Michigan Impact

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.

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.

A person in a green shirt on the left helps a group of four people plant strawberry plants in terracotta pots.

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…

Five people stand in front of a large field of solar panels on a sunny day. Rows of panels stretch into the distance, surrounded by green grass and trees under a blue sky with scattered clouds

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Religious Studies / Research / U.S. Impact

Religious Studies Professor Part of $3.6 Million NSF Grant to Build First-of-Its-Kind Solar-Agriculture Lab

October 27, 2025

Michigan State University scientists plan to build a first-of-its-kind outdoor lab to study how solar panels placed alongside crops cloud save water, improve soil health, and support ecosystems, all while boosting farmers' bottom line and preserving farm production. The project, led by Earth and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Anthony Kendall, is made possible by a five-year $3.6 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Gretel Van Wieren, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at MSU, is among the senior research personnel on the project.

A close-up view of a large mural on a brick wall showing an outlined portrait of an older man wearing glasses, set against a vivid red and yellow background. Green trees and a blue river are painted on the left side.

Alumni / Arts MSU / English / Michigan Impact / News

College of Arts & Letters Alum Helps Bring Vibrant Public Art to Northern Michigan Community

October 21, 2025

The future looks bright for a century-old building in downtown Cadillac — literally — thanks to the work of one Michigan State University College of Arts & Letters alum and a partnership between MSU Extension and the city of Cadillac. In summer 2025, the side of the Cadillac Printing Company building was painted with vibrant hues of red, orange, yellow,…

A man and woman kneel beside a large, black dog in front of a wooden wall. Both are smiling, and the man is wearing a dark shirt with jeans, while the woman wears a long, dark dress with puffed sleeves.

Alumni / English / Event / Michigan Impact / News

English Alum’s Company Among the Stops on the Spartan Bus Tour

October 17, 2025

Michigan State University is set to embark on the Fall 2025 Spartan Bus Tour, a three-day trip celebrating the university’s partnerships and impact across northern Michigan, and one of the scheduled stops on the tour is Mammoth Distilling, a Northern Michigan-based craft distillery in Central Lake that is owned by MSU alumni Chad Munger (B.A. in English) and his wife, Tracy Hickman (B.A. in Interior Design).

A person with long dark hair and blunt bangs wearing bright red cat-eye glasses and red lipstick, seated indoors with plants and candles visible in the background.

Alumni / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Featured Alumni / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Religious Studies

MSU Alum Uses Religious Studies Education as an Advocate for the Developmentally Disabled

October 7, 2025

Michigan State University alum Renee Hall has been an active member in the disability community for more than 20 years, serving in various roles including advocate, direct support professional, service coordinator, counselor, and research specialist. She currently works as the Advisor to the Self-Advocates of Michigan through the Developmental Disabilities Council of Michigan.

Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Film Screening / French / Michigan Impact / News / U.S. Impact

Documentary by French Professor Earning Recognition at Film Festivals Worldwide

September 11, 2025

"Chœurs Atlantiques | Tales from the Atlantic Beyond," a documentary produced and directed by Safoi Babana-Hampton, Professor of French and Francophone Studies in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University, is reaching audiences worldwide through an expanding series of film festival screenings, including a screening in Michigan on Friday, Sept. 12, and at one of the…

Portrait of MSU Assistant Professor Tim Conrad smiling. He’s wearing a button down short and in the background are tree branches.

Award / English / Faculty / Faculty / Michigan Impact / News

English Professor Receives Midwest Book Award for Short Story Collection

September 4, 2025

Michigan State University Assistant Professor Tim Conrad received a 2025 Midwest Book Award in the Fiction – Short Story/Anthology category for his debut short story collection, “The Machine We Trust,” published by Cornerstone Press in April 2024. Conrad teaches creative writing and literature at MSU through the Department of English. The Midwest Book Awards Contest, through the Midwest Independent Publishers…

Alumni / Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Publication / Publishing, Editing, and Authorship / Research / Theatre

MSU Faculty Member Publishes Book on Creating Theatre With Neurodiverse Audiences in Mind

June 30, 2025

For nearly a decade, Dionne O'Dell has led the Sense-Ability Ensemble at Michigan State University, which develops multisensory theatrical works for audiences often excluded from traditional performance spaces. Dionne O'Dell O’Dell is an Academic Specialist in MSU’s Department of Theatre who specializes in teaching children’s theatre and writing and directing plays for youth and community, and Routledge has now published…

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

English / Exhibition / Faculty / Faculty / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Research

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…