The Michigan State University Board of Trustees has approved the establishment of a Department of African American and African Studies, which will be part of the College of Arts & Letters. This new department will support the work of students, faculty, and staff associated with the existing African American and African Studies (AAAS) program and will help re-establish MSU’s position…
The College of Arts & Letters is mourning the loss of retired Professor Joe Kuszai, who taught Graphic Design courses at Michigan State University for 50 years. Kuszai passed away on February 12, 2019, surrounded by family at his home in East Lansing. He was 86 years old. Recruited to develop a Graphic Design program at Michigan State University, Kuszai…
A new course offered by Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC) is teaching students how to use audio technology to record and edit sounds ethically and rhetorically, and to help make change in the world by assembling and circulating stories. The course, titled Soundwriting and Rhetoric, ran for the first time during the fall 2018 semester and was taken by…
A number of grants for student organizations are available for MSU groups on behalf of the CAL Alumni Board. Deadline is October 5.
A one-of-a-kind collaboration with Apple Inc. is providing valuable experience to some Michigan State University students who are designing and developing apps as part of MSU’s iOS Design Lab. Using Apple’s challenge-based learning framework as a guide, the iOS Design Lab, which launched in September, offers students a year-long experiential learning opportunity right here on campus where they learn about…
This past October 2018, a new iteration of the Quilt Index, a digital repository of thousands of images, stories, and information about quilts and their makers drawn from hundreds of public and private collections around the world, was launched. Already a major digital humanities resource, this new version aims to significantly strengthen and expand the use of quilt-related data in research and teaching.
Citizen Scholar Margo Skornia, a junior with a double major in Theatre and Chinese, received funding from the Citizen Scholars program to help pay for her two-month study abroad trip to China this past summer. This study abroad experience allowed her to finish her Chinese major. She took Chinese language classes at the Harbin Institute of Technology each day from…
Dr. Yen-Hwei Lin has been appointed Acting Interim Chair of the Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, effective November 5, 2018, through August 15, 2019. A Professor of Linguistics, Lin served as Department Coordinator from 2013-2015. She also was Associate Chair of the Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages from 2000-2003 and…
Meet Triniti Watson, a junior Interdisciplinary Humanities major with a focus on Philosophy, Professional Writing, and Cultural Anthropology. Watson is also an active participant in the Citizen Scholars program, the North Neighborhood Black Caucus, the University’s Academic Orientation Program, and the LGBT Resource Center.
Citizen Scholar Devin Heard, a sophomore Humanities Pre-Law and Human Resources and Labor Relations double major, is researching the inefficiencies of public defenders. In his research, which he presented at the 2018 Citizen Scholars Showcase, Heard points out that public defenders, especially those working in predominately minority urban areas, have an overload of cases that leave them with insufficient time…