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“People Do Their Own Healing”: Minnesota Women’s Press Features Prof. Melissa Hensley

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The Minnesota Women’s Press recently featured an editorial by Melissa Hensley, associate professor of social work, on the value of peer support to reduce stigma in social service settings. The essay was part of a larger issue dedicated to stigma and addiction.

Hensley, who also serves as field director for Augsburg’s bachelor of social work program, spent many years as a provider of services to adults with serious and persistent mental illness in a residential setting.

“Peer supporters, who use their own experiences with addiction or mental health to help guide others, are an example of person-centered care … [They] fill gaps in traditional mental health services by providing essential knowledge about the recovery process, such as how to cope with symptoms, develop healthy relationships, and balance employment,” she writes.

“Social workers like myself need to understand that our role is not to “fix what is wrong.” People do their own healing, and our job is to offer tools and resources.”

Read the full piece in the Minnesota Women’s Press.

Andy Aoki Named Augsburg University’s Hawthorne Professor

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Headshot photo of Andrew Aoki, who is an Asian man wearing a gray pullover over a collared shirt. In the background is a tree with bright pink flowers.Andy Aoki, professor of political science, has been named to the M. Anita Gay Hawthorne professorship of critical race and ethnicity studies, effective June 1, 2022. He succeeds Professor William Green, the inaugural holder of the professorship, who retires at the end of the current academic year. Recently elected to chair Augsburg’s Department of Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies, Aoki’s work as Hawthorne Professor will focus on building a strong foundation for the new department and strong connections with aligned disciplines.

A prolific writer and speaker on Asian American identities and racial politics, Professor Aoki joined the Augsburg faculty in 1988. He holds a BA in political science from the University of Oregon and an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At Augsburg, he teaches courses on American politics, political theory, and racial and ethnic politics. He has served as department chair of Augsburg’s political science department for a combined total of 18 years and as a senior fellow in the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship since 2014. He is currently serving as Faculty Senate President, a member of the faculty’s Budget Working Group, and chair of the workgroup charged with reviewing implications of the proposed “two college” structure for faculty governance. He co-founded the Asian Pacific American Caucus, bringing together scholars and community leaders, and has twice been president of the American Political Science Association’s organized section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.

The M. Anita Gay Hawthorne professorship of critical race and ethnicity studies was created in 2020 on the recommendation of a working group of students, faculty, and staff who advanced, simultaneously, a vision for the creation of a new academic department in critical race and ethnicity studies at Augsburg. The professorship honors senior faculty with extensive records of achievement as well as demonstrated commitments to critical race and ethnicity studies. It seeks to embody the student and community orientation embedded in this interdisciplinary field of study, and it expresses Augsburg’s commitment to culturally-responsive pedagogy in the undergraduate and graduate curricula. It honors the legacy of Margaret Anita Gay Hawthorne (“Anita”) who drew upon the concept of Pan-Afrikanism to create a program at Augsburg unique to any college in the country.

President Paul Pribbenow offers these comments: “It is a great privilege to appoint Professor Aoki to the Hawthorne Professorship. His appointment, following Professor Bill Green’s inaugural tenure in the position, illustrates that Augsburg’s commitment to critical race and ethnic studies—now ensconced in a new department—has deep and abiding roots across the entire span of our academic mission. I am delighted to witness the many ways in which our focus on research and teaching that engages the lived experience of all our students is being taken up by faculty and students across the entire university.”

Augsburg Sociology Students Visit Holocaust Museum

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Fourteen Augsburg sociology students recently joined the Jewish Community Relations Council’s annual trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Tim Pippert, the Joel Torstenson endowed professor of sociology, led the Augsburg group, who were also joined by a group from Minnesota Hillel.

“For us, it provided the opportunity to show how sociology is applicable in lots of different ways,” Pippert said in an interview with TC Jewfolk about the group’s experience. “So I asked [the students] to think about this trip and the experience in the museum, as how does their sociological training inform what they witnessed? How did the theories that they’ve read about, how does that play out in the symbolic representation of a horrific tragedy? How do you choose to tell that story? And what are the symbols that are used to tell that story?”

Jeremy Myers Appointed to the Bernhard M. Christensen Chair in Religion and Vocation at Augsburg University

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Headshot of Jeremy Myers wearing a gray button-down shirt over a black t-shirt against a background of windowsAugsburg University announced today that Jeremy Myers, associate professor of religion and executive director of the institution’s Christensen Center for Vocation, has been appointed to serve as the next Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation, effective on July 1, 2022. Myers will succeed Martha Stortz, PhD, who retired and was granted emerita status in 2020.

“It is a remarkable testament to Augsburg’s leadership at the intersection of faith, learning, and service that we have in our own faculty ranks a scholar so well prepared to continue the work begun by Marty and her predecessor, David Tiede,” said Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow. “Jeremy is an innovative problem-solver, a collaborative colleague, and a creatively critical theologian.”

The Christensen Chair was established in 2005 to honor the legacy of Bernhard M. Christensen, who served as president of what was then known as Augsburg College and Seminary from 1938 to 1962. The chair provides public leadership in interpreting and advancing Augsburg’s educational mission, pursues scholarship and teaches in the religion department, and serves as counsel to the president and Board of Regents.

“Jeremy has thought deeply about President Christensen’s legacy at this university and the lessons his leadership continues to have for Lutheran higher education in the current age,” Pribbenow said.

“Dr. Myers’ vision for the Christensen Chair is grounded and shaped by the five lessons of Bernhard Christensen, the Augsburg University mission statement, and the realities and challenges of the 21st century, especially the 21st century church,” said the members of a faculty and staff discernment committee that met with Myers about the role. “This vision aligns with his innovative work guiding churches in ‘place-based vocational discernment’ and will help guide our Augsburg community in new and rich reflection on our own—individual and communal—vocational discernment. In candid conversation with Dr. Myers, we explored the expectations and opportunities of this position and his ability to meet those expectations and expand the opportunities. We think he is the right person for the job.”

Myers, who earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota and his master’s and PhD from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a distinguished scholar in vocation and congregational ministry. In addition to many articles and chapters, he is the author of Liberating Youth from Adolescence published by Fortress Press and a sought-after speaker at conferences and in congregations. He has secured millions of dollars in grants to support the work of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg and has served on the steering committee of the Association of Teaching Theologians and on the board of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network.

Myers said the concept of vocation is a critical lens for thinking about transformational solutions to the problems we face in today’s world. “The key ingredients of vocation—the neighbor, the self, the common good, and God (or something larger than us all)—give rise to a method of discernment and discovery that is different from any other method currently being used to address society’s biggest issues. These ingredients produce a creative tension that leads to innovation, accountability, mutuality, and hope, and this approach to public life cannot be reserved for those who claim to live a religious life. The tables where vocation is being discussed and discerned need to become long and wide.”

Myers will offer his inaugural address as the Christensen Professor at a symposium at Augsburg in September.

CGEE Instructor Antonio Ortega Featured on Public Television in Morelos, Mexico

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Student groupAntonio Ortega, a longtime Center for Global Education and Experience global faculty member, was recently interviewed on “Noticias de la Tarde” (Evening News) on Channel 3, the public radio and TV station in Morelos, Mexico.

Ortega discusses CGEE’s work in Mexico and the importance of the relationship between the US and Mexico, particularly for students that will go on to work with the Latinx population in the U.S. in fields like social work, nursing, and teaching.

Watch the segment on YouTube. To view English subtitles, select Subtitles/Closed Caption and then, in the settings, choose Auto Translate > English.

Professor William Green Speaks About Minneapolis Teachers Strike on WCCO and MPR

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William GreenWilliam Green, M. Anita Gay Hawthorne professor of critical race and ethnic studies at Augsburg University, shared his expertise as a historian and former superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools in a WCCO news story on the Minneapolis teachers strike.

Green took part in two contract negotiations during his time as superintendent between 2006 and 2010. “The trickiest moment is to persuade constituents the compromise they may have to negotiate may not be satisfying,” he told WCCO. Green’s most recent book, “Strike!,” covers the 1970 Minneapolis teachers strike and will be released this fall.

Green also was interviewed by MPR for their March 17 story, “Mpls. teachers strike of 1970 changed education across the state.” Speaking about the teachers who were involved in that strike, Green said, “They are the pillars of middle-class society, yet they went out on the street, many of them had never done anything demonstrative like this before. Many of them had never participated in radical politics, so this was a culture shock.”

Announcing El-Hibri Endowed Executive Directorship for the Interfaith Institute

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Nancy and Fuad El-Hibri
Nancy and Fuad El-Hibri

Augsburg University announces that a significant gift has been made for a new leadership position: the El-Hibri Endowed Executive Directorship for the Interfaith Institute.

This new role is thanks to a gift from Fuad and Nancy El-Hibri. They first learned of Augsburg while researching higher education options for their son Karim, who was in recovery from substance issues. The family has been actively engaged with the university since then and Karim has meanwhile graduated from Augsburg’s StepUP program.

In 2019, Augsburg University established Interfaith at Augsburg: An Institute to Promote Interreligious Leadership. This program illustrates the many ways in which our commitment to interfaith learning and leadership can shape our work on campus and in the wider community, and this work requires a strategic leader and distinguished scholar to provide direction.

Learn more.

Star Tribune Highlights Augsburg-affiliated Sod House Theater Production

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Sod House Theater, co-founded by Darcey Engen ’88, professor and chair of Augsburg’s Department of Theater Arts, is offering a new production in September and October: “Arla Mae’s Booyah Wagon.”

The show was described as “a delicious comedy” in the Star Tribune’s weekly “Our Friday Best” column on August 26.

Engen and her husband, Luverne Seifert ’83, who co-founded the theater with her, serve as its co-artistic directors.

Professor Andrew Aoki Co-Authors Washington Post Article on Asian American Politics

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Andrew Aoki

Andrew Aoki, professor of political science and senior fellow at Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, is co-author of the timely “How to un-model a minority: A micro-syllabus on Asian American politics” in the Washington Post. In it, he and co-author Pei-te Lien argue, “In the midst of the U.S. racial reckoning, recognizing the complexity of Asian Americans can help with the task ahead.” To assist with this, Aoki and Lien have created a micro-syllabus on Asian American politics. The syllabus includes links to articles from the journal Politics, Groups, and Identities that will be available for free for a limited period of time.

Augsburg University Cancels Classes as Verdict is Expected

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Augsburg University LogoAugsburg University classes are canceled immediately for the remainder of Tuesday afternoon and evening as a result of this afternoon’s verdict in the State versus Derek Chauvin trial,

Additionally, all campus activities and athletics, except those below, are canceled tonight and Lindell Library will be closed. 

There will be an Augsburg staff person on hand in each location to support students. Please wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. Space is limited, so we ask that faculty and staff attend only the vigil.

  • 5 p.m. vigil in the quad – all students faculty and staff are invited to attend
  • Late night breakfast – 8 to 10 p.m. in the Dining Commons

In the event of a curfew, Augsburg will suspend campus operations as we have done in the past week. Resident students are still able to leave their residential unit to go to the Dining Commons for the evening meal. 

For the rest of the week (Wednesday and Friday), all scheduled courses will move to remote learning modalities.  As a reminder, courses meeting on Thursday this week were previously canceled.  

View the different levels of response that have been coordinated with Residence Life, Public Safety, and Day Student Government.