MSU Linguist Receives NSF Grant for Cutting-Edge Research in Word Pattern Recognition

Most people can recognize what words are real and which ones aren’t in the languages they know. However, sometimes a nonsense word might sneak through, especially when the word sounds and looks a lot like a legitimate one. Karthik Durvasula, Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University, is delving further into “wordlikeness judgments”…

Continue ReadingMSU Linguist Receives NSF Grant for Cutting-Edge Research in Word Pattern Recognition

Forms of Freedom Project Reimagines Pedagogy, Artmaking, and Educational Justice

Conceived through an imperative to reimagine the possibilities for public pedagogy, Forms of Freedom: The Art and Design of Black and Indigenous Creative Public Pedagogies is a two-year research collaboration between Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artist collectives to exchange, learn, and create radical forms of artmaking and education.

Continue ReadingForms of Freedom Project Reimagines Pedagogy, Artmaking, and Educational Justice

English Graduate Works at Intersection of Horror and Religion

College of Arts & Letters graduate and biblical scholar Brandon Grafius loves a good horror movie and, at the same time, has long been interested in the study of religion. For his recently released book, Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions That Haunt Us, he continues his career-long investigation into the intersection of horror and religion, two…

Continue ReadingEnglish Graduate Works at Intersection of Horror and Religion

Applying a Critical Eye to User-Experience Design Research and Teaching

That exercise or workout tracking app you just installed might help you define and reach your fitness goals, but the app, and others like it, may also affect the way we interact, reshaping our responsibilities to one another through its very design. Inquiries like this, involving user experience design, or UX, where interfaces are created that allow people to engage…

Continue ReadingApplying a Critical Eye to User-Experience Design Research and Teaching

Ph.D. Candidate Recognized for Research on Health Disparities Among Immigrants

A first-generation Latino scholar, Greg Rogel’s research on the health disparities faced by immigrant/Latino communities hits close to home.  For this research, the fifth-year doctoral candidate in Philosophy at Michigan State University recently was named a Sadler Scholar by The Hastings Center and now is receiving invitations to speak about his research to physicians, academics, and other professionals.  Greg Rogel, Ph.D. Candidate in Philosophy Sadler…

Continue ReadingPh.D. Candidate Recognized for Research on Health Disparities Among Immigrants

Humanities Commons Network to Expand to New STEM-Focused Commons

Humanities Commons, an online open-source platform hosted and sustained by Michigan State University and used by thousands of humanities scholars and practitioners around the world, was awarded a three-year, $1,249,282 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a Commons that focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).Led by Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Digital Humanities and Professor of English…

Continue ReadingHumanities Commons Network to Expand to New STEM-Focused Commons

National Resource Center for Less Commonly Taught Languages to Open at MSU

Michigan State University’s Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), housed in the College of Arts & Letters, was awarded a U.S. Department of Education grant to create a national language resource center that will enhance and support the teaching of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) nationwide. The National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC) will help establish MSU as…

Continue ReadingNational Resource Center for Less Commonly Taught Languages to Open at MSU

Deric McNish Selected by U.S. Department of State for Prestigious English Language Specialist Project

The U.S. Department of State has selected Deric McNish, Associate Professor in Michigan State University's Department of Theatre, for a four-month English Language Specialist project in Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania. This multimodal project will support English language teachers and learners through the development of a podcast series that aims to build commonality and better understanding by supporting cultural…

Continue ReadingDeric McNish Selected by U.S. Department of State for Prestigious English Language Specialist Project

Theatre Professor Serves as Assistant Fight Director for Broadway Production

Alexis Black is always up for a good fight. And since February 2022, the Assistant Professor of Acting and Movement at Michigan State University has been choreographing stage combat for the Tony Award-nominated production of Macbeth, currently on Broadway, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.  Working alongside her long-time mentor David Leong, Black is the Assistant Fight Director for the production, which runs…

Continue ReadingTheatre Professor Serves as Assistant Fight Director for Broadway Production

Graduate Named to Prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Jazmen Moore identifies as a Black girl from the Midwest, a grandchild of the Great Migration, an educator raised on Anishinaabe homelands in Lansing, Michigan, and a graduate of Michigan State University with dual bachelor’s degrees in English and Women’s and Gender Studies. Moore currently researches Black girl refusals, consent-based learning, and chosen learning spaces at the University of Washington…

Continue ReadingGraduate Named to Prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship Program