As the COVID-19 pandemic turns our way of life upside down, one principle continues to be of utmost importance: the need to look out for one another. Since mid-March when Michigan State University moved to remote learning to contain the spread of COVID-19, College of Arts & Letters alumni, parents, and friends have asked how they can help and dozens have contributed…
After 10 years and two terms as Chairperson of Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre, Professor Kirk Domer is returning to the faculty. His time as Chairperson, he says, has been defined by three words: renovation, innovation, and compassion. He has built a reputation of leading from a place of compassionate and collaborative risk-taking, using the art of theatre to serve as a civilizing agent in society. He summed up his tenure as Chairperson by saying: “My goal has…
In an effort to promote equal access to information and spaces for all, MSU Libraries have awarded nine MSU faculty members funding assistance for the creation and adaption of open education resource materials for the 2020-21 academic year as part of a new program designed to help instructors reduce costs for students, improve access to required text, and increase student…
Karen Moroski-Rigney has been appointed Interim Director of Projects and Education for the Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as the Writing Center Director in January 2021. As the Interim Director of Projects and Education, Moroski-Rigney…
Grace Pregent has been appointed Interim Director of The Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as The Writing Center Director in January 2021. Pregent began serving as the Associate Director of The Writing Center in 2019,…
Paula Winke, Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has been appointed Director of the Second Language Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters, effective August 16, 2020, through August 15, 2024. The Second Language Studies (SLS) Program is an interdisciplinary research and pedagogy program whose members investigate the acquisition and teaching…
Salah Hassan has been appointed Director of the Global Studies in Arts and Humanities (GSAH) program. This three-year appointment is effective August 16, 2020, to August 15, 2023. Hassan served as Interim Director of GSAH during the 2019-2020 academic year. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and a core faculty member in the GSAH and Muslim Studies programs. A…
Stacia Rigney, Assistant Professor and Affiliated Graduate Faculty in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, has been appointed Director of the College of Arts & Letters Citizen Scholars program, effective August 16, 2020. “I'm excited to work in the Citizen Scholars Program. One of the university's main responsibilities is to prepare students to be informed, equitable, inclusive, and active citizens.…
It is easy to deploy diversity rhetoric; by contrast, helping create an inclusive and just society is a monumental task, even more so, during tumultuous times. This is why, however well-intentioned, so many institutions and companies choose rhetoric. As we commemorate the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States, we must commit to the hard, latter choice:…
At the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester, Musical Theatre students in MSU’s Department of Theatre expected to finish the academic year with some intense scene work that would bring together every element of what they had learned. When the university switched to remote learning for the remainder of the semester, the direction of the course began an organic shift, born out…