Lansing-East Lansing Impact

A DJ behind a sound mixing board creates music for a crowd of dancing people in a warehouse setting. Photo credit: Doug Coombe

Ask the Expert: How Detroit and Its People Are Integral to the Rise of Techno Music

May 19, 2025

The story of techno music often focuses on a global narrative without acknowledging that it began in Detroit, Michigan — a place where Black people for decades have harnessed sound and music to reflect their experiences. During the 1970s and 1980s, techno was explored and celebrated by Black and queer communities across radio waves and in warehouse spaces around the…

A group of people stands around a fire pit at night, warmly lit by the flames. Others sit in a circle of camp chairs watching attentively. The gathering takes place outdoors on a grassy field, surrounded by trees and illuminated by a tall outdoor heater.

Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Student / Theatre / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

Theatre Students Bring Immersive Storytelling to Corey Marsh in Support of Ecological Research

May 8, 2025

In a collaboration between arts and sciences at Michigan State University, the Department of Theatre presented six immersive outdoor theatrical performances of “The Grown-Ups,” set around a campfire at the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center, a 350-acre property located in Laingsburg, Michigan, that is managed by MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Alumni / English / Event / Featured Alumni / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News

English Alum Distills Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy, and Spartan Spirit and Now the Spring 2025 Commencement Address

May 1, 2025

When Chad Munger graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in English, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his degree or career. But his willingness to take risks and to seek out and seize opportunities has propelled him to success as an entrepreneur and to becoming a transformative philanthropist. It also has led him to…

AAHD / Arts MSU / Event / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Student / Student

Graduate Student Pursues First-of-Its-Kind Dual Program While Using Art to Explore Ecological Loss

April 21, 2025

Hailey Becker often chooses the path less traveled, and when there is no path, she has no problem blazing her own. In fact, her high school math teacher once told her: “the best job for you probably doesn’t exist yet.” Embracing her trailblazing nature, Becker is currently enrolled in a first-of-its-kind at Michigan State University – a dual program that…

A picture of a woman with long brown hair, a black top, and a white necklace. Green curtains and a window fill the background.

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Italian / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Scholarship

MSU’s Italian Program Coordinator Takes On New Role to Shape How Italian is Taught in Michigan

March 25, 2025

Carmen De Lorenzo, Instructor and Coordinator of the Italian Program in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University, will help shape how Italian is taught and experienced in Michigan as part of her newly appointed role as the Michigan Representative for the Osservatorio della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo. This appointment from the Italian Consulate honors De Lorenzo’s dedication to advancing…

A side-by-side portrait of two men. On the left, a man with long, wavy gray hair and a floral button-up shirt is smiling against a neutral background. On the right, a man with short black hair, a beard, and a floral button-up shirt is also smiling against a plain white background.

Award / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / International Impact / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Linguistics / Michigan Impact / News / Publication / Publishing, Editing, and Authorship / U.S. Impact

Professor Receives National Award for Second Language Teaching and Learning Textbook

March 21, 2025

Shawn Loewen, Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University, received a 2025 PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for his co-authored textbook, A Practical Guide to Second Language Teaching and Learning. The 2025 PROSE Awards recognize the very best professional and scholarly works published in 2024 in the United States in five areas of excellence.

African American and African Studies / Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

Boston’s Poet Laureate Selected as 2025 Womxn of Color Initiatives Artist-in-Residence

March 19, 2025

Michigan State University’s Womxn of Color Initiatives (WOCI) has selected Porsha Olayiwola, Poet Laureate for the city of Boston, Massachusetts, as its 2025 Artist-in-Residence. An award-winning poet, performer, educator, and curator, Olayiwola employs Afrofuturism and surrealism to explore historical and contemporary issues within the Black, woman, and queer diasporas. She will be in residence on Michigan State University’s campus March 24-27.

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…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

Public Invited to Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon to Celebrate Life and Legacy of Frederick Douglass

February 3, 2025

This month, the Michigan State University Libraries, MSU College of Arts & Letters, and MSU College of Law are partnering to celebrate the birthday of renowned 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass with an event focused on helping to transcribe the Library of Congress’ African American Perspectives Collection. To commemorate the life and legacy of Douglass, who is widely considered the…

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…