Jill Hakala, artist, painter, and alumna of MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design, has taken a unique and creative approach to art through her 365 projects, a series of original works created by Hakala for each day of the year. “I have had a passion for art ever since I could hold a crayon,” said Hakala, who earned…
Three College of Arts & Letters students and one alumna are studying critical foreign languages this summer thanks to the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) they received from the U.S. Department of State. The scholarship recipients include Steven Gagnon, a Second Language Studies Ph.D. student; Emma Young, a Social Relations and Policy senior with a minor in Arabic; Hannah Fischer, a Comparative Cultures…
Recent College of Arts & Letters alumna, Amanda Ling, who was a member of Michigan State University’s Varsity Swim and Dive team, received this year’s Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor, which is presented to a male and female student-athlete at each Big Ten institution for outstanding athletic and academic achievement. Amanda Ling Ling graduated in May with a B.A. in English and…
Charles Benoit completed his B.F.A. in Studio Art: Photography from Michigan State University last month and is now using the skills he gained as an undergraduate by working in Los Angeles on promotional material for Mark Rodriguez’s upcoming film, Rudolf.
When asked how her bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Michigan State University led to her current career as a judge, alumna Rebekah Coleman replied, “the courtroom is my stage.” Now, as the first Black judge and first woman to hold the position in Harper Woods, Coleman is shining on that stage. “Becoming the first Black judge and woman to hold…
After graduating in December 2020 with dual degrees in Spanish and Arts and Humanities, alumna Emily Van Dyke-Mathews has accepted a Fulbright English Language Teaching Assistantship in Asturias, Spain, that will begin in fall 2021. During the 9-month assistantship, Van Dyke-Mathews will teach English to primary and secondary students in Spain. She also will serve as a cultural ambassador for the…
Tom Shanahan was looking for something to devote his attention to during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic took away the 1978 MSU graduate and former State News sports editor’s opportunities to write as a freelance journalist — his career for the last 12 years — so he decided to retire. Shanahan was not done writing, however. His first task in…
Andrew Murray has been selected as the Director of Advising, a new position within the College of Arts & Letters. He begins his new position, which is part of Undergraduate Studies, on Monday, June 14. Murray currently serves as the Academic Advisor for the Department of English, a position he has held since July 2018. Prior to that, he was…
Isaiah Johns, recent graduate with a B.A. in Film Studies and a minor in Fiction Filmmaking, received a first-place Michigan Student Broadcast Award from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB), along with partner George Pham, a Media and Information major, for their Holiday Comma Concert. This 2021 statewide award was in the Use of Multimedia category. The MAB is a…
Ayanna De’Vante Spencer, who earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Michigan State University this spring, has accepted a tenure-track assistant professorship at the University of Connecticut with joint appointments in Philosophy and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Dr. Spencer is changing the status quo in the field of philosophy by combining activism with her research. Her dissertation, “Epistemologies of Criminalization:…