Student a Winner in American Journal of French Studies Essay Competition

Matthew Fazekas, an MSU junior studying International Relations with minors in French and Philosophy and Law, was selected as one of the winners of the 2021 American Journal of French Studies undergraduate essay competition for his essay, “Aveuglé par la Ville des lumières” or “Blinded by the City of Lights,” which explores the issue of homelessness in Paris and the…

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Linguistics Student Wins at Social Justice Art Festival

Diana Cisneros, a junior majoring in Linguistics, won the Most Out-Of-The-Box Award at MSU’s fifth annual Social Justice Art Festival (SJAF) for her painting, titled Mikia Nemi Tunal Tit (The Fire of the Sun Is Dying). The Most Out-of-the-Box Award is given to the artist or performer with the most unique artistic concept or creative medium. The winning piece is…

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AAHD Professor Wins Award for Her Book on Indian Contemporary Art

Karin Zitzewitz, Associate Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, won the 2021 Millard Meiss Award for her book, Infrastructure and Form: The Global Networks of Indian Contemporary Art, 1991-2008, which engages with 16 of India’s leading contemporary artists and art collectives to examine the radical transformations within India’s contemporary art scene after the liberalization of the country’s…

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From Art History Degree to Emmy Award: Alumna Finds Success as Production Designer

A degree in Art History doesn’t usually lead to an Emmy Award, but for alumna Amy Williams, her MSU education helped catalyze an acclaimed career in production design. Over the past decade, Williams has worked as a production designer on an array of films, TV shows, commercials, and music videos, using her background in art history as a creative foundation…

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Professor Receives Popular Culture Association’s Top Awards

For his lifetime of service to the field of popular culture, Gary Hoppenstand, Professor of Film Studies and 20th-Century Literature in MSU’s Department of English, has won the Popular Culture Association’s (PCA) Presidential Award. He also is the 2021-2022 recipient of the Lynn Bartholome Eminent Scholar Award and will deliver the Bartholome Lecture, “The Story of Popular Culture as Story,”…

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NCTE Student Organization Wins Sixth Straight National Excellence Award

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) student organization at MSU has earned the NCTE Student Affiliate Excellence Award for the sixth year in a row. This MSU group, which is affiliated with the Department of English and the Department of Teacher Education, is one of two NCTE student organizations from across the country to receive the award this…

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Doctoral Graduate Raises the Bar for African Language Instruction

Although specific to African languages, Magdalyne “Maggie” Oguti Akiding’s approach to second language instruction could be adapted to teach most any foreign language and is raising the bar for African language instruction in the United States with a fast-paced, communicatively oriented method that draws from culture, current events, and history. A native of Kenya, Akiding graduates this month with a…

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Ph.D. Student Wins Richard Pemberton Prize for Best Research Paper

Ayşen Tuzcu, a Ph.D. student in MSU’s Second Language Studies program, has won the Richard Pemberton Prize awarded by the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), which recognizes the best research paper presented by a postgraduate student at the annual BAAL Conference.  “I feel honored to have been the recipient of this award, which is aimed to recognize and promote high-quality contributions…

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SLS Ph.D. Student Receives MwALT Best Paper Award

Dylan Burton, a third year Ph.D. student in MSU’s Second Language Studies Program, received the 2021 Best Student Paper Award by the Midwest Association of Language Testers (MwALT) for his research paper, titled Gazing into Cognition: Eye Behavior in Online L2 Speaking Tests.  “The MwALT Best Student Paper Award is such an honor to have received, and I’m so grateful…

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German Studies Alumna Earns Women in German Dissertation Prize

Melissa Elliot, who earned a Ph.D. in German Studies from Michigan State University, recently was awarded the Women in German Dissertation Prize for her dissertation, Forgotten Notes: Narrative Film Music in DEFA Cinema. As the winner, Elliot received a $500 award and a certificate of recognition that was conferred at the 2021 Women in German Conference. Dissertations were evaluated based on…

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