Ask the Expert: How Pride Month Has Evolved and What That Means for LGBTQIA+ Representation

The first Pride march was held in New York City June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The Stonewall Uprising started with a raid on the gay bar, the Stonewall Inn in New York City and resulted in six days of protests and fighting between police and the LGBTQIA+ community. In 1969, homosexuality was considered a…

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First MSU Faculty and Alum Selected for Artists-in-Residence Program at W.K. Kellogg Biological Station

Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters will be well represented this year among the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artists-in-Residence Program. The 2025 artists-in-residence will include an assistant professor, post-doctoral research associate, and recent graduate, all from MSU's College of Arts & Letters. They will be joined by an artist from New York to…

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Kathleen Fitzpatrick Named New Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

Kathleen Fitzpatrick has been appointed Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies for Michigan State University's College of Arts & Letters, effective July 1, 2025, following a year serving in the interim role. A nationally recognized scholar of digital humanities, Fitzpatrick is uniquely positioned to guide the college's research and graduate programs, having spent her career creating open-source tools for…

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Graduate Candidates Receive 2025-26 Dissertation Fellowship Awards

Four College of Arts & Letters Ph.D. candidates have been awarded 2025-26 Graduate Dissertation Fellowships by the Center for Gender in Global Context at Michigan State University for their research projects that will include a significant focus on women, gender, or sexuality.These Women’s & Gender Studies Dissertation Fellowships are made possible through the generous funding provided by MSU’s Graduate School.Two…

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Ask the Expert: How Detroit and Its People Are Integral to the Rise of Techno Music

The story of techno music often focuses on a global narrative without acknowledging that it began in Detroit, Michigan — a place where Black people for decades have harnessed sound and music to reflect their experiences. During the 1970s and 1980s, techno was explored and celebrated by Black and queer communities across radio waves and in warehouse spaces around the…

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2025 Varg-Sullivan Graduate Awards Presented

This year's Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Award winners are Vadu Rodrigues, an MFA Candidate in Studio Art who is the 2025 Outstanding Achievement in the Arts recipient, and Hyun-Bin Hwang, who recently earned his Ph.D. in Second Language Studies and was named the 2025 Outstanding Achievement in the Letters recipient. The Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Awards, presented by the College of Arts…

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MSU Faculty Honored with Stephen A. Freeman Award for Best Published Article

A team of scholars from Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison are being recognized for writing the most impactful article on teaching techniques published by a professional journal in 2024. For their outstanding efforts, they have received the 2025 Stephen A. Freeman Award for Best Published Article, an honor presented by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL).

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Laura Cloud to Deliver 2025 Legacy Lecture on April 18

Laura Cloud, Emerita Associate Professor of Sculpture, will deliver the College of Arts & Letters’ 2025 Legacy Lecture on Friday, April 18, at 6 p.m. in the Lincoln Room of the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. The Legacy Lecture is free and open to the public, but you must RSVP by Friday, April 11, to attend by submitting an online form.

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University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) Set for April 11

Michigan State University’s 27th annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) will take place Friday, April 11, both in person at MSU’s Breslin Student Events Center and online hosted on Symposium by ForagerOne. This hybrid event will feature research projects and creativity from hundreds of undergraduate students at MSU, including many students from the College of Arts & Letters.  

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Alum Receives National Award for Her Language Education Advocacy and Leadership

Since becoming the first graduate of Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies (SLS) Ph.D. program in 2009, Amy S. Thompson has built an extraordinary career as a researcher, educator, and leader in applied linguistics. Most recently, she was honored with the Association of Language Departments Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession presented by the Modern Language Association (MLA). The…

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