Michigan State University graduate Josh Kilmer-Purcell is a New York Times bestselling author who, together with husband, Dr. Brent Ridge, founded a multimillion-dollar skin care company, starred in their own reality TV show, and won season 21 of The Amazing Race — and those are just a few of the couple’s many accomplishments in what can be described as an…
Sasha Beloglazova, a senior with a major in English from the College of Arts & Letters and a minor in Business, has a dream of becoming an English educator. A native of Russia, Beloglazova moved to the United States two years ago to pursue an undergraduate education from Michigan State University. She said her international background has fueled an interest in world affairs, foreign policy, and global economics. Sasha Beloglazova at the Refugee Development…
Afrofuturism has entered more mainstream conversations in the last decade thanks to its influence on fashion and art, notably in the music of Janelle Monae and in the film “Black Panther.” However, the idea of Afrofuturism, which often combines science fiction, technology, and a Black understanding of liberty, expands beyond pop culture into practice and social action. To help answer…
A Kalamazoo woodcut printmaker and teacher is the 2023 Artist-in-Residence for Michigan State University’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Launched by MSU in Summer 2022 in an effort to promote art and science collaborations, the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Artist-in-Residence Program is now in its second year and will host…
A gift of $500,000 that’s rooted in reparations and recognizes the powerful contributions being made by Michigan State University’s Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) toward racial and social justice will benefit the students and faculty of that department for generations to come. The Adrian Dominican Sisters, a Catholic congregation of more than 400 Dominican sisters and 200…
Kaylah Jetton began studying Japanese on her first day of kindergarten at Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School, an international K-8 school in Detroit, where students learn French, Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese from native speakers. There, she studied the Japanese language for two hours daily and performed traditional Japanese songs and dances at annual school cultural festivals after being…
Ellie Saur is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in Humanities-Prelaw who gained experience during the Spring 2023 Semester working as an intern for the Ionia County Public Defender Office in Ionia, Michigan. She recently shared with the Excel Network about this internship through a Q&A.
Elias Young, a junior Japanese major at Michigan State University, is applying his language skills and interest in LGBTQ+ culture on an undergraduate research project where he plans to create an open-access database outlying how queer spaces, events, and culture intersect with mainstream Japanese culture. This summer, he will travel to Japan, with support from an Undergraduate Research Initiative grant…
Nick McPhail first started painting when he was a sophomore at Michigan State University with his first creations being photorealistic oil paintings of East Lansing landscapes. Now a seasoned artist with a wealth of experience under his belt, McPhail has gained a large following of fans and collectors with his use of bold colors and geometric shapes. For McPhail, who…
Ryan Chaben, a Spring 2023 Michigan State University graduate with a B.A. in English, recently shared her experiences as a Spartan with the College of Arts & Letters’ Excel Network and the Department of English for its 2023 Senior Spotlight. Among the many impactful experiences highlighted was working as a consultant for MSU’s Writing Center and a remote internship with…