Suzanne Evans Wagner isn’t telling people how to talk. She’s here to say that people have options and reasons for talking the way they do. An Associate Professor of Linguistics in MSU’s Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, Wagner researches the social motivations for language variation and language change. It’s a subject she speaks freely about, providing examples,…
Growing up in the United States, Rika Wakai enjoyed learning about Japan, her ancestral home and the country from which her parents migrated to the United States before she was born. This made her want to learn more about the country and its culture, so much so that she decided to major in Japanese and pursue it as a career.…
In a continuing effort to remove architectural and programmatic barriers to education, the MSU Department of Theatre, College of Arts & Letters, and College of Music funded a 360° virtual tour of the Auditorium Building, which can now be explored on the facilities page of the Department of Theatre’s website. Designed by OJ Munson, construction on the Auditorium Building began in 1938 with funding from the…
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…
Michigan State University is helping local health professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus by making 3D-printed personal protective equipment (PPE). To address the critical need for donations, medical face shields are being produced in a joint effort with colleges across MSU’s campus, including the College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Engineering, College…
Using language purposefully is the framework of rhetoric, a notion that Jacqueline Rhodes, Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC), wants to instill in her students while also inspiring them to make meaning through the use of language. “Starting from a foundation of goodwill lets you disagree about things and still engage in productive…
Michigan State University was awarded close to $1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a five-year study of renewable energy options using a cross-disciplinary research approach in eight Michigan communities, including two Native American communities. The project, “Socio-Technological System Transitions: Michigan Community and Anishinaabe Renewable Energy Sovereignty,” will use community-engaged research to collect and analyze local renewable energy risks, barriers,…
Barb Miller, Research Administrator for the College of Arts & Letters, has received the Fall 2019 Unit Research Administrator Spotlight Award in recognition of her professional contributions and quality of service. Recipients of the award play an integral role in advancing MSU’s research mission and lead by example. Miller has worked for MSU for 10 years, of which the past…
Aline Godfroid, Associate Professor of Second Language Studies and TESOL, is being recognized for her outstanding research in the area of second language acquisition and recently was elected to the Executive Committee of the European Second Language Association (EuroSLA) and will serve as Secretary of that committee. A leading scholar in the use of eye-tracking, Godfroid was named the 2019 recipient of the TESOL Award for Distinguished Research for her study, “Incidental vocabulary learning…
Second Language Studies Ph.D. student Xiaowan Zhang expanded upon her research surrounding language test impacts as an intern at the Michigan English Assessment in Ann Arbor this past summer. While working at the Michigan English Assessment, Zhang’s main task was to develop a toolkit for investigating the impact of the Michigan English Test (MET) and its sister test for young…