Technology has become a powerful tool for many educators. Many agree it makes learning more fun and engaging, while other educators such as Augsburg University Professor of Sociology and Department Chair Diane Pike opt for a “tech free” classroom. Pike has restricted technology use in her classroom for 10 years now.
My goal is to have you not look at your phone for 70 minutes,” Pike told WCCO-TV. “The research is really clear that being on your phone in class is distracting.” Since implementing her tech-free zone, Pike has not had significant issues. She says her small class sizes, around 25 students, make it easier to manage.
English major Connor Doebbert shaking hands with Prof. George Dierberger at Augsburg’s 2017 spring commencement.
The notable preference for STEM programs has negatively affected the number of English majors in the United States. Retired English professor Madelon Sprengnether from the University of Minnesota paid close attention to the numbers. Sprengnether reached out to her former student, professor Robert Cowgill, chair of the Department of English at Augsburg University to discuss why English (and other humanities disciplines) still hold appeal. “As I age, I see us all as a circle of writers and teachers in this city who have kept a certain flame of sensibility alive in our students,” Cowgill said. “I think we matter. What we keep alive matters.”
The Star Tribune previewed the 30th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, interviewing guest speaker and Nobel laureate Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
The September 14-15 forum at Augsburg University featured Nobel Peace Prize laureates who have navigated the paradoxes between conflict and reconciliation, between justice and forgiveness, between hope and fear. The event drew other media coverage as well:
The recent comeback of the hit TV show “Murphy Brown” stirred up some warm memories among fans after 20 years of being off the air.
So, why does nostalgia feel so good? WCCO’s Heather Brown talked with Bridget Robinson-Riegler, professor of psychology at Augsburg University, about the psychology behind the feeling of nostalgia that certain past memories make us feel.
“When we are depressed, feeling alone, feeling angst-ridden, we turn to nostalgia because that makes us feel better,” Robinson-Riegler told WCCO. “When we think back to our past, the neural substrates, the things responsible for how people construct memories of the past, are the same mechanisms by which people project about the future.
The Pioneer Press reported earlier this year about the trend of the ’00s back in television.
Given the high demand for reboots, relaunches and remakes, Ross Raihala, of the Pioneer Press, interviewed Robinson-Riegler about what she describes as a “reminiscence bump.”
“Most memories come from age 10 to age 30 or so,” said Robinson-Riegler, in the article. Many network executives are of an age where some of their most potent memories formed around the turn of the century, thus the oncoming tide of ’00s throwbacks, she told the Pioneer Press.
Recent hit television revivals include “Trading Spaces,” “Will and Grace,” and “Queer Eye” and movie sequels such as “Super Troopers 2,” and “Incredibles 2.”
“One of the main things nostalgia does is help people find meaning in life and to connect with other people,” Robinson-Riegler said. “When you’re connected to other people, life has meaning. Nostalgia makes people feel protected, loved and happy. People even feel physically warmer.”
Fifteen Auggies are paddling down the Mississippi River for 100 days while learning about history, politics, and the environment for 16 credits.
An experiential education is a trademark of an Augsburg education. “We do this because we think this is the best way to learn both about the Mississippi River and to learn in general about what’s going on out in the world,” said River Semester program director Joe Underhill, who will be teaching along the way.
For many students, this is their first time camping. “I’ve never camped, never canoed in my life. I’m nervous because it’s out of my comfort zone but I’m very excited to see what it’s going to be like”, student Kristy Ornelas told KSTP.
This is Augsburg’s second River Semester. The first was in 2015.
Twin Cities PBS featured retired Augsburg art professor Tara Sweeney’s collaborative “A to Zåäo” picture book project at the American Swedish Institute.
“A to Zåäö,” is a Swedish alphabet book that features paintings of objects and stories from the historic Swedish-American immigrant experience.
“The objects are the things that immigrants brought to Minnesota and I have to believe they were traveling pretty light. So they brought things that meant something to them and/or they were useful, so they’re loaded with stories.” Sweeney told TPT’s Minnesota Original art series.
Sweeney credits her 25 years of service at Augsburg and its institutional mission for influencing her interest in developing a picture book that speaks to historic and contemporary immigrant experiences.
Jeanne Boeh, professor of economics and business department chair at Augsburg University, recently spoke with WCCO about the rising cost of a college education.
Boeh noted that a college degree is still worth it.
“It is a different experience than it was 20 years ago. All the amenities have improved. There is more support for students. The dorms are better. The food is better. The kind of help students need is more available. All of that costs money,” Boeh told reporter Angela Davis.
Kare 11’s Jana Shortal interviewsMarshall Steele, from Central High School, and Sandy Bolton, from Roosevelt High School, about civil debate. Both students attended Augsburg’s Minnesota Urban Debate League summer camp, a program which provides resources and programming to support competitive academic debate at Twin Cities high schools and middle schools.
How can emotion and civility co-exist? Shortal asked. “Try to understand people’s points even if there’s something you fundamentally disagree with,” Bolton said. “There are backgrounds that lead to people having opinions that are insensitive but have fundamental reasoning behind them that you have to understand in order to engage with them well.”
Mayors Jacob Frey and Melvin Carter at the debate. Photo by Andy Mannix – Star Tribune.
Jacob Frey and Melvin Carter, the new mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, served as judges June 7 at the Minnesota Urban Debate League’s Great Education Debate at Augsburg.
Augsburg’s urban debate league program provides resources and programming to support competitive academic debate at Twin Cities high schools and middle schools. The goal is to empower students through competitive academic debate to become engaged learners, critical thinkers, and active citizens who are effective advocates for themselves and their communities.
At the debate, four students presented arguments on the topic of investing in career technical education as an alternative to four-year college degrees. Both Frey and Carter gave tips and feedback to the participants.
“You have mastered a skill that has largely been lost in American society, which is the ability to debate respectfully,” Frey told the students.
The Augsburg Education Department East African Student to Teacher program partnered with The Minnesota Education Equity Partnership to research and publish the report Somali Student Achievement in Minnesota about the state’s largest East African diaspora community.
This report, which was released and discussed at a launch event in May at Augsburg, invites readers to consider and recommend innovative practices to strengthen academic achievement for Somali students and to guide educators across Minnesota to better support Somali students and their families.
Technology has become a powerful tool for many educators. Many agree it makes learning more fun and engaging, while other educators such as Augsburg University Professor of Sociology and Department Chair Diane Pike opt for a “tech free” classroom. Pike has restricted technology use in her classroom for 10 years now.
