In 2009, Dr. Kathleen “Katie” Clark began her teaching role at Augsburg University in the Department of Nursing, which included coordinating the Augsburg Central Health Commons.  Since that time, her roles have expanded as she has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Augsburg Health Commons and has served as a member of the Mission and Identity Division at the university since 2020. Her primary teaching responsibility is in the graduate nursing program in courses that focus on issues of social justice, health inequities, and civic engagement. Katie’s scholarship emphasizes creating unique models of teaching and learning in local context. For example, Katie has created and led courses that are designed in an immersion format that allows students to gain insight first-hand from people living in the margins while learning transcultural nursing skills.  In addition, Katie has collected various oral histories of members of the community, students, and faculty at Augsburg University, sharing their stories and experiences, especially as it relates to health.

In her role, Katie is responsible for leading and providing oversight for the Augsburg Health Commons, which are nursing-led drop-in centers that focus on radical hospitality and building trusting relationships with people in marginalized communities.  These sites allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the social determinants of health and learn firsthand of issues that create otherness in healthcare systems. The first health commons location, which was started thirty years ago, is called the Augsburg Central Health Commons and is located in downtown Minneapolis at Central Lutheran Church.  Most of the individuals who visit this space are experiencing homelessness or are marginally housed.  The second location, the Health Commons in Cedar-Riverside, was launched in 2011 in partnership with two other local non-profits.  Most of those who enter this space are people who have fled the war in East Africa and are currently living in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. And in 2018, three DNP-TCN graduate students opened the Health Commons in Rochester with Katie’s mentorship.  In 2022, the PA and Nursing Department joined to officially become part of yet another location of the health commons, The Health Commons at the Living Room, which is in the Harrison Neighborhood of North Minneapolis. And, in 2023, a new location was opened on the Eastside of St. Paul called The Health Commons East. These sites are used for student learning experiences based on fostering relationships built on mutual benefit, de-emphasizing the expert model, and are guided by the principle of accompaniment.  They also represent Augsburg’s commitment to being of place and their rich history of being engaged in community-academic partnerships.

Before coming to Augsburg, Katie previously worked for eight years as a nurse at the University of Minnesota Medical Center – East Bank in both oncology hematology and the medical ICU.  She has traveled to 20 countries and participated in many local volunteer programs, such as the Bridge for Youth and Higher Ground.

Education

• D.N.P. in Transcultural Leadership: Augsburg University (2014)
• M.A.N. with a Transcultural Nursing Emphasis: Augsburg University (2010)
• B.S.N: University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (2002)

Areas of Teaching Responsibility

• Transcultural nursing
• Social justice praxis
• Care for marginalized populations
• Civic agency/Citizen nurse
• Community engagement/immersion experiences
• Community partnerships

presentations/publications

• Clark, K, & Miller, J. (2023, Oct 19). Bridging Worldviews through Nursing Education: The Influence of the 5 Aims in Caring for Marginalized Populations.The Society for the Advancement of Modeling and Role-Modeling 18th Biannual Conference: Bridging Worldviews: Inclusion, Partnership, and Collective (virtual).
• Clark, K. & Bester, V. (2023, Oct 17).The Augsburg Health Commons: Community-based Education as Action to Address Health Inequities. The 28th annual Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities conference. Washington, D.C.
• Schuhmacher, D., Clark, K. & Miller, J. (2023). An integral DEIJ outcome-based DNP education. AACN 2023 Doctoral Education Conference. Coronado, CA.
•  Holmes, L., Davis, R., Miller, J., Minnich, M., Clark, K., & Roedlach, A. (2023). Mission statement influence on DNP education. AACN 2023 Doctoral Education Conference. Coronado, CA.
• Clark, K.M. (2022).  Evaluating student learning: Community-based Nursing Education as Action to Address Inequities.  Journal of Nursing Education, 61(9), 525-527. doi:10.3928/01484834-20220705-07
• Clark, K. & Abdirahman, M. (2022, Feb 23). Accompanying Our Neighbors: We Believe We are Called! Centered Life Series at Augsburg University. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Clark, K., Schuhmacher, D., & Miller, J. (2022). Racism as a Public Health Crisis: An Innovation in Higher Education. AACN 2022 Doctoral Education Conference (virtual).
  Nursing Science and Practice: Creating Equity through Doctoral Education.  Virtual on-demand format.
• Clark, K. (2021). Treating an Ailing Society: Citizen Nursing in an Era of Crisis.  Higher Education Exchange.  The Kettering Foundation.
• Distinguished Contribution in Service Faculty Award 2021 | Augsburg University
• Clark, K. (2021, June 1).Teaching Accompaniment: Learning in the Margins. Annual IAHC Conference: Exploring inclusive and Diverse Caring in Healthcare and Beyond. Virtual on-demand format.
• Clark, K. (2021, March 17).  Teaching Accompaniment: Learning in the Margins.  Nursing Diversity 2021; Global Virtual Summit on Nursing Education.
• Clark, K. (2020, September 25). Being Bold: Caring while in Solidarity. Augsburg Bold Series Speakers.  https://vimeo.com/464317420.
• Clark, K. (2020, July 7).  Struggling to find air: Emancipatory nursing response to Covid-19.  Nursology.  https://nursology.net/2020/07/07/struggling-to-find-air-emancipatory-nursing-response-to-covid-19/
• Clark, K. (2020, June 24). The aftermath of George Floyd’s death: How 8 minutes + 46 seconds affected the health of a community.  NurseManifest. https://nursemanifest.com/2020/06/24/the-aftermath-of-george-floyds-death-how-8-minutes-46-seconds-affected-the-health-of-a-community/
• Clark, K. & Freborg, K. (2019). Radical Hospitality – A Concept Introduction to Uncover Common Ground in Caring Moments. 40th Annual IAHC Conference Caring and Interprofessional Practice: Re-imagining the Patient Care Experience. Greenville, South Carolina. 
• Clark, K. & Munoz, J. (2018). Connecting Across Difference: Engaged Scholarship in Higher Education. 2018 Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference: Transforming Higher Education through Engaged Scholarship. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Enestvedt, R.C., Clark, K.M., Freborg, K., Miller, J.P., Leuning, C.J., Schuhmacher, D., McHale, K., Baumgartner, K., & Loushin, S. (2018). Caring in the margins: A scholarship of accompaniment for advanced transcultural nursing practice.  Advances in Nursing Science, 41(3),230-242. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000201
• Clark, K. (2018, May 31).  Facilitating health and healing: Applying caring concepts in practice at a nurse-led drop-in center. Presented at the 39^th annual International Association for Human Caring Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
• Augsburg University Podcast [producer]. (2018, May).  Katie Clark: A passion for progress.
• Compact Nation Podcast (producer). (2018, May).  Radical hospitality. https://compact.org/podcast/season2-episode16/
• Biederman, J. (Producer).  (2017, August 10).  Belonging [Audio podcast].  http://www.changemakerpodcast.com/episode-2-belonging/
• Clark, K., Miller, J., Leuning, J. & Baumgartner, K. (2017). The Citizen Nurse: An Educational Innovation for Change.  Journal of Nursing Education, 54(4): 247-250.
• Bishop, K., Boyte, H., Clark, K., Eschenbacher, E., Finders, M., Lansing, M. & Underhill, J. (forthcoming). Agency in an Avalanche: Imagining Democratic Futures at Augsburg College.  In Eatman, E. & Peters, S. (Eds.), Rebuilding the Democracy College.
• Clark, K., Green, A., & Abdulaya, Y. (2016). Unlocking the Power of Community through Partnerships. 2016 Nonprofit Leadership Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Minnesota Public Radio Interview with Dan Olson “For nurses serving homeless, hospitality comes first.” (2015)
• Clark, K. (2014). Developing a Health Commons: A Drop-in Focused on Health and Healing Through the Development of Relationships Based on Transcultural Practices. 40th Annual Conference of The Transcultural Nursing Society 2014. Charleston, South Carolina.
• Clark, K. (2014) The Health Commons: A Handbook of Nursing Practice.  Lulu Press, Inc.
• Clark, K. Noor, S., & Kimball, B. (2014). From Research to Action: Creating a Drop-in Health Center that Addresses the Needs of Somali Refugees in Minnesota. 4th Annual North American Refugee Health Conference 2014. Rochester, New York.
• Clark, K., & Noor, S. (2012). Health Commons: Partners Improving Health Outcomes for East African Community.  Community Health Conference 2012.  Brainerd, Minnesota.
• Panel Presenter. Creating an Inclusive Campus Conference 2012.  Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Clark, K., Baumgartner, K., & Miller, J. (2011). The Development of the Health Commons Model. 2nd Annual International Public Health Nursing Conference 2011.  Saint Paul, Minnesota.
• Clark, K. (2011, Dec 22). Citizen Nurses: A Unique Perspective on Health. DemocracyU. https://democracyu.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/citizen-nurses-a-unique-perspective-on-health/

Current Certifications

• Public Health Nurse (PHN)

• Certified Foot Care Specialist (CFCS)