Alex Guo, a third-year undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, is researching the power of language to build community and advocate for change.
With dual majors in humanities-prelaw and experience architecture and minors in business and leadership in Integrated Learning, Guo represented the College of Arts & Letters at this semester’s Ignite Talks MSU where she presented her undergraduate research project, “Beyond Rhetoric: Building Trans-Affirming Communities.”
Hosted by the MSU Museum CoLab Studio, Ignite Talks MSU provides a dynamic platform for MSU students to share their research with a wider audience while empowering them to connect their academic work to broader societal contexts. Each presenter is challenged to distill their message into a fast-paced, five-minute presentation accompanied by 20 automatically advancing slides.
This semester’s Ignite Talks MSU featured 10 student researchers whose projects span disciplines and demonstrate the creativity and innovation of undergraduate scholarship at MSU. Guo was the only College of Arts and Letters representative and the first student from MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures to present at the Ignite Talks.
Guo’s research project, inspired by both her lived experience as a trans student and her ongoing work as an LGBTQ+ advocate on campus, examines how writing, rhetoric, and design can be used to create spaces that affirm and uplift transgender individuals.
“I wanted to bring the human aspect back into conversations about trans people — to humanify the statistics that too often define us, including the devastating rates of depression and suicide within our community,” Guo said. “My goal is to show that rhetoric has consequences and that the language and narratives we use can either save lives or endanger them.”
Through this experience, Guo discovered that research can function as an intersection of personal experience and academic exploration.
“Undergraduate research has taught me that research doesn’t have to be distant or detached — it can be deeply personal, transformative, and community-driven,” Guo said. “Through this process, I’ve learned how to use data, design, and storytelling as tools for empathy and systemic change.”
Participating in the Ignite Talks MSU offered Guo the opportunity to bring the humanities into focus, reframing how undergraduate research in the arts and humanities is perceived.
“People are often quick to dismiss the humanities or assume that real research only happens in STEM fields,” Guo said. “But the humanities are the heart of research — we study people, meaning, and connection. Our work explores the ‘why’ behind everything: why people act, communicate, and create the way they do. Humanities research helps us understand the human experience — the emotions, identities, and social systems that shape our world. Without that understanding, data is just numbers. The humanities give research its heart, empathy, and purpose.”
Guo describes her research project as an exploration of language’s capacity to heal and connect.
“Being trans has shaped my entire worldview,” she said. “As a writer and researcher, I see language as a form of care — a way to make people feel seen, safe, and understood. This project has reminded me that advocacy and academia can coexist, and that meaningful change often begins with compassion and conversation.”
That belief extends beyond her research. On campus, Guo has held more than 20 leadership roles and now serves as Outreach Assistant for the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center.
“On campus, that belief guides everything I do,” she said.
Participating in Ignite Talks MSU and conducting original research as an undergraduate has deepened Guo’s understanding of what it means to be part of the MSU community.
“To me, being a Spartan means using your education and voice to uplift others,” she said. “It means showing courage in the face of adversity, standing firm in your values, and creating change that outlives you.”
Since launching in Fall 2023, Ignite Talks MSU has been held each semester where 10 students from a wide array of disciplines, including the arts, sciences, engineering, and humanities, are selected through an open call process to present their research to the public. This semester marked the fifth edition of Ignite Talks MSU.
This story appeared on the College of Arts and Letters website.
