Michigan Impact

‘Corktown’ Production Shines Spotlight on Gentrification

October 13, 2022

When Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre was looking for someone to guest direct its production of Corktown, Or Through the Valley of Dry Bones, it looked no further than MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) and to Dr. Chamara Jewel Kwakye, Academic Specialist in AAAS, whose vision for the play was fueled by her own background and life experiences. Set in Detroit’s oldest…

Ryda Sundilla, a recent MSU graduate, smiles and wears a graduation cap while posing in front of a tree with her arms crossed.

Alumni / Design, Technology, and Media / Featured Alumni / Michigan Impact / Programs

Graduate Voice: Experience Architecture Program Lays Foundation for Career at Ford

October 12, 2022

Ryda Sundila is a May 2021 graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters. She currently works as a Product Designer at Ford Motor Co. She wrote this Graduate Voice article, which originally was published by MSU Today. The experiences and education that I gained through the Experience Architecture program has allowed me to strive in my current…

A woman sits on top of a machine in front of her mural.

Alumni / Award / Michigan Impact / News

Graphic Design Graduate a Big Winner at ArtPrize 2022

October 4, 2022

A mural created for this year’s ArtPrize competition by MSU College of Arts & Letters graduate Eddie Chaffer was chosen as one of the winners of the juried awards. Chaffer, who earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Michigan State University in 2020, is this year’s Installation juror winner. The 2022 ArtPrize winners were announced during the closing awards ceremony…

Exhibition / Michigan Impact / News / Programs

Exhibit Celebrates 50 Years of MSU’s Summer Art Program in Leland

May 12, 2022

The Michigan State University Summer Art Program, which ran for 50 years from 1939 to 1989 in Leland, Michigan, is being celebrated with an exhibit, titled A Summer Romance: MSU Finds Leland, that includes the artwork of 45 former students and faculty members who participated in the program as well as more recent works from program alumni who continued their…

Zoom screenshot of six individuals and 3 groups of students.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Michigan Impact / Student / Student / U.S. Impact / Uncategorized / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

MSU Outreach Effort Celebrates Works of Black Playwrights

April 6, 2022

A group of Michigan State University faculty and students from the Department of Theatre in collaboration with the Wharton Center Institute for Arts & Creativity led an effort to bring the Next Narrative Monologue Competition (NNMC) to Michigan, a national high school competition that celebrates the diverse perspectives and worldviews of the Black community by bringing works of contemporary Black…

Michigan Impact / Uncategorized

Doctoral Student Named King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellow

March 3, 2022

Jerrice Donelson, Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC), has been selected for the 2022 King-Chavez-Parks (KCP) Future Faculty Fellowship. Created in 1986 by the Michigan Legislature, the King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship program aims to increase the pool of academically or economically disadvantaged candidates pursuing faculty teaching careers in postsecondary education. The award includes a $35,000…