Graduate Student Honored for Bringing Hispanic Golden-Age Drama to MSU

Growing up in Honduras, Oscar Rodriguez Quiroz didn’t have much access to the theatre and it wasn’t until he was 17 that his love for acting began when he saw a performance at the Escuela Nacional de Arte Dramático (National School of Drama) in Honduras. He is now a seasoned actor who has performed in many plays and an MFA in Acting Candidate at Michigan State University who is preparing to graduate this spring.

Continue ReadingGraduate Student Honored for Bringing Hispanic Golden-Age Drama to MSU

First MSU Students to Earn BA Degrees in African American and African Studies to Graduate This Spring

Michigan State University’s Spring 2024 commencement will see the very first students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in African American and African Studies. As the first graduates of this program, Morgan Braswell, Jhala Martin, and Mike Martin mark a significant milestone in the history of the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS), the history of the College…

Continue ReadingFirst MSU Students to Earn BA Degrees in African American and African Studies to Graduate This Spring

Afrofuturism & Quilting Exhibition: Exploring Connections Within Teaching, Learning, and Quilt Praxis

Stitch by stitch, quilt making has played an integral role in African American history. But the storytelling embedded in the quilts themselves is more than mere tradition. In the Afrofuturism & Quilts: Materializing Black Futures & Black Womxn’s Quilt Legacies Exhibition now on display through Friday, July 19, at the MSU Union Art Gallery, local and national quilt artists and quilt scholars explore embodied and theoretical connections between Afrofuturism and quilt making.

Continue ReadingAfrofuturism & Quilting Exhibition: Exploring Connections Within Teaching, Learning, and Quilt Praxis

Ph.D. Student Honored for Work to Inform Legal Practitioners About Tribal Laws

While most Michigan-based legal practitioners lack adequate training in Tribal laws, Taylor Elyse Mills, a sixth-year doctoral candidate in Philosophy at Michigan State University and graduate of MSU’s College of Law, sought to do something about this significant gap in our state’s legal education and is now being recognized for her work. In partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Bands…

Continue ReadingPh.D. Student Honored for Work to Inform Legal Practitioners About Tribal Laws

Professor Honored for Community-Engaged Creative Activity

For her outstanding work producing an equity-based art exhibition featuring more than 200 pieces of work from around the world, Nancy DeJoy, Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures at Michigan State University, is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Creative Activity presented by MSU’s Office of University Outreach and Engagement.The exhibition, titled…

Continue ReadingProfessor Honored for Community-Engaged Creative Activity

CREATE! Micro-Grant Virtual Exhibit Displays Winning Projects

The completed projects of this year’s CREATE! Micro-Grant recipients can now be viewed online as part of the 2023 CREATE! Micro-Grant Showcase. This virtual exhibition includes photos and information on each of these creative projects. In 2023, the CREATE! Micro-Grant program supported the proposals of 13 Michigan State University students who each received $500 to fund their proposed projects. The…

Continue ReadingCREATE! Micro-Grant Virtual Exhibit Displays Winning Projects

Research Recognized for Highlighting Black Women’s Contributions to History and Culture

For Women’s History Month, Leonora Souza Paula’s work is being featured by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) in their Women’s History Resource List as a scholarly resource that celebrates and highlights the diverse histories and historical roles of women.

Continue ReadingResearch Recognized for Highlighting Black Women’s Contributions to History and Culture

Studio Art Major Explores Identity as Transgender Person Through CREATE! Micro-Grant Project

As a recipient of a 2023 CREATE! Micro-Grant, Cam Carmichael, a Studio Art major with a minor in Comics and LGBTQ Sexuality Studies, created an oil-painted self-portrait that explores his identity as a transgender person in today’s political climate. Centered around the intimate feelings of comfort Carmichael feels with his partner, the work, titled It’s Pink Because I Love You,…

Continue ReadingStudio Art Major Explores Identity as Transgender Person Through CREATE! Micro-Grant Project

Chasten Buttigieg to Discuss Theatre, LGBTQ+ Rights and Representation at March 16 Event

New York Times bestselling author, teacher, arts enthusiast, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate Chasten Buttigieg, who also has a theatre background that includes working with kids with autism, will share, in a moderated conversation, his experiences with theatre at an event associated with What if Wilhelmina, the latest musical production of the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s Sense-Ability Ensemble, which…

Continue ReadingChasten Buttigieg to Discuss Theatre, LGBTQ+ Rights and Representation at March 16 Event

Researching the Role of Community for Black Students at Predominately White Institutions

Evamelo (Eva) Oleita, who is among the inaugural class of students majoring in African American and African Studies (AAAS) at Michigan State University, is researching the experiences of Black girls within predominately white institutions (PWIs) and how those students carve out spaces for themselves to thrive.

Continue ReadingResearching the Role of Community for Black Students at Predominately White Institutions