News – College of Arts & Letters

Driven to Succeed: Graphic Design Student Graduates Early with Perfect 4.0 GPA

December 11, 2025

Lexi Sesock, a Graphic Design major, will graduate this semester with a 4.0 GPA, completing her degree a semester early while balancing a rigorous academic schedule, creative exploration, and professional experiences across the College of Arts & Letters and Michigan State University. Graduating with a 4.0 was a goal Sesock set for herself when she started at MSU, and one she worked towards with intention.

A person in a winter jacket and hat works beside the installed sculpture, reaching into one of the colorful hexagonal modules. The structure’s translucent panels reflect the surrounding area as it rises vertically along the wall and into a cluster of evergreen branches.

Student

First of Three Student-Designed Microgalleries Opens to Public, Showcasing Student-Made Public Art

December 10, 2025

A microgallery created and built by Michigan State University students in the Introduction to Sculpture (STA 352) class taught this semester by Department of Art, Art History, and Design Assistant Professors Barbara Pearsall and Rafael Villares is opening to the public on Dec. 10 in the alleyway beside (SCENE) Metrospace in downtown East Lansing. The installation, known as the Honeycomb…

A person wearing a Michigan State University sweatshirt stands on a city street in front of a large white truck labeled “The Criterion Closet,” holding up a cup.

English / Film Studies / News / Programs / Student / Student / Study Abroad

Film Studies Student Attends Toronto International Film Festival Program for Third Time

December 9, 2025

Jonathan Urbin is a Film Studies major at Michigan State University who plans to graduate in Spring 2026. He attended the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025 as part of the education abroad program offered by the Film Studies Program at Michigan State University. He wrote about his experience with this program in the following article originally published…

Selfie photo of a woman with dark brown shoulder length hair and glasses, who is smiling and standing outside in front of a stone-colored eight-story buidling.

Research / WRAC / XA

Experience Architecture Professor’s Research Supported by Yale University Fellowship

December 8, 2025

As a Beinecke Library Fellow, Sara Doan, Assistant Professor of Experience Architecture at Michigan State University, spent two weeks immersed in the archives of Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, uncovering materials to inform her forthcoming book, Visualizing Pandemics: A History of Data in Action, that focuses on public health communication and the history of persuasion during disease…

Award / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / WRAC

Trixie Smith Awarded Outstanding Service Award by International Writing Centers Association

December 5, 2025

Trixie Smith, Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures and Director of The Writing Center at Michigan State University, was awarded the 2025 International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) Muriel Harris Outstanding Service Award, which recognizes outstanding service that has benefited the writing center community in significant and broad-based ways.

A young woman with long red hair stands on a bridge over the Seine River, wearing a black jacket and a beige scarf. Fog partially obscures the Eiffel Tower in the background, and autumn trees line the riverbank.

French / News / Student / Student / Study Abroad

MSU Student Spends a Semester Abroad in France Studying Politics and Philosophy

December 4, 2025

Isabelle Radakovich, a fourth-year undergraduate student at Michigan State University who is triple majoring in International Relations, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, and French, is spending the first half of her senior year at Sciences Po Lille (formally L’Institut d’Études Politiques de Lille) in Lille, France, through a semester exchange program.

A teacher talks with four adult students who are sitting at two rows of tables.

Faculty / Faculty / International Impact / News / Research / Theatre

Theatre Professor Leads English Program in Thailand Through the U.S. Department of State

December 3, 2025

Deric McNish, Associate Professor of Theatre at Michigan State University, led a four-week U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist Program at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU) in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Sasiporn Phongploenpis, SSRU Assistant Professor and Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, hosted and facilitated the drama-based English education program with McNish during October 2025. McNish brought his expertise…

An adult man stands with his hands in his pockets in front of a rustic log cabin with red-trimmed windows and flower boxes. Green foliage hangs above him, and flowers grow at the base of the cabin.

Alumni / English / Featured Alumni / Michigan Impact / News / Research / U.S. Impact

English Alum Part of World’s Longest Running Predator-Prey Research Project

December 3, 2025

In support of the world’s longest running predator-prey research project, Michigan State University alum Jeffrey Holden makes an annual trip to Michigan’s Isle Royale. And it’s no walk in the park. Rugged off-trail trekking, searing heat, black flies, and decomposed moose carcasses are among the hazards borne by dozens of citizen scientists each summer on this remote island in Lake…

A woman with long dark hair stands outdoors in front of green foliage and a brick building. She wears a white collared shirt with a black geometric pattern and orange beaded earrings

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News

Esther Belin Joins MSU as the Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies

December 2, 2025

A citizen of the Navajo Nation and an acclaimed poet, artist, and educator, Esther Belin joined Michigan State University this fall as the new Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies in the Department of English. She is the second scholar to hold this position, following Gordon Henry, who retired in 2023 after…

Three side-by-side portrait photographs. The left portrait shows a young woman with shoulder-length dark hair, round glasses, drop earrings, and a red top, standing outdoors. The center portrait shows an adult man with short light brown hair, rectangular glasses, and a light pink collared shirt, indoors with a blurred background. The right portrait shows a young man with curly hair wearing a suit jacket, white shirt, and red tie, smiling against a neutral studio backdrop

News / Scholarship / Student / WRAC / XA

Hart-Davidson Memorial Scholarship Supports First-Generation Students in the Arts and Humanities

December 1, 2025

The College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University invites donors, alums, and community members to support the Hart-Davidson Memorial Endowed Scholarship, created to expand opportunities for first-generation students in the arts and humanities and to honor the life and legacy of Bill Hart-Davidson, former Professor in MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures (WRAC) and Associate Dean of Research and…