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Augsburg Now: Alumni Profiles | Studying the northern lights show | Telling tales of trolls| Traveling the world as a global classroom By Lynn Mena Since graduating from Augsburg in 1991 with a B.A. in both English and philosophy, Andrew Carlson's nomadic path has taken him to more than 20 countries. His global sojourns have included such places as Greece, Israel, Germany, Norway, Hungary, England, Mexico, Syria, France, Egypt and more. "A case of wanderlust, you might say," says Carlson about his inspiration to travel. "I think that having studied English and philosophy and having a liberal arts background lends itself to creating a mind that's curious about things. My earlier travels were mostly about adventure; but lately I've been more interested in observing and studying issues such as ethnicity and religion." 
Immediately after graduating from Augsburg, Carlson was accepted into the Master of Divinity program at Princeton University. "I didn't go there intending to become a minister or pastor, although I've got a lot of ministers in my family, including my father (the Rev. Myron Carlson '60), so I was familiar with that route," says Carlson. "I have an interest in religion, and I wanted to study it further." Carlson received his Master of Divinity degree in 1994, and after moving back to the Twin Cities for three years, he headed to Berkeley, Calif., where he completed a one-year program at Graduate Theological Union in 1998. "I went abroad for the first time in the fall of 1996," says Carlson. "I went to Italy, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia. I came back for a month and then went to India and Nepal." He hasn't been able to stand still since, and as of press time he is either in South Asia or Eastern Europe. "Anything could happen," says Carlson. "My travel plans are always very vague and fluid." Although he doesn't know any foreign languages, he has had little problem getting to know the people in the countries he visits. "I try to learn hello, goodbye and thank you. English happens to be the de facto international language, so it's often a common bond - though I must admit, in some cases, not speaking a native language probably puts up an invisible wall. "People in non-Western countries are often very curious - they will grab you or flag you down as you walk down the street," Carlson continues. "They will often invite you for tea or coffee and insist that you tell them where you've been and where you're going, if you have a family, what's your job, etc. It's very heartfelt." Some of Carlson's most memorable moments occurred while he was traveling over the holidays in December 1998 and January 1999. "I was in Jerusalem leading up to Christmas time, and it was a special feeling. I met a lot of good people from all over the world. Then I went to Egypt during Ramadan (the Islamic holy month), and it was wonderful. The weather was beautiful, people were beautiful. During the day, observant Muslims were fasting, and at sunset they would have this very joyous public celebration - just good people having fun. It was very moving and special." When Carlson is in Minneapolis, he often makes a point of coming to Augsburg. "Ever since I left, there's been about 4-5 professors that I continue to see over the years," says Carlson. "I even mail them postcards and letters. I think it's nice to know that a professor took a particular interest in you, and that when they hear form you, they are able to immediately tie you back to the person you knew. You can go talk to them and it's like you're reestablishing/ building upon something you both know about each other - it's very important to me." Studying the northern lights show By Lynn Mena Many of us have searched the night sky for a sign of the aurora borealis, or northern lights - Mother Nature's celestial light show. Last January, Augsburg alum Bob Erlandson '82 enjoyed a front row seat to the aurora borealis from the outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of a collaborative mission between U.S. and Russian scientists to study auroral physics in the earth's ionosphere (the region of the earth's atmosphere where auroras naturally occur). The international team, led by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University (where Erlandson is a staff scientist), successfully launched the Active Plasma EXperiment (APEX) North Star 1 mission, which is a follow-up to a previous mission in 1997. The goal of APEX is to study auroral physics by creating an artificial aurora in the ionosphere with a Russian-developed plasma jet device, which creates a burst of energy, simulating an aurora. "Just as the rocket was about to be launched, a naturally-occurring aurora lit up the night sky," Erlandson said in an interview for the APL newsletter. "We were able to study both a natural and artificial aurora simultaneously and collect data on both. We couldn't have asked for a better opportunity." 
Erlandson and APL will now analyze the data and share the findings with the Russian team at a meeting later this year. Erlandson was also involved in the 1997 mission, and has been involved with the collaborative effort since 1993. "It's been very interesting," says Erlandson about working with his Russian colleagues. "They are very warm, enjoyable people." Instead of noticing cultural differences, Erlandson has mostly noticed similarities. "While we would sit and work on the project together, we would often end up quoting the same literature and refer to the same books, and it really became evident to me that we all basically speak the same human language and share the same feelings and thought-processes." Erlandson also devotes time to other space physics research projects at APL. "I study low-frequency electromagnetic waves with instruments on the ground, which offer a way to remotely measure 'space weather'." He has also traveled to Sweden as part of two Swedish-based auroral satellite projects, Viking and Freja. "It's really been a lot of fun," says Erlandson of his research and work at APL. "There's always something new happening with a project - you always move on to a different aspect of the problem, and look at it in a new way. It's incredibly interesting work and keeps you going." Erlandson graduated from Augsburg in 1982 with a B.A. in physics. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1986. He was a post-doctoral research associate in the space physics department at APL from 1986-90 before being hired as a staff scientist in 1990. He and his wife of 12 years, Susan, live in Columbia, Md., with their two sons, Matthew, 9, and Joey, 5. John Hopkins University | Augsburg Biology Department | Augsburg Physics Department By Betsey Norgard Trolls - those mythical Norse giant creatures, some ugly, some with bushy tails, long noses, and some carrying their heads under their arms - have captivated children in Scandinavia for centuries. For over 20 years, Lise Lunge-Larsen '77 has enchanted children and adults alike in Minnesota with tales of these trolls, and recently published a collection, The Troll with No Heart in His Body. As a child in Norway, Lunge-Larsen loved troll stories, and delighted in finding evidence of trolls in nature - dead trolls that had become gnarled, overturned tree roots. She believes that children need stories in their lives, and great folktales teach values, reveal truths and provide for the nourishment of the soul. How she came to be known as the "Troll Lady" is a tale in itself that began at Augsburg. Through a business friendship between Lunge-Larsen's father, an antique book dealer in Oslo, and the husband of former Augsburg professor and dean Pat Parker, Lunge-Larsen had opportunities to visit Minneapolis. On one trip, she stayed with Parker's daughter, Jackie (Parker) Cherryhomes '78, then a student at Augsburg. The expensive dream of attending college at Augsburg became reality for Lunge-Larsen when she applied for and was awarded a Crown Prince Harald Scholarship for one year. In order to continue at Augsburg, Lunge-Larsen had to work and found a job in the library, working in the children's literature collection. "The very first time I told a story was in Pat Parker's children's literature class," Lunge-Larsen recounted. She discovered a love for storytelling, especially drawing on the troll stories and folktales from her childhood. With Parker's encouragement, she visited schools and libraries reading and telling stories, and her vocation began to take shape. Lunge-Larsen went on to a graduate degree in linguistics at the University of Minnesota, and wrote her thesis on using storytelling to teach English to foreign students. When her father died, she returned to Norway for a year, and studied folklore at the University of Oslo. After limiting her storytelling to biblical stories in Sunday School for a while, an "aha realization" brought her back to the trolls and their value for children. In the book's introduction, she explains that because trolls represent everything negative or bad, "battling trolls brings out the very best in those who dare confront themĀ To do battle with a troll is to learn to draw on the best of our humanity." "These stories offer a wonderful escape from reality, where the world acts the way children think it should act," she says. To criticism of folktales as being violent, Lunge-Larsen counters, "I've learned over the years that kids will imagine a story only as violent as they can handle," she says. "It's not like TV, where violent images are provided, and they can't be altered." Lunge-Larsen was long encouraged to write down her stories, but couldn't visualize her trolls until she saw the work of illustrator Betsy Bowen. Her bold, strong woodcuts "look old and powerful, and make a good link with nature." Bowen was intrigued and agreed to collaborate on the stories. The Troll with No Heart in His Body was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1999 and has been nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. Lunge-Larsen is married to Steven Kuross '76, and they live in Duluth with their children, Emily, 16, Even, 13, and Erik, 11. |
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