@macdowel

Afrofuturism & Quilting Exhibition: Exploring Connections Within Teaching, Learning, and Quilt Praxis

April 17, 2024

Stitch by stitch, quilt making has played an integral role in African American history. But the storytelling embedded in the quilts themselves is more than mere tradition. In the Afrofuturism & Quilts: Materializing Black Futures & Black Womxn’s Quilt Legacies Exhibition now on display through Friday, July 19, at the MSU Union Art Gallery, local and national quilt artists and quilt scholars explore embodied and theoretical connections between Afrofuturism and quilt making.

A collage of photos of various different people in front of a collection of backgrounds.

Faculty / Grant / News

Several College of Arts & Letters Projects Supported by HARP Grants

December 13, 2023

Twelve College of Arts & Letters faculty members currently are working on projects supported by 2023 Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP) Grants. The projects range from mixed media artwork and theatrical productions to the publication of books on a variety of topics including South African quilts and textiles, German migration history, and color cinema. Six of the faculty members…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News

Faculty Receive Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards

February 8, 2023

Four faculty members from the College of Arts & Letters are being honored by the University as recipients of 2022-2023 Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards. These awards, presented by MSU's Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, recognize recipients' exceptional and innovative contributions that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Michigan State University through their teaching, research, programming, service,…

woman wearing a black top with short curly hair smiling at the camera with a bookshelf in the background

Award / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / Staff

AAHD Professor and Museum Curator Honored by American Folklore Society

January 29, 2021

The American Folklore Society (AFS), the country's professional society for folklorists, has awarded Marsha MacDowell, Professor in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design and MSU Museum Curator, the 2020 recipient of the society's Benjamin A. Botkin Prize for significant lifetime achievement in the field of public folklore. MacDowell is the Curator of Folk Arts and Quilt Studies at…

News / Programs / Research

The Quilt Index Relaunches and Expands Its Collection

November 15, 2018

This past October 2018, a new iteration of the Quilt Index, a digital repository of thousands of images, stories, and information about quilts and their makers drawn from hundreds of public and private collections around the world, was launched. Already a major digital humanities resource, this new version aims to significantly strengthen and expand the use of quilt-related data in research and teaching.

photo of a woman with brown hair smiling while holding the big, black hat on her head

Alumni / Exhibition / News / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

Alumna Coordinates Exhibits at Lansing Art Gallery

April 24, 2018

Last year, Michigan State University alumna Katrina Daniels was named the Exhibitions and Gallery Sales Director for the Lansing Art Gallery & Education Center. Daniels has two bachelor’s degrees from MSU, one in Interior Design (2005) and the other in Art History (2008). Daniels is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. and the…

Award / Faculty / News / Publication

Chicago Folklore Prize Awarded to Book Co-Authored by AAHD Professor

November 17, 2017

Four colleagues at the MSU Museum, including a Professor in the Department of Art, Art History and Design, recently received the prestigious Chicago Folklore Prize from the University of Chicago for their 2016 book, Quilts and Human Rights.Each year, the Chicago Folklore Prize is presented to authors of a book-length work that explores the intersection between folklore and scholarship. This year, the…

Alumni / Award / Faculty / News

CAL Alumni Association Presents Faculty Awards

April 22, 2016

Joined by the College of Arts & Letters Alumni Association Board (photo bottom right), and CAL staff members, Acting Dean Elizabeth H. Simmons presented the 2015 CAL Alumni Association Faculty Awards at a brunch and awards ceremony conducted Saturday, April 11 at the Kellogg Center. Award winners left to right with Dean Simmons (second from right) are: Chair of the…

Event / Exhibition / News / Performance / Production

‘Hmong Memory at the Crossroads’ Film Premiere

January 13, 2016

The College of Arts & Letters Department of Romance and Classical Studies will premiere the documentary film Hmong Memory at the Crossroads at 4:00 pm, Monday, February 15, 2016 in the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center Auditorium, 219 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing. Admission is FREE and open to the public. A discussion and reception will follow. https://vimeo.com/138744767 Film Synopsis…

Faculty / News / Staff

AAHD’s Marsha MacDowell Named American Folklore Society Fellow

December 1, 2015

Dr. Marsha MacDowell, Michigan State University Professor of Art, Art History, and Design and MSU Museum Curator of Folk Arts has been named a fellow of the American Folklore Society (AFS), in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the field. Established in 1960, the Fellows of the American Folklore Society is an honorary body of folklorists whose members…