Town & Gown
The Town & Gown Series is an MSU AgeAlive program in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, in partnership with MSU Social Science Scholars Program, Generations Connect, East Lansing Prime Time Seniors Program, The Great Decisions Program of the Foreign Policy Association, and The Peoples Church of East Lansing.
The Town & Gown Series brings MSU faculty and community members together for conversations on topics ranging from public policy to personal well-being. These events strengthen academic-community connections and reflect AgeAlive’s commitment in translating university expertise into meaningful public dialogue. These sessions are free and participants have every opportunity to ask questions of the speakers.
2025 – 2026 Town & Gown Series
All Town & Gown sessions will be held on the third Friday of every month from noon to 1 p.m. in the Robertson Room, The Peoples Church, 200 W. Michigan Avenue, East Lansing. Below is the current schedule:
- Friday, Oct. 17 – Speaker: Dr. Kseniia Borodin, Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Michigan State University | Topic: Ukraine – Language – War – Me: A Personal Story Intertwined with History
- Friday, Nov. 21 – Speaker: Charles Keith, Ph.D., Professor of History, Michigan State University | Topic: MSU and Vietnam: New Thoughts on an Old Story | REGISTER HERE
- Program Description: We all now know MSU’s history in Vietnam – or do we? We told one story about MSU’s involvement as it unfolded. We told a very different story about it as the tragedy of the Vietnam War consumed America. Today, fifty years after the war’s end, should our new knowledge on and perspectives on that conflict lead us to once again rethink MSU’s relationship to the Vietnam War?
- Friday, Dec. 19 – Speaker & Topic: TBD
- Friday, Jan. 16, 2026 – Speaker & Topic: TBD
- Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 – Speaker & Topic: TBD
- Friday, March 20, 2026 – Speaker & Topic: TBD
- Friday, April 17, 2026 – Speaker & Topic: TBD