Staff

MSU Filmetry Festival to be Livestreamed with Film Adaptations of Poems Informed by COVID-19

April 19, 2021

Reading a good novel often prompts readers to wonder what the story would be like as a feature film. This tendency isn’t just a marker of the importance of what is digital and visual; it’s a reminder of how culture and technology are intertwined. Filmmakers, poets, readers, and viewers will honor this union of culture and technology and celebrate the…

Award / News / Staff / Student

College of Arts & Letters Students and Staff Earn Several ADDY Awards

March 24, 2021

One of the top awards presented at this year’s Mid-Michigan American Advertising (ADDY) Awards competition went to Graphic Design junior Jordan Brooks for his “Wizard of Oz Book Cover” entered in the Sales + Marketing – Publication Design – Cover category. Brooks received a Judge’s Choice Award in addition to a Silver and Bronze ADDY. Five other College of Arts…

Faculty / Faculty / Health / News / Staff

Meet Dr. Jonathan Ritz, Director of Student Health and Wellness

February 11, 2021

Jonathan Ritz is a licensed counselor and serves as the Director of Student Wellness for the College of Arts & Letters, MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) Counselor, and is an Assistant Professor and Academic and Professional Advisor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. As Director of Student Wellness, Ritz works with the College’s Undergraduate Studies team to support the mental health and wellness of students.

Award / News / Programs / Scholarship / Staff / Student

Senior Jasmine Jordan Wins Prestigious Gates-Cambridge Scholarship

February 9, 2021

Michigan State University senior Jasmine Jordan, an Honors College Political Science senior with a minor in African and African American Studies (AAAS), who grew up in Detroit, has been named a Gates-Cambridge Scholar. Jordan also was a national finalist for the highly competitive Rhodes, Mitchell, and Marshall scholarships. I'm really glad I took the chance because now I get to study criminology…

Award / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / Staff

AAHD Professor and Museum Curator Honored by American Folklore Society

January 29, 2021

The American Folklore Society (AFS), the country's professional society for folklorists, has awarded Marsha MacDowell, Professor in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design and MSU Museum Curator, the 2020 recipient of the society's Benjamin A. Botkin Prize for significant lifetime achievement in the field of public folklore. MacDowell is the Curator of Folk Arts and Quilt Studies at…

Alumni / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / News / Scholarship / Staff

Professional Writing Alum Creates Nonprofit to Support Black Students

January 28, 2021

Inspired by events from this past year surrounding the Black Lives Matter and Black Civil Rights movements, College of Arts & Letters alumnus Darrell Williams founded a nonprofit organization, the Lawson Porter Scholarship Foundation, to help Black students reach their higher education goals while at the same time emphasizing the importance of Afrocentric history. A first-generation four-year college student, Williams…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / News / Staff

The Promise and Perils of Democracy

January 7, 2021

Dear College of Arts & Letters Staff and Faculty, We in the College of Arts & Letters have long understood the power of words to strengthen or diminish democracy. Over the past 24 hours, we have witnessed the power of words to incite violent insurrection at the United States Capitol, distort the truth, and undermine a peaceful transition of power. But we have also seen the power of…

COVID-19 / Faculty / News / Staff

Winter Solstice Message to Faculty and Staff

December 22, 2020

Dear College of Arts & Letters Staff and Faculty, On this longest night of a challenging year, the fire we light together calls back the sun. As the winter solstice turns us toward the brighter days of a still inchoate spring, may you find time to be with those you love, to rest and reflect, and to restore the energy…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Exhibition / News / Staff

Critical Race Studies Artist-in-Residence to Reimagine MSU’s Sparty Statue

November 24, 2020

As the 2020-2021 College of Arts & Letters’ Artist-in-Residence of Critical Race Studies, Young Joon Kwak is using multidisciplinary artistry to examine MSU’s Sparty statue in order to understand its deepest details and what lies beyond its symbolic skin.

Event / Faculty / News / Staff / Student

Claudia Rankine Delivers Signature Lecture

November 13, 2020

The College of Arts & Letters was pleased to host MacArthur Genius, Guggenheim Fellow, and acclaimed author Claudia Rankine as a part of the College’s Signature Lecture Series. This online event took place November 12 with about 360 people tuning in to the online interactive talk on racism and social justice.