A year ago today, as I began my tenure as Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, I made reference to a passage by Peter Raible, one that draws from Deuteronomy, in which he reminds us that “we sit in the shade of trees we did not plant.”
Miyuki Kamiya, an Instructor in MSU's Department of Linguistics, Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, recently worked with her former student, Tiara Harris, to compose a song for MSU's Japanese Language program. The JPN 102 and 202 students, whom Kamiya taught during spring 2016, then performed the song while Kamiya played keyboards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8prO6C3HWZU&feature=emb_title “I had wanted to do something with my students…
An internship in Washington, D.C., gave recent graduate Zeria Cummings a taste of what the capitol city has to offer and now she is looking to return to work for City Year, an organization that partners with public schools in high-poverty communities to help increase graduation rates and to bridge the gap between the support students need and what their…
Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel was the setting for the MSU College of Arts and Letters' annual Arts Weekend, a tradition that has continued for 22 years. A portion of the reservations helps to support the Grand Hotel Endowed Scholarship for Arts and Letters, created by the Musser family. The scholarship supports students wishing to pursue creative endeavors both inside and…
Tamara Butler, Assistant Professor in the Department of English and African American and African Studies Program, has been selected to receive the 2016 Promising Researcher Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), a professional association of educators in English Education, Literacy Studies, and Language Arts. Butler is the third Michigan State University scholar to receive this honor.…
Lists seem increasingly to be the current vernacular of the internet. So, as I considered how I might share a few things I have learned during my first year as Dean of College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University that facilitate academic collaboration, I thought I’d try the idiom of the list:
After practicing as an interdisciplinary environmental scholar and teacher for 10 years, Bethany Laursen switched fields to study theories of interdisciplinarity itself, which led her to Michigan State University where she is pursuing both an M.A. in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Community Sustainability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-63bBkfO7c&feature=emb_title “At MSU, I have the freedom to sit in two colleges and have committees that work across disciplines,” said…
Department of Art, Art History, and Design alumna Ellen Bruss was back on campus today talking to students, meeting with Graphic Design faculty, and touring the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. Bruss, Creative Director and Owner of Ellen Bruss Design in Denver, Colorado, met with Assistant Professor Ben Van Dyke’s STA 460 class, Graphic Design II: Visual Communication, and…
Spartans are leaving their mark all around the world this summer, including those participating in the Language, Culture, and Service in Puerto Rico study away program. The three-week program includes classes, excursions, but most importantly – service learning activities. Students are immersed in the Puerto Rican culture and help local organizations in a way that has a positive effect on…
Two new awards were presented at this year’s College of Arts & Letters Staff Appreciation Ceremony in addition to the Jo-Ann Vanden Bergh Award. Seven staff members also were recognized for their years of service during the annual event, which took place June 9 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. “It is really the commitment that each of you…