Religion and sound are tied together in evocative ways. Church bells. Public proselytizing. Calls to prayer. Tantric chanting. What does religion sound like, and how can we learn new truths about the diversity of religion in the United States when we listen? Amy DeRogatis, Professor of Religion and American Culture and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State…
Behind the scenes of every theatre production there is a stage manager who ensures all the moving parts of the production run smoothly. From running rehearsals to communicating technical needs, stage managers, like Katie McArthur, work out the kinks of a production before and during its big debut. Graduating this spring with a BFA in Stage Management, McArthur never imagined…
An advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, Wilfredo Flores, Ph.D. Candidate in Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University set to graduate this spring, is being recognized, both locally and on a national level, for his dedication to delivering health and medical knowledge to LGBTQIA+ people. “People who are not straight or cisgender often have to be really attendant…
Michigan State University has received a $228,000 grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to fund a multi-year, multi-national, multi-faceted research project on “Science, Art and Faith: Architectural Heritage and Islam.” Led by Martha Olcott, James Madison College Professor, and Mohammad H. Khalil, Director of the Muslim Studies Program and Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, with support from Salah Hassan, Director of Global Studies in…
A group of Michigan State University faculty and students from the Department of Theatre in collaboration with the Wharton Center Institute for Arts & Creativity led an effort to bring the Next Narrative Monologue Competition (NNMC) to Michigan, a national high school competition that celebrates the diverse perspectives and worldviews of the Black community by bringing works of contemporary Black…
The world of language teaching has faced enormous challenges in delivering quality education due to the abrupt transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the major challenges is the difficulty of using traditional textbooks in the new reality, and Arabic language programs are no exception. Two Assistant Professors of Arabic at Michigan State University, Sadam Issa and…
Two MFA Design Candidates from Michigan State University, Kasee Arnett and Zech Saenz, recently won awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region III competition for their work on A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage. Arnett took first place in Scenic Theatrical Design and will move on to the national competition, and Saenz finished as…
As an applied linguist with interests in language education, Peter De Costa is interested in how policy decisions impact language learning and teaching and is drawn to the identity, ideological, and emotional consequences of these decisions.
Steven Fraiberg, Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University, received a 2022 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Technical and Scientific Communication Award for the Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication. Fraiberg’s article, “Unsettling Start-Up Ecosystems: Geographies, Mobilities, and Transnational Literacies in the Palestinian Start-Up…
The highest national research award for foreign language education recently was awarded to the team of Xiaowan Zhang, MSU Ph.D. alumna in Second Language Studies; Paula Winke, Professor in MSU’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures; and Shaunna Clark, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, for their research paper, “Background Characteristics and Oral Proficiency Development Over Time in Lower-Division College…