The Ever Widening Circle

The Arts and Humanities Experience at MSU Curated by Dean Long.

[deancplong]

Celebrating the 2016 Alumni Board College of Arts & Letters Faculty Awards.

[deancplong]

The Art of the March at Spartan Stadium, #MSUvUMD. @michiganstateu

[deancplong]

Scott and Kristy Lovejoy hosted a gathering of #Spartans at their home in Bend, OR. It was a great opportunity to thank them for their generous gift to support faculty in the College of Arts and Letters and to talk about our new major in Experience Architecture.

We brought two eloquent and passionate students, Emily Dallaire and Tommy Truong, along with us.

[deancplong]

The Ever Widening Circle

In notes from his Fall 1951 Convocation address to the freshman class of what was still then the Michigan State College, President John Hannah spoke of the Michigan State community as an “Ever Widening Circle.” 

Here is a screenshot of a section of those notes.

What strikes me here is the way he seems to have pulled the historical facts and the specific data points he must have mentioned in previous iterations of the speech into a broader vision of the campus and community as “The Ever Widening Circle.”

The image reminded me of Emerson’s essay, Circles, in which he writes:

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth, that around every circle another can be drawn;

What is perhaps under-emphasized by Emerson is the manner in which that apprenticeship is a collaborative endeavor. 

But this collaborative dimension, it seems to me, is what Hannah was emphasizing in his address to the entering freshmen of 1951: they were the next circle in an ever widening educational community, the latest ring expanding out around the circle at the center of campus, that “sacred space” around which the campus was originally founded. 

This is the spirit in which I have adopted “The Ever Widening Circle” as the name of this tumble log.

[deancplong]

Last night was the Traverse City Film Festival premier of (313) Choices, an MSU student written and produced film about the lives of 15 different people in six vignettes. The title is a reference to the Detroit area code, (313), and the film explores the choices they’ve made and the dreams they’ve deferred. 

Afterwards we celebrated at the President’s reception at the Park Place Hotel where I met and talked to the remarkable group of students who made the film possible and who are helping to make the Traverse City Film Festival the success it is. 

This is an excellent example of the rich educational experiences that are possible when innovative faculty like Mark Colson and David Wheeler empower MSU students to create original content. And it’s a testimony to the educational opportunities that emerge when MSU colleges (in this case, the College of Arts & Letters, the College of Communications Arts and Sciences, and the College of Music) collaborate and work closely with communities committed to the arts.

[deancplong]

Great to see Trixie Smith at the #wcmsu today.

[deancplong]

Art, Art History, and Design

[deancplong]

Celebrating #NationalIceCreamDay @MSUDairyStore w/ Nittany White Out + @CALMSU Golden Apple! @psucreamery

[deancplong]

Yesterday, Kirk Domer, Chair of Theatre @CALmsu, took me through the vast and empty MSU auditorium, a structure that was completed in 1940 after the Public Works Administration allocated more than a $500K to the project.

The Auditorium is a site rich in history, but what I wanted to capture with this image of the empty space is the way it invites us both to recall the history of past events and anticipate the possibilities of those to come.

[deancplong]

(via Fantasia of Color in Early Cinema on Vimeo)

As I meet and listen to faculty, students, and staff around the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State, I’ll curate some of the remarkable things I hear and learn on this tumble log. 

Today, I learned about Joshua Yurimba excellent new edited volume, Fantasia of Color in Early Cinema. Here is a beautiful video that captures something of the beauty of the book.

[deancplong]

Nick Jones, Provost @penn_state: "Together, research and graduate education have enhanced the reputation of Penn State as well as contributed immeasurably to public welfare, the advancement of knowledge and the economy of the commonwealth."

Provost's report to the Board of Trustees | Penn State University

[deancplong]

The awkward balance between mind and matter, academics and ambition, doesn’t pervert college’s native mission. From the earliest days of the institution, it has been the fragile nature of the thing itself.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/poison-ivy

[deancplong]

If you put that kind of humanistic education into the inherently dehumanizing space of prison, you can restore a person’s individual agency

http://nyr.kr/1uKSw2E

[deancplong]

"Our goal is to provide our students with a 21st century liberal arts education that combines traditional liberal arts skills in communication, analytical thinking, ethical decision making, and appreciation for other cultures and other times, with new commitments to digital fluency, civic engagement, and global intelligence. The Liberal Arts Edge combines an outstanding Liberal Arts education with the extra support and skills students need to make a successful transition to the world of meaningful work. Alumni-supported initiatives such as the Chapel Executive Internship Program enable us to offer substantive undergraduate enrichment opportunities to some of our hardest working and ambitious students."

Chapel Executive Intern gains 'edge' for future success

[deancplong]

Use the buddy system when walking late at night, walk in well lighted areas, Avoid traveling alone at night. Walk with a friend or use the Safe Walk Service at 865-WALK (9255).

http://www.police.psu.edu/psu-police/crime-alerts.cfm

[deancplong]

Not only are men more likely than women to earn tenure, but in computer science and sociology, they are significantly more likely to earn tenure than are women who have the same research productivity.

Study raises questions about why women are less likely than men to earn tenure at research universities @insidehighered

[deancplong]

Steve Yi, CEO of web advertising platform MediaAlpha, says that the liberal arts train students to thrive in subjectivity and ambiguity, a necessary skill in the tech world where few things are black and white. “In the dynamic environment of the technology sector, there is not typically one right answer when you make decisions,” he says. “There are just different shades of how correct you might be,” he says.

Why Top Tech CEOs Want Employees With Liberal Arts Degrees | Fast Company | Business Innovation