From the days of slavery to the Black Lives Matter movement, religion has played an essential role in the lives of Black Americans. However, that role is often misunderstood or viewed through stereotypes of submissive slaves bowing their heads in prayer and acceptance of their fate. In reality, Black religion has evolved as a means of protest and power. The…
Blaire Morseau grew up in New Jersey and spent most of her life there, including her undergraduate years at Rutgers University, yet she considers Michigan her home. As a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, which is based in Dowagiac, Michigan, Morseau spent many summers in the Great Lakes State where she attended powwows and worked at various…
Laura Yares has spent “years sitting in archives” researching a period of Jewish American education that historians have largely overlooked as insignificant, a period in which very little had been written about up until the release of Yares’ recently published book, Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America. An Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies with a…
With the start of the 2023-2024 academic year at Michigan State University, the new Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise M.A. and Graduate Certificate Programs are welcoming their first cohort of graduate students. Five students are enrolled in the master’s degree program, while three students are in the graduate certificate program. Both programs are fully online and asynchronous. According…
The College of Arts & Letters welcomes 45 new full-time faculty and staff members this Fall 203 Semester. These faculty and staff members were recognized during the 2023 Faculty and Staff Welcome Reception, which was held on Sept. 18.
It has been 22 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As we reflect upon the events from that day and mourn the tragic loss of life, we also remember the heroes. The story of one 9/11 hero is the subject of a new documentary film cocreated by Mohammad Khalil, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Director…
A Kalamazoo woodcut printmaker and teacher is the 2023 Artist-in-Residence for Michigan State University’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Launched by MSU in Summer 2022 in an effort to promote art and science collaborations, the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Artist-in-Residence Program is now in its second year and will host…
For the first time at Michigan State University, graduate students and professionals can enroll in the new Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise master’s degree and graduate certificate programs. Online courses begin in the Fall 2023 Semester. Enrollment is open for the MSU Global Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise master's degree and certificate program. The interdisciplinary programs,…
Michigan State University senior Rana Omar believes in giving back to the community. For four straight years, the Honors College student, who will graduate with a B.A. in Religious Studies and a B.S. in Neuroscience in Spring 2023, has received the Spartan Volunteer Service Award, which is presented on behalf of the MSU President and Center for Community Engaged Learning to recognize MSU students who have participated in 100…
The Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University held its 2023 Undergraduate Symposium on April 14 during which three undergraduate students — Emily “Em” Perkins, Rana Omar, and DuJour Johnson — were recognized with awards for their outstanding achievements. From left to right: Em Perkins, Rana Omar, and DuJour Johnson “Each year, the MSU Religious Studies Undergraduate Symposium brings…