy of renowned 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass and inviting the public to join the festivities for the annual Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon on Friday, Feb. 13, from noon to 3 p.m. The event will take place in the MSU Main Library’s Digital Scholarship Lab Classroom and Flex Space, with portions of the program streamed live on YouTube.

Two student performers stand on stage beneath a large projection reading, “AI learns through mathematical pattern recognition and optimization of large datasets, while human learning is a biological process shaped by experience, emotions and consciousness.” Blue and purple lighting and stage haze frame the scene, with one performer elevated on a platform and another kneeling nearby, holding a notebook.

Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Performance / Production / Student / Student / Theatre

From Seed to Stage: MSU Department of Theatre Production Draws Inspiration from Historic Beal Experiment

February 9, 2026

Buried beneath Michigan State University’s campus are the seeds of one of the world’s longest continuously monitored scientific experiments — and now, a new production presented by MSU’s Department of Theatre is bringing that history to life. Currently in its 147th year, the William J. Beal Seed Experiment serves as the inspiration for Echoes from the Banks of the Red Cedar, an immersive dance theatre production written, choreographed, and directed by Alexandria Davis, Assistant Professor of Dance.

AAHD / Art, Art History, and Design / Arts MSU / Internship / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Student / Student

Student View: Learning, Growing, and Leading at the MSU Museum

January 15, 2026

Rachel Lewis is a CoLaborator at the MSU Museum and a fourth-year student majoring in Art History and Visual Culture in the College of Arts & Letters and Journalism with a concentration in Photo Journalism in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. The CoLaborator program empowers graduate and undergraduate students to shape the MSU Museum’s exhibitions and facilitate visitor engagement.

Through the glass entrance of the MSU Union Art Gallery, visitors gather around a communal table covered in paper, fabric, and art supplies while participating in the Patchwork: Reclaiming Space exhibition, with artwork displayed on the gallery walls around them.

AAHD / Art, Art History, and Design / Arts MSU / Exhibition / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

‘Patchwork: Reclaiming Space’ Exhibit Invites the Public to Reflect, Create, and Heal

January 12, 2026

Patchwork: Reclaiming Space, a collaborative, participatory exhibition at the MSU Union Art Gallery that runs through Saturday, Feb. 14, invites the public to pause, reflect, and remember through shared creative expression rooted in community. The exhibition encourages members of the Michigan State University community to spend time in the gallery acknowledging the past, reflecting on the present, and making art.…

A person with curly brown hair, glasses, and a light-patterned blouse under a mustard-yellow cardigan smiles while standing against a plain light-colored background.

AAHD / Alumni / Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

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.

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.

Alumni / Event / Faculty / Faculty / International Impact / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Programs / Research / Scholarship / Student / Student / U.S. Impact

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,…

A person with black hair stands smiling on a windswept sand dune overlooking Lake Michigan, wearing a green sweater and backpack. Behind them, rolling dunes, grasses, and a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Religious Studies / Research / Scholarship

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.