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MinnPost features Professor Bill Green’s latest book

MinnPostAugsburg College Professor of History Bill Green spoke with MinnPost about his latest book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865-1912.”

Green told reporter Amy Goetzman that his book chronicles conditions for African-Americans in Minnesota in the half-century following the Civil War and picks up where his previous book, “A Peculiar Imbalance: The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Minnesota, 1837-1869,” left off.

“The history [of Minnesota] is amazing, particularly when you look at who was here before statehood and how they interacted with each other,” Green said. “I found that we were lacking a good accounting of the black people who were part of that history. Most of them didn’t leave a written record, which looks like they had nothing to say, but of course they did. They were part of this experience.”

Visit the MinnPost website to learn more.

Bill Green answers WCCO ‘Good Question’

History Professor Bill Green spoke with WCCO-TV about why Minnesotans are quick to defend their state’s image.

A recent Washington Post article identified Red Lake County, Minn., as the “absolute worst place to live in America,” and Minnesotans immediately sought to set the record straight. In the news station’s Good Question segment, Green explained that part of the reason why Minnesotans reacted strongly to the article is because of the major investment they make in ensuring that the state offers a favorable quality of life.

“We work hard to have good government, we work hard to create a society that attempts to include everyone,” he said. “We work hard to invest resources into making this place look beautiful.”

Watch “Good Question: Why Are Minnesotans So Proud Of Their State?” to learn more.

Augsburg alumni bring ‘Hoopla Train’ to rural Minnesota

sodhouseThis summer, Sod House — a theater company founded by Augsburg College Chair of Theater Arts Darcey Engen ’88 and her husband, Luverne Seifert ’83 — brought a production of “Hoopla Train (with Yard Master Yip and his Polkastra)” to 14 historic ballrooms in different Minnesota cities including Barrett, McGregor, Nisswa, and Sleepy Eye.

Engen and Seifert shared the stage with a troupe of performers to put on the production billed as “Lawrence Welk meets ‘Hee-Haw.’” The Sod House Theater project began in 2011 when Engen and Seifert collaborated to create the condensed version of Anton Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard” with Twin Cities colleagues including Sarah Myers, associate professor of theater at Augsburg.

This year the “Hoopla Train” has garnered the attention of media outlets across Minnesota, including the following organizations and stories:

  • BringMeTheNews — Hoopla Train: The touring theater variety show coming to a stage near you
  • Star Tribune — Summer is showtime for Sod House, Minnesota’s whistle-stop theater
  • Faribault Daily News — All aboard the ‘Hoopla Train’ bound for Faribault
  • Rochester Post-Bulletin — ‘Hoopla Train’ pulls into town
  • Pine and Lakes Echo Journal — Professional Twin Cities Theater Troupe to perform at the American Legion in Nisswa
  • Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch — ‘Hoopla Train’ show coming to Sleepy Eye next week
  • St. Cloud Times — ‘Hoopla’ brings old-fashioned fun to outstate Minnesota

Bring Me The News shares roundup of River Semester info

bringmeThe online media resource Bring Me The News shared a compilation of information about the Augsburg College River Semester, a three-and-a-half month program in which students and faculty members will traverse the Mississippi River from St. Paul to New Orleans while studying topics in the arts, humanities, and sciences. As the story noted, “Students will sleep in campsites instead of dorm rooms and will paddle rather than walk to their classes this fall.”

Star Tribune previews Augsburg College River Semester

Minneapolis Star TribuneAugsburg College’s first-ever River Semester will be an opportunity for students to spend the fall and early winter months traveling from St. Paul to New Orleans in 24-foot voyageur canoes on the Mississippi River. Participants will study topics ranging from ecology to history to literature.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently discussed this experiential education opportunity in the article, “Augsburg preparing to launch ‘River Semester’ on the Mississippi.

Pioneer Press features debut book from Howling Bird Press

PioneerPressHowling Bird Press, a student-run press run out of the Augsburg MFA in Creative Writing program, is bringing out its first book.

“At the Border of Wilshire & Nobody” was launched as part of the MFA program’s publishing concentration. The book-length poetry collection by Los Angeles-based Marci Vogel, winner of the 2015 Howling Bird Press poetry prize, was chosen from a field of more than 60 from across the nation and was shepherded into print by Howling Bird associate editors Amanda Symes ’15 MFA, Ashley Cardona ’15 MFA, and Kevin Matuseski ’16 MFA.

Visit the Pioneer Press website to read, “‘At the Border’ a first for Minnesota’s Howling Bird Press.”

President Paul Pribbenow earns fundraising professional award

Pribbenow-headshotAugsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow was named the 2015 Outstanding Professional Fundraiser in the National Philanthropy Day Awards presented by the Minnesota chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Pribbenow will be honored at a National Philanthropy Day event held November 20.

Kristin Anderson named in Pioneer Press

logo-smallKristin Anderson, Augsburg College archivist and professor of art history, was mentioned in a St. Paul Pioneer Press article about an upcoming walking tour in the capital city’s historic Irvine Park neighborhood. Anderson will share history, stories, and insights during the walking tour. Visit the Pioneer Press website to learn more.

Minnesota Public Radio previews River Semester program

MPRLogoAugsburg College’s new River Semester program was featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s On Campus blog. Sixteen Augsburg students, two faculty members, and two river commercial expedition personnel will travel from St. Paul to New Orleans during the fall semester, oftentimes camping on the banks of the Mississippi River and engaging with people who live and work along its path. Students will carry out river-related projects and study subject areas in the arts and sciences.

Read “How Augsburg is going all Mark Twain” on the MPR website.

Visit the River Semester site to find additional program details and event announcements.

Matthew Beckman contributes to Star Tribune commentary

Minneapolis Star TribuneMatthew Beckman, assistant professor of biology, joined his research collaborators Grant Two Bulls and Amy Myrbo in writing a commentary for the Star Tribune that voiced support for renaming Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun. As the commentary noted, recent events have initiated a debate regarding whether the lake should return to its original name in the Dakota language: Mde Maka Ska.

Beckman, Two Bulls, and Myrbo conducted research during summer 2014 that involved taking a core sample of lake sediment and studying its pollen content as a way to examine the ecological record of an early-19th-century Dakota agricultural village on its shore. This geological study of the lake showed a long history of Native American natural resource stewardship that extended centuries before the arrival of surveyors backed by John C. Calhoun, the lake’s namesake.

Visit the Star Tribune website to read, “Mde Maka Ska: A Minnesota name for a Minnesota lake.”