News - College of Arts & Letters

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Award-Winning Art and Interdisciplinary Research Earn Scholars Varg-Sullivan Awards

May 29, 2026

This year's Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Award winners are Niloufar Fallahfar, a Spring 2026 MFA in Studio Art graduate, who is the 2026 Outstanding Achievement in the Arts recipient, and Jonah Branding, a graduate student pursuing a dual Ph.D. in Philosophy and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, was named the 2026 Outstanding Achievement in Letters recipient. The Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Awards, presented…

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Theatre

Summer Circle Theatre to Offer Free Outdoor Performances at MSU June 4-21

May 26, 2026

Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre is preparing for the 2026 Summer Circle Theatre season, which runs June 4-21 and will feature three productions, along with pre- and post-show performances, including lively cabarets and improv. This marks the 64th year Summer Circle Theatre (SCT) has offered free outdoor performances for the public to enjoy. "In the past six decades,…

A composite image featuring a portrait of Ellen VanderMyde, a woman with blonde hair smiling in front of a colorful abstract painting, alongside an aerial, high-angle view of a vast agricultural research site, featuring a grid of vibrant green crop plots separated by dirt paths, with a distant treeline, a blue lake, and a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds.

Humanizing the Science: W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Artist-in-Residence Program Marks Fifth Year

May 21, 2026

The Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artists-in-Residence Program is entering its fifth year, featuring Kalamazoo-based visual artist Ellen VanderMyde as the 2026 Artist-in-Residence and the debut of the program’s first group exhibition showcasing the work of last year’s cohort of Michigan State University College of Arts & Letters artists.

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Award / English / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News

Mary Juzwik Receives MSU Beal Outstanding Faculty Award

May 18, 2026

Michigan State University Professor Mary Juzwik received a William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award, one of the university’s highest honors. The award recognizes her sustained contributions to research, teaching, and outreach, as well as her leadership in English education. Juzwik’s interdisciplinary scholarship and commitment to mentorship have shaped both the field and the next generation of educators.

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AAHD / Art, Art History, and Design / Arts MSU / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Student / Student

Student-Built Mobile Microgalleries Add New Public Art to East Lansing

May 15, 2026

Two new microgalleries from Michigan State University’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD) will be featured at the 2026 East Lansing Art Festival on May 16 and 17, completing a three-part public art project designed and created by MSU students during the 2025-2026 academic year. The two new microgalleries are freestanding, mobile galleries designed to move between multiple sites and events. They will join the Honeycomb…

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News

Where the Photos Belong: How a Ghana-MSU Partnership Brought the Willis Bell Archive to Life

May 14, 2026

More than 40,000 photographs documenting Ghana’s first decades after independence have been restored, digitized, and returned to public view through a partnership between Ghana’s Mmofra Foundation and Michigan State University — a collaboration designed not only to preserve history, but to keep it rooted in the community where it was created. The Willis Bell Photographic Archive, spanning roughly from 1957…

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Award / Exhibition / News / Student / Student

Yeroham Ashagre: Winner of the 2026 MFA Prize

May 13, 2026

Yeroham Ashagre is the 2026 Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Prize recipient, capping three years of intensive study as an MFA student in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University. Ashagre received the MFA Prize for his thesis exhibition, “Womb of Tomb,” that is part of the 2026 MFA Exhibition on view at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum through May 17, 2026.

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Arts MSU / Exhibition / News / Student / Student

MFA Artist Uses Art as Activism to Challenge Stereotypes and Celebrate African Culture

May 12, 2026

For Vadu Rodrigues, there is no separating art from activism. Growing up in Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa, he uses his art — and the Positive Africa creative movement he founded — to challenge negative stereotypes about the continent and its people by highlighting its history, culture, and communities.

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AAHD / Award / English / Event / French / Linguistics / News / Research / Student / Student / Theatre

College of Arts & Letters Students Earn First-Place Awards at Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum

May 11, 2026

Eight students whose primary majors are in the College of Art & Letters received first-place awards for their research and creative scholarship presented at Michigan State University’s 28th annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). Several other MSU students who received first-place awards were mentored by faculty within the College of Arts & Letters.

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AAHD / Art, Art History, and Design / Arts MSU / Exhibition / News / Student / Student

MFA Artist Expands Painting Beyond the Canvas and Understanding of Persian Art

May 10, 2026

Niloufar Fallahfar’s paintings are not confined to the canvas. As her artistic practice has evolved, her work quite literally has expanded into space through the inclusion of three-dimensional objects that become part of the narrative itself. “I started by putting canvas on top of each other to offer a different perspective and make the audience curious about the different angles of the painting,” she explained.