David Praska wanted to be a dentist and follow in the footsteps of his uncle, a successful orthodontist. “He had this great lifestyle, and I really wanted that,” Praska says. So in high school and the first two years of college, he focused on biology. “But I was never really good at it.”
Then he went to see Lisa Jack, an assistant professor of psychology at Augsburg. He said he was interested in psychology, and she asked him why. “I told her I liked watching people and how they operate,” Praska explained. The next thing he knew, they were mapping out a strategy for him to complete the psychology major in two years.
And that’s how David Praska, psychology major, found himself at the State Capitol building talking to legislators and guests about his research on therapies for children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Continue reading “Talking psychology at the Capitol”
Kyle Loven ’06 has called a few places “home.” He moved from the charming town of Wilmar, Minn. to Minneapolis to study theatre and art history at Augsburg. After college, he spent some time in Europe before settling in Seattle, Wash. And on March 19, Loven will return to his Twin Cities home to perform my dear Lewis, his one-man show about memories.
Recently a group of Augsburg students staged two performances of The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler’s episodic play which began off-Broadway and has spawned V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. This year’s production raised more than $800 to benefit the House of Sharing, an organization in Seoul, South Korea that houses and cares for the surviving “comfort women,” young Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII.
At Augsburg, there is little question that Auggies give back to their community. In the 2008-09 school year, it was estimated that Augsburg students performed 67,000 hours of community service, most of which took place within a mile of campus.
The 2010 Batalden Seminar in Applied Ethics will feature Gustavo Esteva, a writer and activist who is also the founder of the Universidad de la Tierra in the Mexican city of Oaxaca. Esteva will speak Friday and Saturday in the Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center.
The state of Chiapas is known for its tropical climate, lush rainforests, and in part for the civil war and internal conflict that plagued the area in the mid 1990s. It is also a “perfect microcosmic example of a peacekeeping situation,” according to Elise Marubbio, a professor of American Indian studies, women’s studies, film, and English at Augsburg.
This year for the fifth time, Augsburg will welcome nearly 1,000 students and community people to campus for the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. This year’s forum will be held on Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6.
What would compel a college theatre director to present a play about a woman whose husband essentially abuses her?
Augsburg College presents the 2010 Counseling and Health Promotion convocation on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13. This year’s presenter, Elena Avila, will share her concept of medicine as a curandera (healer).
Even though he’s just entering his thirties, Nick Thomley will have a lot to share with other entrepreneurs when he speaks on Thursday as part of the Strommen Executive Leader Speaker Series. His presentation will take place from 5:15-6:30 p.m., in Johnson Conference Center (Room 100), Oren Gateway Center.