Sean Pue Awarded Mellon New Directions Fellowship

Hoping to bridge data science and the humanities, Michigan State University researcher Sean Pue will use a fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to study the role of sound in modern South Asian poetry. Pue, director of digital humanities and associate professor of South Asian literature and culture, is the first MSU faculty member to receive a Mellon New Directions…

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Examining Social and Cultural Unrest

Many people assume Osama bin Laden killed Americans on Sept. 11 because most Americans are non-Muslim, but his primary motivation was actually a warped eye-for-an-eye worldview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kusBm76pDoc&feature=emb_title That’s according to Mohammad Khalil, director of Michigan State University’s Muslim Studies Program and associate professor of religious studies in the College of Arts & Letters, who taught a new class this semester, “Islam, Radicalism and…

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De Costa Presented with Emerging Scholar Award

Peter De Costa, assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics, Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has earned the 2016 Emerging Scholar Award of the Language and Social Processes Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).  The Emerging Scholar Award recognizes outstanding scholarship among doctoral students and recent graduates. De Costa earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Second Language Acquisition…

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Russian Professor Receives AT&T Instructional Technology Award of Excellence

Two courses taught by Shannon Spasova, assistant professor of Russian Studies, are being recognized among the best at Michigan State University when it comes to incorporating technology in ways that enhance teaching and learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nsOIfjrq1c&feature=emb_title Spasova has been named the 2016 recipient of the MSU AT&T Instructional Technology Award of Excellence for Best Course in Technology-Enhanced Learning Innovation for the study abroad modules she…

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Professor Chosen for Competitive NEH Summer Stipend

Professor of English Jyotsna Singh has been selected to receive the highly competitive Summer Stipend award from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Singh will use the award to complete the manuscript for her book, Transcultural Islam: Muslim and Christian Identities in the Early Modern World. Drawing on postcolonial theory, global exchange, and early modern history of Islam and Christianity, Singh’s book looks at the…

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Learning Mandarin from Birds

Catherine Ryu, associate professor of Japanese literature and culture, has received a patent for the technology behind her languagelearning game, Picky Birds. Scholars of the Mandarin Chinese language can learn a lot from birds. That’s the premise of a new language learning game designed by a Michigan State University researcher and an interdisciplinary team of students. Inspired by the varying tones…

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Legacy Continues Through Endowed Chair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJIn35Xtyyg&feature=emb_title These days, Kyle Whyte is thinking about past and future generations. As a philosopher and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Whyte came to Michigan State University in the hope of addressing climate change and environmental issues, specifically within communities and tribal nations. Whyte, a professor and inaugural Timnick Chair in the Humanities within the MSU College of Arts & Letters,…

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$300K Faculty Summer Fellowship Program Launched by College of Arts & Letters

The College of Arts & Letters (CAL) at Michigan State University has announced the creation of its Faculty Summer Fellowship Program with a commitment of $300,000 over summer 2016 to pilot the research incentive program. Individual tenure-system faculty can apply for up to $10,000. As stated by Dean Christopher P. Long in the College’s 2015 Fall Planning Letter, the new…

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Dr. Amy DeRogatis Named Faculty Excellence Advocate

College of Arts & Letters Dean Christopher P. Long has named Dr. Amy DeRogatis, professor of Religion and American Culture in the Department of Religious Studies, as Faculty Excellence Advocate (FEA) for the College. The Faculty Excellence Advocates (FEAs) are faculty members who are key “drivers” of faculty quality and diversity in each college. They build close working relationships with…

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CAL Faculty and Staff Win MSU Physical Activity Challenge

A heartily congratulation is in order for the five-member College of Arts & Letters team that won the MSU Physical Activity Challenge. From left to right: Brad Willcuts, Sheila Contreras, Carly Ensign, Deb Mansel, Jeff Grabill Sponsored by Provost June Pierce Youatt, the MSU Physical Activity Challenge program kicked off the 2015-2016 academic year. It is just one part of the university’s Healthy…

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