Twelve second-year physician assistant students are preparing to travel to Guatemala for two weeks to study health care practices and to learn about indigenous culture. Part of their preparation has included raising money — two garage sales netted over $1,100 — that they’ve used to buy medical equipment and supplies to donate, small gifts and other health items — plus 44 pairs of reading glasses purchased at the dollar store. Continue reading “Exploring health care in Guatemala”
Despite soaking rains that thwarted some efforts, Augsburg’s first Campus Beautification Day was, by all accounts, a success. The soggy weather on June 11 did not prevent legions of Augsburg staff, students, and faculty from cleaning, planting, and painting on and off campus.
Projects included a team cleaning up debris along the Mississippi River and others planting a border and building a path in the community garden. There were five painting projects involving 45 faculty, staff, and students working in Marketing and Communication, Event and Conference Planning, Murphy Place, Lindell Library, and the tunnel beneath Christensen Center. Continue reading “The beauty of teamwork”
Last month, history professor Jacqui deVries and English/film professor Bob Cowgill led a group of 20 Augsburg students through Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Using literature, film, architecture, and eyewitness accounts, students explored the aftermath of World War II to understand how people made sense of their suffering and now pay homage to the past.
The idea for the trip began when deVries joined a Lilly grant-sponsored trip in Europe to study Martin Luther and the Reformation. There she met tour director Andreas Brecht, and the two discovered a common interest in post-World War II history. Continue reading “WWII through film and literature”
Six members of the Augsburg College wrestling team traveled to Central Asia for a 15-day training, mission, and service trip. Four Auggie wrestlers, two coaches and four other wrestlers were in central Asia from May 25 to June 8, training in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Dushnabe, Tajikistan. In addition to training and competing, the wrestlers did mission and service work, along with visiting historical and cultural sites in the two countries. Continue reading “Auggie wrestlers in Central Asia”
Just after the May commencement ceremony, a group of students traveled to Thailand with English professor Kathy Swanson. The students were on a short-term summer study program through Augsburg Abroad.
“Experiences in Thai Education and Culture” required students to prepare, deliver, and assess their oral presentation for Thai students in both small group and classroom settings. They learned about pedagogy for teaching effective ELL (English Language Learners) students. The students taught in the cities of Bangkok and Chiangmai, and the rural village of Prachuab Kirikhan. Continue reading “Teaching English in Thailand”
At the June 29 commencement ceremony Augsburg College will grant honorary degrees to two individuals whose life accomplishments are reflective of this year’s commencement theme — “Global Learning.” Honorary degree candidates are selected from a field of nominees forwarded to the President and approved by the Board of Regents. June honorary degree recipients are:
Koryne E. Horbal
Ambassador Koryne E. Horbal has worked tirelessly throughout her life to empower women around the world and to give voice to their issues. Continue reading “Augsburg honors two at June commencement”
In October 2007, Mexican artist and social activist Alejandro González Aranda visited Augsburg College. Aranda’s visit came at the end of an exhibition of his linocuts in the Christensen Center Art Gallery that was part of that year’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College.
During his visit to Minneapolis, Aranda hosted a printmaking workshop where Augsburg students learned his techniques and shared their own works. While here, he got to view the works created in Augsburg’s fall printmaking class, taught by Instructor Lynn Bollman. Aranda was so thrilled by the Auggie prints that he asked for copies of all them and hosted an exhibition of the work on May 16, 2008 at the CGE site in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Continue reading “Augsburg student prints exhibited in Mexico”
Each summer, more than two dozen actors and singers converge on the Augsburg College campus to learn a performance method created by H. Wesley Balk, one of the early leaders of the Minnesota Opera. This year, the Wesley Balk Opera/Music Theater Institute will again be at Augsburg June 22 to July 12, 2008. The performance method is taught in workshops and mini-performances throughout the 3-week institute and consists of fusing expertise in body awareness, facial and body expressivity, and vocal production. Continue reading “Singing and acting in the summer”
On Sunday, June 29, Augsburg will hold its second commencement ceremony of this academic year. This ceremony honors graduates of the undergraduate programs in Minneapolis, United/Mercy/Unity Hospitals, and Rochester as well as the Master’s degree candidates in Education, Leadership, Nursing, Social Work, and Business Administration.
The commencement speaker is Mark S. Hanson ’68, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Prior to his first term as presiding bishop, he was bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod. Ordained in 1974, he has served three congregations in the Twin Cities. Continue reading “June commencement honors weekend, evening, and graduate students”
Augsburg’s new campus dining services provider is a Midwest-based company with “a passion to serve great food from great people.” A’viands (the name means “a delectable dish”) was selected this spring by a committee of faculty, staff, and students.
“We’re thrilled to be at Augsburg,” said president and COO, Rick Sorel. “This is our largest account, and we are excited about the sense of partnership we see here.”
Though they didn’t officially begin operations at Augsburg until June 1, Sorel and other members of the A’viands team have been on campus regularly in the past weeks preparing for the transition. Continue reading “A'viands — a delectable dish”
