U.S. Impact

Research Shines New Light on Role of Women in Founding Jewish American Education

November 6, 2023

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…

News / Scholarship / U.S. Impact

Exploring the Role of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

November 3, 2023

Educators and students currently are trying to figure out how to make room in the classroom for a third kind of learner. While large language models (LLMs) like Chat GPT are not capable of learning in the messy, human sense, they are increasingly sophisticated. These forms of generative artificial intelligence (AI) “learn” from human inputs, training their algorithms to generate…

Portrait of a woman wearing glasses, a purple dress, and a colorful necklace.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / Research / U.S. Impact

Ask the Expert: How Does Black Horror Help Us Understand Cultural Anxieties?

October 23, 2023

The genre of horror, and specifically Black horror, has been gaining attention in mainstream media in the last decade. Films by Black writers and directors featuring Black actors — think “ Us” and “Get Out” by writer and director Jordan Peele — are exploring themes of race and gender through a different lens while opening larger dialogues about belonging and…

MSU Associate Dean and Professor Bill Hart-Davidson pictured with a background of shifting blue light.

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / Research / U.S. Impact

Ask the Expert: How Can AI Support Writing and Student Learning?

September 14, 2023

With the start of the school year approaching, educators are wondering how artificial intelligence, or AI, may be used in learning environments, including by students for writing papers. Bill Hart-Davidson has been researching AI since he first came to Michigan State University in 2004 and launched a research center about writing in digital environments.

Faculty / Faculty / News / Religious Studies / U.S. Impact

Muslim American 9/11 Hero Subject of Film by MSU Religious Studies Professor

September 8, 2023

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…

Alumni / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Featured Alumni / News / U.S. Impact

MSU Graduate Co-Founds Multimillion-Dollar Company Fueled by Goat Milk and Kindness

June 13, 2023

Michigan State University graduate Josh Kilmer-Purcell is a New York Times bestselling author who, together with husband, Dr. Brent Ridge, founded a multimillion-dollar skin care company, starred in their own reality TV show, and won season 21 of The Amazing Race — and those are just a few of the couple’s many accomplishments in what can be described as an…

Scholar Stanford W. Carpenter sits in a chair in front of a suspended microphone and camera held by another man. In the background is a display of stained-glass windows as part of a museum exhibit.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / English / Faculty / News / Production / Programs / U.S. Impact

‘Afrofantastic:’ Science Fiction, Technology, Black Culture Explored in New Documentary by MSU Professors

June 9, 2023

Afrofuturism has entered more mainstream conversations in the last decade thanks to its influence on fashion and art, notably in the music of Janelle Monae and in the film “Black Panther.” However, the idea of Afrofuturism, which often combines science fiction, technology, and a Black understanding of liberty, expands beyond pop culture into practice and social action. To help answer…

A picture of a man in a black t-shrit sitting in an art studio.

Alumni / Event / News / U.S. Impact

Persistence and Dedication Pay Off to Becoming a Full-Time Artist

May 31, 2023

Nick McPhail first started painting when he was a sophomore at Michigan State University with his first creations being photorealistic oil paintings of East Lansing landscapes. Now a seasoned artist with a wealth of experience under his belt, McPhail has gained a large following of fans and collectors with his use of bold colors and geometric shapes. For McPhail, who…

Alumni / News / U.S. Impact

The Plot Pilot: MSU’s Pivotal Role in Blockbuster Career

May 15, 2023

Four years after graduating from Michigan State University with a B.A. in English, Jack Epps Jr. met with Jim Cash, his former screenwriting instructor who also earned his B.A. in English from MSU, at the MSU Union Grill. The duo discussed movie ideas and decided to join forces. They went on to write ’80s and ’90s blockbusters like Turner &…

Award / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / News / Research / Student / Student / U.S. Impact

Ph.D. Student Wins National Award for Work in Queer Theory

April 13, 2023

Ruby Mendoza, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University, has won a national award in recognition of their outstanding work in the area of queer theory. Mendoza is one of only two recipients of the 2023 Gloria Anzaldúa Rhetorician Award, a national scholarship presented by the Conference on College Composition and…