Understanding the Language of Change Through Linguistics

Suzanne Evans Wagner isn’t telling people how to talk. She’s here to say that people have options and reasons for talking the way they do. An Associate Professor of Linguistics in MSU’s Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, Wagner researches the social motivations for language variation and language change. It’s a subject she speaks freely about, providing examples,…

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MSU Sows the Seeds for Successful Academic Career

As an undergraduate student at Michigan State University, Josh Guilford majored in English and completed a certificate in the Film Studies Program. Now an Assistant Professor of English in Film and Media Studies at Amherst College, Guilford teaches courses that are cross-listed between the English Department and the Film and Media Studies Program. The courses Guilford teaches cover a broad…

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LAE Podcast Hosts Film Studies Graduate Donté Smith

Episode eight of the Liberal Arts Endeavor Podcast is now live! Our host, Christopher P. Long, Dean of the College of Arts & Letters, talked with recent Film Studies graduate Donté Smith over Zoom about his experience in the program and adjusting to life in quarantine. Smith is a freelance photographer and part of the Liberal Arts Endeavor Podcast production team. 

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Graduate Reflects on Time at MSU and How It Led to Studio Art Degree

The day after May McCalmon’s art pieces were mounted at Kresge Art Center as part of the Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, they had to be taken down due to the COVID-19 outbreak that prompted the suspension of all face-to-face instruction at MSU. “I was pretty excited and not too stressed about it,” McCalmon said about the exhibition. “I was ready and…

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Graduate Learns More About Ancestral Home While Earning Japanese Degree

Growing up in the United States, Rika Wakai enjoyed learning about Japan, her ancestral home and the country from which her parents migrated to the United States before she was born. This made her want to learn more about the country and its culture, so much so that she decided to major in Japanese and pursue it as a career.…

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Alumna Uses Spanish Degree as a School Psychologist

As a School Psychologist for the Jackson County Intermediate School District, MSU alumna Katy Friend is the person other school psychologists rely on when there is a case involving a Spanish-speaking student because of the Spanish education she received from Michigan State University.   “I typically work in one district but can be pulled to work in another if they…

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Citizen Scholars Graduates 11 More Students

The Citizen Scholars program launched in fall 2016 preparing the next generation of diverse, high-achieving, and engaged citizen leaders. The first three graduates of the program graduated last spring. This spring and summer, there are 11 more students who are graduating from the program while earning their undergraduate degrees.  “I hope when they look back at their years here at MSU they…

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Inaugural Chair of Department of African American and African Studies Appointed

Ruth Nicole Brown has been appointed as the Inaugural Chairperson for the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at Michigan State University, effective July 1, 2020. She currently is an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “I’m overjoyed about joining MSU as the Inaugural Chairperson of African…

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Spanish Graduate Delivers College’s Student Graduation Speech

Graduating senior Brandon Lawler is the spring 2020 student speaker for the College of Arts & Letters online graduation celebration. Lawler graduated with a B.A. in Spanish and minors in Mathematics and LGBTQ+ and Sexuality Studies and currently is pursuing a secondary teaching certificate via the College of Education's Teacher Preparation Program. As the student graduation speaker, Lawler represents the College…

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