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.
Four faculty members received 2024 HARP Development Awards, which grant up to $25,000 to support research leading to creative or performance-oriented projects or activities within the arts and humanities fields. Three other faculty members received 2024 HARP Production Awards, which are up to $7,000 to help subsidize the costs associated with a completed creative or research project, such as the cost of publishing a book, gaining copyright permissions, creating and mounting exhibits, or for CD production and recordings.
HARP Development Award Recipients
Silvina Bongiovanni
Silvina Bongiovanni, Assistant Professor of Spanish, is using her HARP Grant to fund a project titled “Mind the Gap: Speech Perception Research Comes to Real-World Second Language Classrooms.” It aims to improve second language (L2) acquisition by incorporating High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) into classroom settings. Despite research showing the importance of sound perception for accurate pronunciation, traditional L2 instruction usually focus on other aspects of language learning.
The project introduces the Multilingual Online Listening Exercises (MOLE) platform, initially for Spanish, French, and Japanese, which has shown promising pilot results. The HARP Grant is funding course releases and allowing the project to focus on beta-testing, teacher engagement, and creating teaching materials to seamlessly integrate MOLE into curricula, enhancing language education and promoting linguistic diversity.
Jon Keune
Jon Keune, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, is using his HARP Grant to advance his second monograph on transnational Buddhism and Ambedkarite migration. This book explores the legacies of B. R. Ambedkar’s modernist, politically engaged Buddhism as a path of liberation from untouchability, especially as Ambedkarite professionals migrate to Japan, Dubai, the UK, and the United States and interact with very different visions of Buddhism along the way.
The grant supported Keune’s research during the Fall 2024 Semester, allowing him to conduct follow-up research in India and the UK, share his findings with European colleagues while a Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt, Germany, and continue working on chapters of his book. By examining how Ambedkarite Buddhists adapt and redefine themselves in diverse global contexts, this book will contribute to understanding transnational religion and the impacts of migration on cultural and religious identity.
Robin Silbergleid
Robin Silbergleid, Professor of English, is using her HARP Grant to fund the research and development of a poetry manuscript titled Matryoshka. Centered on her family’s immigration from Ukraine in the early 20th century, this book explores the experiences of Jewish immigrants to the United States and their descendants. With this manuscript, Silbergleid aims to provide a literary exploration of Jewish-American history, counter contemporary antisemitism, and contribute to the canon of Jewish-American poetry.
The book includes poems that span history, memory, and imaginative speculation, covering topics like intergenerational trauma, Jewish diaspora, and cultural assimilation. The grant supports the manuscript completion, additional research, and securing a publisher.
d’Ann de Simone
d’Ann de Simone, Professor of Printmaking and Painting, is using her HARP Grant to expand her studio practice, which focuses on collage and incorporates vintage and upcycled handicrafts, including textiles, needlepoint, and embroidery. These crafts, traditionally created by women using labor-intensive techniques, are central to de Simone’s work. She deconstructs and recontextualizes these pieces by adding her own sewing and painting, reinvigorating and honoring their legacies while offering a feminist critique of the hierarchical distinction between craft and fine art. De Simone considers herself a collaborator with these women and whenever possible, cites their identities.
Her recent work is made on circular wooden structures, evoking embroidery hoops, and is covered with delicate, translucent Dacron. The HARP Grant will enable de Simone to further develop the sculptural dimension of her pieces by stacking hoops, layering collaged materials, and incorporating lighting to accentuate the translucency and fragility of the work. This approach symbolizes the theme of transience, highlighting the impermanence and vulnerability of both the materials and their histories.
HARP Production Award Recipients
Ryan Claytor
Ryan Claytor, Assistant Professor of Comics and Graphic Novels, used his HARP Grant to fund the publication of his book, One Bite at a Time, which showcases his 20 years of work in comics, design, and illustration.
The book includes a wide variety of artwork by Claytor, including his comics, personal illustration projects, design inspirations, and never-before-seen pieces like neon designs, watch designs, and early multimedia projects.
Aiming to educate and inspire readers, the book focuses on the creative process behind each artwork, with every piece accompanied by detailed outlines of Claytor’s working methods.
Chris Corneal
Chris Corneal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, used his HARP Grant to curate “I Profess: The Graphic Design Manifesto,” a 20th Anniversary traveling juried exhibition of posters by graphic design educators. This exhibition, originally co-curated with Maya Drozdz, began in 2004 and toured various universities until 2008.
The 20th Anniversary iteration is co-curated with Audrey Bennett, Diversity and Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan, and features posters designed by professors worldwide, each reflecting their teaching philosophies to spark dialogue on graphic design education.
The exhibition debuted at SCENE Metrospace Gallery in East Lansing in February 2024 and continues to exhibit nationally and internationally at university-affiliated galleries in the United States and UK throughout 2024, with additional exhibitions scheduled in 2025. A 100-page catalog documents the traveling exhibit, enhancing its impact and reach.
Rocio Quispe-Agnoli
Rocío Quispe-Agnoli, Professor of Latin American Studies, is using her HARP Grant to subsidize the production and publication costs of her book, “Qhipa Pacha: Futurismo Peruano. Antología Bilingüe/Qhipa Pacha. Peruvian Futurism.”
This anthology includes 14 speculative fiction stories by contemporary Peruvian writers, organized into three themes: Futurism and Ancestral Memory, Urban Futurism, and Futurism from Outer Space. The volume, which explores futuristic visions rooted in Peruvian culture, was published as an eBook in December 2023 and in print in 2024.
Quispe-Agnoli discusses her book in this video created by MSU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
