Ask the Expert: How Ideas of Democracy and Religion Have Changed Since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

In early 2011, Egyptians calling for “bread, freedom, and social justice” took to the streets to protest the 30-year authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak. Jan. 25 marks the 15th anniversary…

Continue ReadingAsk the Expert: How Ideas of Democracy and Religion Have Changed Since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

Professor Researching Indigenous Environmental Stewardship with Support from Newberry Fellowship  

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.

Continue ReadingProfessor Researching Indigenous Environmental Stewardship with Support from Newberry Fellowship  

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

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.

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

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

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…

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

Several College Projects Supported by HARP Development and Production Awards

Projects by College of Arts & Letters faculty, ranging from a linguistic course, to traveling exhibitions, to books on a range of subjects, received support this year from Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP) Development or Production Awards. Funding for these HARP Grants is provided, in part, through the Michigan State University Research Foundation.

Continue ReadingSeveral College Projects Supported by HARP Development and Production Awards

Tracing the Roots of Indigenous Science Fiction and Futurisms in America

A photo of a Star Wars stormtrooper that hangs in Blaire Morseau’s home epitomizes both her childhood passions and current research pursuits. The photo appears in a frame with a unique Southwest design, a favorite find bought from a Native artist when Morseau was a graduate student at the University of New Mexico. Now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University and an inaugural 1855 Professor of Great Lakes Anisshinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices...

Continue ReadingTracing the Roots of Indigenous Science Fiction and Futurisms in America

1855 Professor: Researching and Teaching Native American Environmental Ethics

Elan Pochedley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University, focuses much of his research and teaching on understanding the sustainable stewardship that Native Americans have…

Continue Reading1855 Professor: Researching and Teaching Native American Environmental Ethics