Begun in 2026, the Center brings together three units – Digital Humanities at MSU (DH@MSU), Mesh Research, and the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) – to create cross-disciplinary connections and leverage expertise to grow new projects. Beyond the three core units, CPAAH is a community of affiliated projects, labs, and centers, each engaging with their own communities and with their own research and creative outcomes. The Center brings these groups together to spark ideas, share knowledge, and make the logistics of running projects smoother.  

In the 2026-2027 year, CPAAH is organizing a series of open talks showcasing exciting work from across the College of Arts and Letters that embodies the public and applied research and creative activity that the Center has been founded to nurture. This year, we will also search for a Center Director and work to build the foundation for how we will work in years to come. 

People

Behind The Work (2026-27 Speaker Series)

September 

• Fri, 18 Sept – 8:30am-3pm THATCamp (DH@MSU), Digital Scholarship Lab, MSU Main Library 

October 

• Fri, 2 Oct, 12-1pm – Behind the Work: Betsy Sneller & Suzanne Wagner, Michigan Diaries (MiDiaries) – Wells B342 

November 

• Thu, 5 Nov –12-2pm DH Research Showcase (DH@MSU), Green Room, MSU Main Library 

• Fri, 6 Nov, 12-1pm – Behind the Work: Austin Oting Har, Bogue Street Records – Wells B342
  Austin Oting Har is a composer, writer, performer, and new music advocate with a background in music technology and ancient philosophy. An Assistant Professor at the School of Residential Community-Engaged Arts & Humanities (RCAH) in the College of Arts & Letters, he is the founder and director of Bogue Street Records, an interdisciplinary label for Michigan artists at the crossroads of contemporary music, poetry, video and sound art. 

December 

• Fri, 4 Dec, 12-1pm – Behind the Work: Barbara Pearsall, AAHD – Location TBD
  Teaching public art has led to a sustained collaboration between my students and the City of East Lansing where downtown has become a “collaboratory,” giving students the opportunity to have firsthand experience creating community-based arts. Last fall, Wendy Sylvester-Rowan, the City’s Arts Programming and Creative Placemaking Specialist, invited my Color and Design students to create a colored-film installation and my Introduction to Sculpture students built a microgallery. The following semester, my Integrative Arts & Humanities course created artworks that addressed the unique challenges facing East Lansing’s urban forest. These pieces activated the downtown environment in preparation for a series of focus groups that led to the community-guided Downtown Tree Canopy Revitalization Plan. Opportunities like these foster students’ understanding of how creative work can reimagine shared public spaces and strengthen our community.

Thriving Arts and Humanities Programs (2026-27 Professional Learning Community)

The first Center for Public and Applied Arts & Humanities (CPAAH) professional learning community offers a collaborative space to explore how we can help arts and humanities programs move from surviving to thriving. Offered by the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), it builds on CeLTA’s “Thriving Language Programs and Enrollments in Higher Education” learning community, professional development offerings, and research, we will examine practical strategies for strengthening enrollments, recruitment, retention, marketing, program management, and advocacy. 

Link to web site: Thriving Arts and Humanities Programs Professional Learning Community

Contact Us

For more information, please email Interim Director Kathleen Fitzpatrick.