Author: <span>popiolek</span>

Professor Researching Indigenous Environmental Stewardship with Support from Newberry Fellowship

November 10, 2025

Elan Pochedley, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and 1855 Professor of Great Lakes Anishinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices, was awarded the Newberry Consortium in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (NCAIS) long-term faculty fellowship to research how Indigenous peoples’ expressions of environmental stewardship and governance have been practiced, sustained, interrupted, and/or rekindled throughout the central and western Great Lakes region.

Alumni / English / News / Religious Studies

From First-Generation Graduate to Rehabilitation Counselor and Advocate for Developmentally Disabled

November 7, 2025

Renee Hall earned dual bachelor’s degrees in English and Religious Studies from Michigan State University in 2010 and a master’s degree, also from MSU, in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2014. She has been an active member of the disability community for more than 20 years, serving in roles including advocate, direct support professional, service coordinator, counselor, and research specialist. She also is a first-generation college graduate.

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Grant / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / Michigan Impact / News / Religious Studies / Research / U.S. Impact

Religious Studies Professor Part of $3.6 Million NSF Grant to Build First-of-Its-Kind Solar-Agriculture Lab

October 27, 2025

Michigan State University scientists plan to build a first-of-its-kind outdoor lab to study how solar panels placed alongside crops cloud save water, improve soil health, and support ecosystems, all while boosting farmers' bottom line and preserving farm production. The project, led by Earth and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Anthony Kendall, is made possible by a five-year $3.6 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Gretel Van Wieren, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at MSU, is among the senior research personnel on the project.

News / Religious Studies / Student / Student

M.A. Program Allows Graduate Student to ‘Double Down’ on What She Loves

September 26, 2025

Katie Paauwe, a student in the M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program at Michigan State University, worked in various office management, human resources, and sales coordination positions before deciding to go back to school to earn a master’s degree.

African American and African Studies / Alumni / Arts MSU / Faculty / Faculty / Linguistics / News / Religious Studies / Research / Scholarship / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

First MSU Faculty and Alum Selected for Artists-in-Residence Program at W.K. Kellogg Biological Station

May 28, 2025

Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters will be well represented this year among the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artists-in-Residence Program. The 2025 artists-in-residence…

Event / Faculty / Faculty / Religious Studies / Research

Lecture Series Showcases Strong Connection Between Religious Studies and MSU Libraries’ Special Collections

January 30, 2025

Religious Studies faculty will discuss how the MSU Libraries' Special Collections informs their teaching and research as part of the Collecting Religion Lecture Series offered this semester. Hosted by MSU…

Alumni / Award / Featured Alumni / News / Religious Studies / Uncategorized

Religious Studies Alum Awarded Prestigious International Fellowship

January 21, 2025

Mustafa Syed, a Michigan State University alum who graduated in Summer 2024 with a B.A. in Religious Studies, has been named a Schwarzman Scholar and will join an elite group of future global leaders selected from around the world for this prestigious graduate fellowship program. He is MSU’s second Schwarzman Scholar in the 10-year history of the award.