Spartans Will to Give and Help Students Who Face Financial Hardships

As the COVID-19 pandemic turns our way of life upside down, one principle continues to be of utmost importance: the need to look out for one another. Since mid-March when Michigan State University moved to remote learning to contain the spread of COVID-19, College of Arts & Letters alumni, parents, and friends have asked how they can help and dozens have contributed…

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Professor Publishes Poetry Compilation Addressing Trump Administration

Cheryl Caesar, Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, recently published a book, Flatman: Poems of Protest in the Trump Era, which is a compilation of 40 poems that explore the actions of the Trump administration from September 2018 to May 2019. It’s an artistic response to the emotions evoked within Caesar during the Trump presidency. “The process of writing this…

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MSU Alumnus Founds Retail Company With Aim to Help the Homeless

MSU alumnus Josh York first became interested in creating his own clothing when he was in middle school. He started by making T-shirts with his mom and sold them to his classmates. A few years later while attending Schoolcraft College, York, then 19, hand-stitched his last name into a beanie and began selling them at local music shows. That marked…

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Renovating Learning Through Compassion and Innovation

After 10 years and two terms as Chairperson of Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre, Professor Kirk Domer is returning to the faculty. His time as Chairperson, he says, has been defined by three words: renovation, innovation, and compassion. He has built a reputation of leading from a place of compassionate and collaborative risk-taking, using the art of theatre to serve as a civilizing agent in society. He summed up his tenure as Chairperson by saying: “My goal has…

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Faculty Receive Funding to Develop Open Educational Resources

In an effort to promote equal access to information and spaces for all, MSU Libraries have awarded nine MSU faculty members funding assistance for the creation and adaption of open education resource materials for the 2020-21 academic year as part of a new program designed to help instructors reduce costs for students, improve access to required text, and increase student…

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Interim Director of Projects and Education Appointed for Writing Center

Karen Moroski-Rigney has been appointed Interim Director of Projects and Education for the Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as the Writing Center Director in January 2021.  As the Interim Director of Projects and Education, Moroski-Rigney…

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Grace Pregent Appointed Interim Director of The Writing Center

Grace Pregent has been appointed Interim Director of The Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as The Writing Center Director in January 2021.  Pregent began serving as the Associate Director of The Writing Center in 2019,…

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Paula Winke Named Director of Second Language Studies

Paula Winke, Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has been appointed Director of the Second Language Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters, effective August 16, 2020, through August 15, 2024.   The Second Language Studies (SLS) Program is an interdisciplinary research and pedagogy program whose members investigate the acquisition and teaching…

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Salah Hassan Appointed Director of Global Studies in Arts and Humanities

Salah Hassan has been appointed Director of the Global Studies in Arts and Humanities (GSAH) program. This three-year appointment is effective August 16, 2020, to August 15, 2023.  Hassan served as Interim Director of GSAH during the 2019-2020 academic year. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and a core faculty member in the GSAH and Muslim Studies programs.  A…

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Examining the Power of Pop Culture to Shape Perception, Issues, and Trends

Kinitra Brooks grew up connecting ideas, asking questions, and demanding the freedom to do so. Today, the Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of English continues to push boundaries through her study of Black women, genre fiction, popular culture, and the work of conjure women as intellectual history. “Basically, I teach and research Black women creating weird stuff,” Brooks said. “That includes Black women…

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