Melba Boyd is a native Detroiter and a distinguished professor in the department of African-American Studies at Wayne State University. An award-winning author of 13 books, her poetry, essays, and creative nonfiction have appeared in anthologies, academic journals, cultural periodicals, and newspapers in the United States and Europe. Today (Thursday) at noon, Boyd will be joining other community leaders for Wayne State University’s George Floyd in America: Black Detroiters on George Floyd event. The virtual event is part of a new series — called George Floyd in America — that is presented by the university’s Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Law School, Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Prior to the event, Hour Detroit spoke with Boyd about the ongoing protests, how the country has responded to the killing of George Floyd, and the future of policing.

Rapper Big Sean’s philanthropic foundation continues to support a program created to deal with student homelessness at Detroit’s Wayne State University. The school recently announced a gift of $10,000 from Sean Anderson Foundation to the HIGH (Helping Individuals Go Higher) Program. The foundation created a $25,000 endowment for the program in 2016 and followed with financial gifts in 2017 and last year. The HIGH Program, created in 2013, provides short-term help to students in need to provide some stability and help them complete their degree. Big Sean, a Detroit native, formed the foundation in 2012 to help improve the quality of life for young people and their families.

Big Sean continues to put on for his city. The Detroit native donated $10,000 through his Sean Anderson Foundation to benefit Wayne State University’s HIGH (Helping Individuals Go Higher) program. This isn’t the first time that Sean has helped out in support of the program. In 2016, the foundation created a $25,000 endowment for the program. In 2017, the foundation donated $15,000 and then followed up with $10,000 in 2018. The Sean Anderson Foundation’s executive director spoke on the impact of this commitment. “We are pleased to continue our commitment to the HIGH Program in support of its dedication to students facing hardships,” said Myra Anderson. “The HIGH Program touches the lives of students, helping them as they pursue their higher education goals.” Jacqueline Wilson, who founded the HIGH Program in 2013, said, “The Sean Anderson Foundation has been a consistent supporter of the HIGH Program through its financial support. The foundation’s resolve to provide funding helps us pursue our mission to ensure that no student abandons their dream of earning a degree at Wayne State University solely because of housing or financial challenges.”

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University welcomes renowned Israeli choreographer Bosmat Nossan as the Fall 2019 Allesee Guest Artist-in-Residence, Oct.1 through 11. Nossan has performed her work internationally. She is the artistic director and founder of the Gaga teacher training program, a former dancer of the Batsheva Dance Company and the Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company. Bosmat is a staff member of 'La Collectiz'- a graduate program for contemporary dancers. She was awarded with the Israel-America Cultural Foundation scholarship in 2004 and 2006, as well as the Remco award for promising artist in 2005, and a danceWEB scholarship in 2011. "This is a profound opportunity for our students and our community," says Meg Paul, director of dance for the department. "Having Ms. Nossan provide our students with her insight, artistry and experience is what makes the Allesee Guest Artist-in-Residence program such an integral part of our educational program. We are grateful to both Maggie Allesee, for whom the program is named thanks to her endowment, and to Ms. Nossan for making time to be with us."  

Exploring topics such as race, gender, sexuality, and mental health, members of the Freedom Players — an ensemble formed out of Wayne State University’s Black Theater and Dance Program — went no holds barred this month when they performed their honest and original play, I Am, at the Scotland-based Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The trip marked the first time WSU students have attended the month-long, city-wide celebration, and their play was one of more than 50,000 performances showcased during the festival’s run. Following their experience across the Atlantic Ocean, Hour Detroit spoke with Billicia Hines, artistic director of the Black Theatre and Dance Collective at WSU, about the decision to attend this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, how it felt to bring their heartfelt work to an international audience, and the unforgettable impression this experience has had on the young Freedom Players.                                                    

The Detroit Jazz Festival has year-round education initiatives that bring musicians such as the artist-in-residence into local schools to work with and mentor the next generation of jazz artists. “I think it’s one of the jewels of Detroit,” said Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson. “Wayne State is very proud to be affiliated with it. For students to be able to participate and be mentored is huge.”

The eighth and final season of the HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ begins next month on April 14. The show’s popularity has had an impact at colleges and universities, where courses in medieval studies have increased since it began airing. Closer to home at Wayne State University, assistant professor Hilary Fox’s specialty in medieval ethics and history have made her a popular lecturer among the show’s local fans. This Thursday, March 28 at HopCat Brewery, Fox will talk about the real-life historical events mirrored in ‘Game of Thrones’ plot as part of Wayne State’s ‘Knowledge on Tap’ series, which is free and open to the public.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, is honoring Michigan native and Tony Award-winning producer of "Hamilton," Jeffrey Seller, with the 2019 Apple Award on March 27 at the Fisher Theatre. On March 28, Seller will meet with Wayne State Theatre and Dance students for a conversation about his Michigan roots and his rise to one of Broadway's most-celebrated producers. This event will take place in the Studio Theatre at the Hilberry at 11:30 a.m. The Apple Award, named for Sarah Applebaum Nederlander, is given by the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University on behalf of the Nederlander family. Previous Apple Award winners include Garth Fagan, Neil Simon, Carol Channing, Stephen Schwartz, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Marvin Hamlisch, Elaine Stritch, Tom Skerritt and Natasha Katz.

The story of Aladdin is one of the most well-known works in One Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla wa Layla) or Arabian Nights, the famous collection of folk stories compiled over hundreds of years, largely pulled from Middle Eastern and Indian literary traditions. Genies, or Jinn, make appearances throughout the stories in different forms. A rich tradition in Middle Eastern and Islamic lore, Jinn appear in the Qur’an, where they are described as the Jánn, “created of a smokeless fire,” but they can even be found in stories that date back before the time of Muhammad in the 7th century. The pop culture genie of Nights we recognize today, however, was shaped by European illustrators, beginning with the frontpieces done for 18th-century translator Antoine Galland’s Les Mille et Une Nuits. At the time, French writers often used what was then referred to as the Orient—a term indiscriminately used to refer to North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East more generally—to allude to its own society and monarchy, explains Anne E. Duggan, professor of French at Wayne State University, who’s studied the visual evolution of the genie. “

Wayne State University unveiled its new float, “Warrior Strong,” this morning during the 19th Annual Parade Pancake Breakfast. In celebration of the university’s 150th anniversary, the “Warrior Strong” float will make its debut at the 92nd America’s Thanksgiving Parade® with a national broadcast reaching 185 major cities across the country. “For 150 years, Wayne State University has been committed to the city of Detroit and we are proud to celebrate our anniversary with our students, supporters and community with a new float on Thanksgiving morning,” said Dr. M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University. “Our float, ‘Warrior Strong’, embodies a motto that Wayne State students and alumni live out each day in classrooms, boardrooms, labs, medical centers and on stage.” 

Thomas Killion, associate professor of anthropology at Wayne State, said he and his students worked for three years on the archaeological dig at the row house, one of Detroit's oldest surviving structures. The dig revealed more than 6,000 fragments and pieces of different household objects that helped paint a picture of how these workers lived in the mid-1800s. Killion said archaeologists don’t expect to find one huge item that reveals everything, but rather a lot of little things that add up to a story. “It was an interesting icon for this fairly mythical Irish neighborhood of Detroit. It had the trifecta there: (the beverages you drink in) early life, middle life and later life," he said. Krysta Ryzewski, associate professor in anthropology at Wayne State, has led the Roosevelt Park digs every other year since 2012. When plans to build the train station were announced in the early 1900s, the city wanted to forcibly remove those who lived around the station, Ryzewski said. 

William Shakespeare's “As You Like It” treads the boards at the Hilberry Theatre beginning Friday, Oct.26 and running through Nov. 11. Directed by Lavinia Hart and set in present day Appalachia, this comedy allows audiences to view a classic story through a creative lens that transports you to the hills of Tennessee. "Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' is universal in theme and characters, easily translating to any century in any city or countryside, revealing surprising cultural connections to the here and now," says Hart.

Professors at Wayne State University were asked to investigate a three-story worker’s row house, or tenement house, located in Corktown. Thomas Killion, associate professor of anthropology at Wayne State and his students worked for three years on the archaeological dig at the row house, one of Detroit's oldest surviving structures.

Janine Lanza, associate professor and director for the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program at Wayne State University, examines the intense interest many Americans have in the affairs of British royalty. “Our history and Constitution forbid noble titles from taking hold in this country. American culture traditionally prizes individual achievement and accomplishment rather than status conferred by birth,” she says. “However, the pomp and ceremony of Old World royalty have captivated a country with a brief history and no traditions to rival the pageantry that marks such royal events.”

On Sunday, April 8, Spotlight on the News will examine the theological, historical and political debate over the future of Jerusalem. Will there be a shared vision among Jews and Muslims?   We'll ask Wayne State University Professors Howard Lupovitch and Saeed Khan. who are conducting a series of public forums.  

The Wayne State Board of Governors unanimously voted Friday to green-light a long-planned performance and education project along Cass Avenue.

“In Midtown alone, Wayne State University is building a new repertory theater and a new jazz center, the Motown Museum is expanding, and Murals in Market continues to grow.”

As the Winter Olympics kicked off in PyeongChang, South Korea, this weekend, the media turned their attention to one notable nonathlete attendee: Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Stine Eckert, chair of the feminist scholarship division of the International Communication Association and an assistant professor of communications at Wayne State University, notes that there is one particularly notable comparison that should be made between the two women in question. “They are both blueprints for whatever at the time their society and current administration needs in terms of a tool to advance their political agendas,” Eckert says.

A book by a Detroit historian is inspiring a movie about the early activism of Rosa Parks and her quest for justice for a rape survivor. The upcoming film will focus on a real-life event that occurred long before Parks made history in 1955 by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. Parks helped spark the landmark Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama and became an icon of the civil rights movement. But a decade before that, she was one of many African-American women fighting for the right to live and travel without fear of racial and sexual violence. The early activism of Parks is detailed in "At the Dark End of the Street," an award-winning 2010 book written by Wayne State University adjunct associate history professor Danielle McGuire.