Calendar
SPARTAN SKIN
Young Joon Kwak | April 9 – May 21, 2021
Guarded on game day and integral to graduation photographs, the bronze cast of Leonard Jungwirth’s 1945 Spartan statue is the central symbol of Michigan State University. The Spartan is an exemplary body, an icon of race, gender, and physical fitness that reflects the university’s ideal virtues of tenacity and will. Arriving at MSU in the wake of a national reckoning with white supremacy that often used debate about historical monuments as a proxy for broader questions of justice, 2020-21 Artist-in-Residence in Critical Race Studies Young Joon Kwak models a different approach to public art. The artist takes a recuperative attitude toward the Spartan statue, while opening the symbol to careful consideration. What does it mean, Kwak’s work asks, to identify a university campus that reflects our diverse society with any one icon?
Having made molds of portions of the statue’s exterior, Kwak created sculptures in cold-cast metals that remake the Spartan’s skin. The artist lavishes attention on the statue’s surface, preserving details that show evidence of Jungwirth’s hand and draw attention to subtle fan interactions. Kwak’s sculptures include impressions left by the pennies glued to the statue by athletes seeking good luck. Surrounding the casts are a series of monumental prints made from the molds, in which the Spartan’s body deviates further from his original form. Presented in fragments, and in works that demand contemplation, Kwak provides a site for careful reconsideration of the meaning of the Spartan. Spartan Skin opens to the public on Friday, April 9 beginning at 12 pm at the MSU Union Art Gallery.
Young Joon Kwak (b. 1984 in Queens, NY) is the 2020 – 2021 Artist-in-Residence in Critical Race Studies at Michigan State University. Kwak is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, CA, and Lansing, MI, who primarily uses sculpture, performance, video, and community-based collaborations to reimagine bodies and the power structures that govern our everyday lives as mutable and permeable sites of agency. Kwak is the lead performer in the electronic-dance-noise band Xina Xurner, and the founder of Mutant Salon, a roving platform for collaborative installations and performances with their queer/trans/POC/mutant community.
We invite you to participate in several new original creative arts mental health exercises to promote healthy self-talk and self-care.
These exercises will be facilitated by MSU students in the IAH 241Creative Process course. Co-sponsored by the Director ofStudent Wellness for the College of Arts & Letters.
Join us for one of these days for a fun, free, and relaxing time to get your mind focused on the arts. Friday, April 9th OR Friday, April 16th From 1:00PM-3:00PM
SIGN UP HERE: HTTPS://WWW.SIGNUPGENIUS.COM/GO/30E094DA9AA29A13-CREATIVE
We invite you to participate in several new original creative arts mental health exercises to promote healthy self-talk and self-care.
These exercises will be facilitated by MSU students in the IAH 241Creative Process course. Co-sponsored by the Director ofStudent Wellness for the College of Arts & Letters.
Join us for one of these days for a fun, free, and relaxing time to get your mind focused on the arts. Friday, April 9th OR Friday, April 16th From 1:00PM-3:00PM
SIGN UP HERE: HTTPS://WWW.SIGNUPGENIUS.COM/GO/30E094DA9AA29A13-CREATIVE
On April 17, Spartans around the world will participate in service projects for the Global Day of Service. It is a simple but powerful way to make an impact in your community alongside family, friends and fellow Spartans.
We are seeking individuals — or groups of individuals — who are willing to plan and register service projects. This year provides unique opportunities to explore virtual and socially distanced service projects. It’s a great way to interact with fellow Spartans while doing your part to make the world a better place. We made several handy resources to help you through the planning process.
How does it work?
From cleaning up beaches, to interacting with shelter animals, to writing letters for people who could use some encouragement, Spartans can make a lasting impact on those around them by planning a project in their community.
Now more than ever your help is needed, and you can find ways to help virtually or in your local community while following state and local guidelines. All you have to do is visit the link below, and follow the steps to create your project for the Global Day of Service.
To create a project, go to: Serve – Powered by Michigan State Spartans Worldwide (msu.edu)
Prefer not to plan a project, but want to participate:
If planning a project is not something you’re interested in, you can still play a part by participating in a service project virtually or in your local community. All projects will be registered on serve.msu.edu. As the date gets closer, you can check out the projects that are happening in your community.
Come to hear Bronson Hui defend his dissertation, “Examining explicit and implicit word knowledge.” The event is open to the public. Please email Dr. Aline Godfroid or Bronson Hui for the Zoom password.
C
ome and learn about innovative listening-test passage writing, guided by guest Dr. Olena Rossi!
Sponsored by the English Language Center Testing Office and the SLA Knowledge & Production Lab, Michigan State University Dr. Olena Rossi has an MA and a PhD from Lancaster University, UK, and specializes in language test design, item-writing, item writer training, and assessment literacy for test stakeholders. Dr. Rossi has extensive experience working as an examiner, item writer, and item reviewer for several examination boards. Join the Zoom and learn with us! Questions? Email Dan Reed, Paula Winke, or Koen Van Gorp
reeddan@msu.edu; winke@msu.edu; vangorpk@msu.edu
Come and support Xiaowan Zhang, who will defend her dissertation “Time to Minimal Proficiency in English Language Learner Children and Factors that Affect the Time” on May 14 at 1 PM. Please email Paula Winke or Xiaowan Zhang for the Zoom password.
The Second Language Studies Program invites you to attend the 2021 SLS Graduation Ceremony either in person, virtually, or you may watch a recording on the SLS website after the event. Attendance is optional and will involve the following:
• Gather outside at the MSU 4-H
Children’s Garden at the pink
amphitheater seating area in front of the
Children’s House.
• Dr. Winke and others will be invited to
speak about the four 2021 graduates.
• Then, the gathered group will take a walk
through the MSU 4-H Children’s Garden,
and the Lewis Landscape Arboretum,
and for those who want more, the
beautiful MSU Radiology Gardens!
DIRECTIONS: Walk to the 4-H Children’s Garden from anywhere on campus, or drive and park in Lot 54, Bogue Street (Lot 54 is just north of the railroad tracks and across the street from the MSU Equestrian Center). Please feel free to bring your own drinks or snacks if you wish.
Come and support Myeongeun Son, who will defend her dissertation “L2 language development in oral and written modality” on August 4 at 10:00 AM Eastern. Please email Myeongeun or Patti Spinner for the Zoom password.
Come to hear Magdalyne Akiding defend her dissertation, “An investigation of motivational strategy use by instructors of African languages in the United States.” The event is open to the public. Please email Dr. Paula Winke or Magdalyne Akiding for the Zoom password.