Feeling overwhelmed by endless notifications and screen time? Hit pause and join us for a digital detox lunch! Bring your own lunch! Monday, March 23rd from 11:30am to 1:00pm in the ISA HQ, International Center, Garden Level. 

How do nuclear weapons and nuclear disasters shape the stories we tell? This talk explores the shifting nuclear imagination in modern Japanese fiction through two provocative novels that move from Cold War anxiety to post-Fukushima visions of future conflict: Kobo Abe's Ark Sakura (1984) and So Kurokawa's From the Rocky Cliff (2017). Abe's darkly humorous tale unfolds over a single day inside a nuclear shelter, where eccentric characters prepare for global annihilation.

Kurokawa's novel imagines Japan in the year 2045, confronting environmental disasters, overflowing nuclear waste, international wars, and a military uprising at a nuclear power plant that risks another catastrophe. By reading these works together, the talk situates the nuclear imagination within broader debates on environmental crises and asks what Japanese literature can teach us about living with long-term nuclear risk on the 15th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Rachel DiNitto is Professor of Japanese Literature at the University of Oregon. Her research explores the nuclear environmental humanities through contemporary cultural production including literature, film, and manga. Her publications include the books Fukushima Fiction: The Literary Landscape of Japan's Triple Disaster (2019) and the edited volume Eco-Disasters in Japanese Cinema (2024).

Late Soviet classic film quoted by many even today.

Diana Darke presents "How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe"

Please stay tuned for details

EA 101 is for anyone interested in studying abroad but isn't sure where to start!

Topics covered include:

• Benefits of Education Abroad
• Things to Consider (courses, timing, budget)
• Program Types
• Cost Factors and Program Fees
• Scholarships and Funding
• Navigating the Website
• Searching for Programs
• Health, Safety and Security

At the end there will be a Q&A session where you can ask us any questions you may have.

Register on Zoom

Love to travel? Interested in living abroad after graduation? Curious about exploring other cultures?

MSU students and recent graduates are invited to this Fulbright US Student Program information session, which will be presented by MSU's Fulbright Program Advisor, Joy Campbell. The Fulbright is a competitive grant program sponsored by the US Department of State that provides funding for travel and living expenses; the competition is open to US citizens who hope to teach English, pursue graduate studies, or conduct research abroad after graduation. 

Session attendees will learn about the three types of Fulbright awards open to MSU students and recent graduates: English Teaching Assistant, Study, and Research grants. MSU's Fulbright Program Advisor will give an overview of the programs, discuss eligibility and benefits, then cover the various application requirements. 

Students typically work on applications the summer after junior year, applying in September of their senior year. It is also possible for recent alumni to apply. 

This hybrid session will be offered in person and online:

• Join in person: International Center, Room 201
• Join via Zoom:
  • https://msu.zoom.us/j/98940048361
  • Meeting ID:  989 4004 8361
  • Authentication: MSU email address required. If you have graduated and no longer have one, please contact Joy Campbell prior to the event to be added to the invitation list under your personal email. 

For more information, explore the MSU Fulbright website, and contact Joy Campbell with any questions. 

Go Green! Go White! Go Global!

Join us in celebrating the winners of our annual International Student Essay Contest. The winners will read their winning essays aloud. 

Join author Diana Darke for this illustrated talk exploring the historical and artistic connections between Syria and Europe. The presentation begins with the Christian art and architecture still extant on Syrias hillsides, where thousands of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-century churches can be studied and explored. The Umayyads, the first Islamic dynasty, inherited this Syrian legacy in the seventh and eighth centuries from their capital, Damascus. This heritage shaped the earliest examples of Islamic art and architecture, including Jerusalem's iconic Dome of the Rock and Damascus Great Umayyad Mosque, both built for new Muslim patrons with the help of leading Christian craftsmen. When the Umayyads later established their dynasty in al-Andalus (present-day Spain and Portugal), where Islamic art and architecture reached its peak in the early medieval period, the roles reversed: top Muslim craftsmen worked for new Christian patrons during the Catholic reconquest of Spain, transferring their skills and decorative repertoires into Latin Europe.

Does Islam Have a Liberation Theology?", with multiple panels and keynote presentations by Ebrahim Moosa (University of Notre Dame) and Sylvia Chan-Malik (Rutgers University). Webinar registration

Event program