Letter
from the editor
Cultural diversity
can be experienced and appreciated in many places—in Central America,
Namibia, Thailand, and here on the Augsburg campus.
The College's vision document, Augsburg 2004: Extending
the Vision, suggests that cultural diversity is the kind of diversity
that best serves Augsburg's educational mission by offering "many
different ways of knowing and learning" that challenge us to look
beyond the limits of our own cultural assumptions.
Augsburg 2004 goes on to reinforce the critical
connection between cultural diversity and exploration of vocation: "
... cultural diversity is critical for all of us—employees and students
alike—to fulfill our obligations as stewards. To pursue our vocations
in the world, we need engagement with ways of life and convictions that
pose alternatives to our own. Knowing the other helps us know ourselves,"
the document states.
The stories in this issue illustrate how cultural engagement
can come about in many ways—through meetings with women in Guatemala
who are finding purpose and voice in the cooperative movement, through
Augsburg faculty learning about educational challenges in Namibia, and
through faculty, staff, and students here on campus who explore American
Indian mythology through the performance antics of Coyote.
For 20 years, the Center for Global Education (CGE) has
facilitated study and travel experiences that connect Americans directly
with people and issues around the world. Comments from travel participants
attest to the power of these connections. My own experience as a 16-year-old
exchange student to South America led to a shift in my academic direction
and shaped interests and activities that have stayed with me through decades.
As the well-being of our global community becomes ever
more fragile in this post-September 11 environment, more people are recognizing
the need to seek understanding of people and places different from us
in culture, religion, or politics. CGE's programs are growing to respond
to this need. In addition, study abroad serves as one of the ways in which
Augsburg students can fulfill the Augsburg Experience requirement in their
studies.
Augsburg's four multicultural programs help to begin
this journey at home. The American Indian Student Services program celebrates
its 25th anniversary this year and is the longest-running program of its
kind in the Upper Midwest. It has not only helped native students enroll
and succeed at Augsburg, but it has also brought together the Native American
and Augsburg communities in a variety of cultural and educational activities.
In 2001, the American Indian Studies faculty, together
with the Center for Global Education and international student advising,
made it possible for Augsburg international students to be immersed in
Native American culture for a week over spring break at the Turtle Mountain
Reservation in North Dakota. On many Center for Global Education brochures,
readers find the message, "See the world through their eyes, and
your world will never be the same." Isn't that what transformative
education is all about?
