Building and Mobilizing Women’s Political Power

From the growing gender voting gap to record numbers of women elected to public office to white women’s contribution to white supremacist political movements, women’s place in US politics has never been so hotly debated and contested since the Suffrage Movement of the early 1900s. In this presentation I will highlight some of the key issues in women’s political power in the US in the last four decades, emphasizing recent developments in the 2018 and 2020 elections. I will explore gender voting patterns, the effects that women have on politics when they run for public office, and the directions we might see women’s political power move towards in the next several years.

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MSU Theatre Department Launches First-Ever Actor Warm-Up Podcast

In conjunction with Digital Learning Day on February 25, the Michigan State University Department of Theatre MFA Acting cohort will launch a six-season podcast, entitled “The Moment Before: An Actor’s Warm-Up Podcast,” which is the only known podcast focusing on quick and convenient ways for actors to warm-up and prepare for auditions, rehearsals, and performances with each season consisting of…

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Graduating Senior Influential with Curriculum Changes

Olivia Gundrum, a senior Honors College English major and first-generation college student, graduates this May and will leave MSU having made a positive impact through her work to cultivate a racially informed curriculum within the College of Education. As an English major focusing on English Secondary Education, the interconnectedness of racial identity in the English classroom has always intrigued Gundrum.…

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Theatre MFA Design Students Take Home Top Honors in Costume Design

Michigan State University Department of Theatre MFA Design candidates, Grace Foiles and Zech Saenz, were awarded regional honors in the field of costume design from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). The competitions aim to assess and award exceptional theatre design work by students.

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Community Vote to Determine Final ‘Who Is a Citizen?’ Prize

Supporting the voices of emerging artists has never been more important. The MSU Broad and the College of Arts & Letters are honored to have been able to do this work through the Who Is A Citizen? exhibition, which runs through March 21, 2021, at the MSU Broad Art Lab. The public is now invited to help support these emerging artists as…

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New AAAS Department to Focus on Black Feminisms, Black Genders, and Black Sexualities

Being built to blaze a trail in higher education with its focus on Black Feminisms, Black Genders Studies, and Black Sexualities Studies, the architects of the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS), the newest department within MSU’s College of Arts & Letters, are unapologetic in this focus as they build the unit they have long dreamed about.  Dr.…

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The Trailblazing Life of MSU’s First Black Faculty Member

David W.D. Dickson’s trailblazing career, spanning more than 40 years and five academic institutions, began at Michigan State University in the Department of English in 1948 when he became the university’s first Black faculty member and, a few years later, the first to be awarded MSU’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He also went on to become the first African American to…

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Working Toward a Philosophy for All of Us

“Why philosophy?” That’s a question MSU Philosophy Professor Kristie Dotson, formal advisor to the new Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS), has fielded many times before. Perhaps it is because she had never taken a philosophy course until she began graduate studies in philosophy.  It could also be the centrality of Black feminisms in Dotson’s life and the…

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Professor Publishes Book Promoting Collaboration in Design Education

Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, recently published a book she co-wrote, titled Collaboration in Design Education, with Marty Maxwell Lane. The idea for the book came while Tegtmeyer was a student at North Carolina State where she met and began working with Lane as collaborators in the Graphic Design graduate program. Together, they worked on the book for…

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Meet Dr. Jonathan Ritz, Director of Student Health and Wellness

Jonathan Ritz is a licensed counselor and serves as the Director of Student Wellness for the College of Arts & Letters, MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) Counselor, and is an Assistant Professor and Academic and Professional Advisor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. As Director of Student Wellness, Ritz works with the College’s Undergraduate Studies team to support the mental health and wellness of students.

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