News – Page 85 – College of Arts & Letters

Theatre Student’s Drag Queen Web Series Uses Costume Design to Examine Current Events

March 2, 2021

When the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s productions for the Fall 2020 semester were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a call went out to all faculty and students for ideas focused on themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion. First-year MFA Design Candidate Zech Saenz, who specializes in costume design, pitched a project addressing the pandemic through the lens of drag queens and comedy. The result is a three-episode web series, called Grads in Drag, which is now available for streaming on-demand.

Images of Dr. Brown and Dr. Lomax on a green background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / Faculty / News / Research

A Visionary New Build: The Department of African American and African Studies

March 1, 2021

Initially started as a PhD granting program in 2002, with an undergraduate minor created in 2014, the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) was officially founded in 2019. Leading the program is Inaugural Department Chair Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown and Foundational Associate Professor Dr. Tamura Lomax. Though the formation of this new department during a global pandemic has presented unique challenges, Dr. Brown and Dr. Lomax have both a vision and mission that is committed to making concrete connections between scholarship, pedagogy, and social justice.

Photo of a brick building, shot during spring

COVID-19

Covid Relief Fund Update and Spring Semester Information

February 25, 2021

Dear College of Arts & Letters Staff and Faculty, As we head into the halfway point of the semester, I write to provide an update regarding the COVID Relief Fund and disbursement efforts to our staff and faculty in the College. First, however, I want to remind you that next Tuesday and Wednesday, March 2 and 3, are Break Days…

Event / News / Programs

Ann Hamilton to Present Signature Lecture on April 16

February 25, 2021

The College of Arts & Letters is pleased to host National Medal of the Arts recipient, MacArthur Genius, and internationally acclaimed artist Ann Hamilton as part of the College’s Signature Lecture Series. The event, to be held virtually Friday, April 16, at 5 p.m., is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, please complete the registration form. Ann Hamilton…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / News

Building and Mobilizing Women’s Political Power

February 25, 2021

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.

woman on one side and a graphic on the other side

Faculty / News / Performance / Podcast / Student

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

February 25, 2021

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…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / News / Programs / Student

Graduating Senior Influential with Curriculum Changes

February 23, 2021

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.…

Award / News / Student

Theatre MFA Design Students Take Home Top Honors in Costume Design

February 19, 2021

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.

poster graphic of who is a citizen winners

Award / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Exhibition / News / Student

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

February 18, 2021

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…

image with 4 different women in each quadrant

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / News / Programs / Publication / Research

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

February 17, 2021

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.…