Shawn Loewen became enamored with languages at age 13 when his parents hired a private tutor to teach him Spanish. Despite his passion for being multilingual, he knew he couldn’t make a living as a professional language learner. But he knew he could teach. A Professor of Second Language Studies, Loewen came to Michigan State University in 2005 to join the…
This semester, the College of Arts & Letters welcomed 13 new faculty and staff members, seven of whom work for the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. The 13 new faculty and staff members include the following: Kirk Astle Kirk Astle, Assistant Professor, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, specializes in the theory and rhetoric of power and teaching…
(Leonard Fleck, Professor of Philosophy and a faculty member in MSU’s Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, is among the foremost experts on the ethical dimensions of American health care. His original op-ed was published in the "Detroit Free Press" and can be found here.) President Donald Trump said this week that he hopes to see economic activity ramped up and social…
Episode four of the Liberal Arts Endeavor Podcast is out! Our host, Dean Christopher P. Long, met with Shawn Loewen, Director of the Second Language Studies program, to talk about his work surrounding language acquisition. Loewen, who is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and German, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, focuses his research around Instructed Second Language Acquisition (SLA), particularly in relation to classroom interaction. In addition to publishing…
The annual MSU Outreach and Engagement Awards honor faculty, students, and partners working together to produce diverse benefits for others in their communities. Among this year’s recipients are Kyle Powys Whyte, Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the Department of Philosophy, who received the Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Research, and Dionne O’Dell, Academic Specialist in the Department of Theatre, who received the…
Jeff Wray and Julian Chambliss, two distinguished professors from Michigan State University's Department of English, joined Russ White on WKAR's MSU Today to talk about their work and how it impacts their students and our evolving society. The conversation began with their thoughts on a challenging time for racial tension on campus. “It has been a challenging year, but in some ways, it's been a typical…
The College of Arts & Letters is mourning the loss of Professor Emeritus Douglas Noverr, who passed away on February 14, 2020. He was 77 years old. Noverr was at Michigan State University in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies (RCS) and the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures for 48 years, serving as Chairperson for the Department of American Thought and…
A book co-edited by Department of English Professor Ellen McCallum is among the select few chosen as a “2019 Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice magazine, a monthly publication that offers hundreds of book reviews to help librarians curate and deliver better sources. Each year, Choice magazine puts together a list of Outstanding Academic Titles of books published that year. The 2019 list includes…
As a visual artist, curator, and filmmaker, Parisa Ghaderi has always taken into consideration her identity as an Iranian woman and has expressed her identity through her work. “Every exhibition I have seen about Iranian women is always in black and white imagery and features people with hijab and chador with very extreme and radical perspectives. To me, it feels like these…
Camelia Suleiman, Associate Professor of Arabic Studies in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has been appointed Interim Director of the College of Arts & Letters Citizen Scholars program, effective January 20, 2020. Suleiman has taught several Citizen Scholars classes since the program first began in fall 2016. The program is designed to prepare the next generation…