Augsburg History Professor Bill Green was interviewed by Prairie Public about his new book “The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits of Black Opportunity in Minnesota, 1860-1876.”
Green has published articles, op-ed pieces, and book chapters on history, law, and education, and he has previously published books on race and civil rights in Minnesota history. He also has served as a past president of the Minneapolis Public Schools.
After 100 days of traveling and studying the Mississippi River, students returned to Minnesota on Dec. 2.
The group had a welcome back celebration on Dec. 6 at Augsburg’s Marshall Room. They shared their experiences, showed videos, and even sang. Kristy Ornelas, one of the 15 participating River Semester students, documented the group’s semester-long journey is a series of five videos uploaded to her YouTube channel. In these videos, students share their day-to-day life during the second River Semester. The first was in 2015.
“The fact that we’ve been able to spend 100 days together in a really small tight-knit group is nothing I’ve ever done and the challenge and rewards of this experience is nothing I could ever imagine,” said student Spoir Delmain, in the video titled “What a Wonderful World.”
“I think family is the best way to know how to call our group, and I feel that way because we take care of each other in different ways. We’ve learned how to support each other, cheer each other on, or cry on each other’s shoulders,” Delmain said.
Watch Kristy Ornelas’ River Semester series on her YouTube channel.
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Augsburg University President Paul Pribbenow spoke with Marianne Combs of MPR News about the artwork in the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion.
Forecast Public Art connected Augsburg with a network of diverse artists, then helped create a selection process that would knit together the different disciplines taught at Augsburg.
“That was important to us because, at this point, Augsburg’s undergraduate population is almost 50 percent students of color, and so we want to reflect the communities they come from,” Pribbenow said.
During the interview with Combs, Pribbenow also pointed to the art across the glass windows, depicting Martin Luther’s handwritten version of ‘A Mighty Fortress is Our God.’
See full article and a link to the audio at the MPR News website.
Learn about the artists.
Augsburg University students spent November 17 handing out jackets, blankets, children’s toys, and hot lunch to families in need at a homeless encampment near Augsburg. “It’s basically in our backyard for our school and I think that helping the community is a really big thing for me,” student Tyler Johnson told a reporter. This day of service was initiated by Augsburg student Inam Al-Hammouri, then other students quickly joined, including many members of the men’s soccer team.
“Cooking a hot lunch and serving it to hungry families out in the cold is not something most college kids would do on a Saturday, but these youth at Augsburg University are not just your average students,” said Fox 9 reporter Christina Palladino. “The students believe it is their responsibility to take action and empower their generation to build bridges to those less fortunate.” The students said they plan to organize more days of service, especially now that temperatures are dropping.
See full report at the Fox 9 website.
WCCO also covered the story. See full report at the WCCO website.
Former Minnesota Supreme Court associate justice and Vikings player Alan Page was one of seven to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. Page’s charitable work through the Page Education Foundation has helped many students of color like Robert Harper ’16 succeed in their careers. Harper spoke with Kare 11 about how the work of Alan Page impacted his life.
“He has made me want to stay true to my passion and stay grounded in social justice work. When I came out of college I was applying to less meaningful jobs. I am a second-year graduate student at Humphrey School of Public Affairs studying public policy. That is a decision I did make with Alan,” Harper said. “He always says, ‘Make sure you hold the door open for the person behind you. Make sure you send the elevator back down.’ ”
See full report at Kare 11’s website.
Reinaldo Moya’s “The Way North” tells the story of a Central American migrant making a journey to the United States through Mexico, leaving everything behind. Moya is a Composition Assistant Professor at Augsburg University and was recently featured in a Star Tribune article about “The Way North,” the main work on Minneapolis pianist Matthew McCright’s new album.
“I got a grant from the State Arts Board. Reinaldo and I had been talking about what we might do for the project.” McCright said. “We came up with the idea of immigration — a very rough idea in the beginning, of a migrant journey to the United States.”
Read the complete Star Tribune story.
Augsburg Department of History Chair Michael Lansing was interviewed for Minnesota Experience’s first-ever episode of “Flour Power,” a new weekly history series from TPT – Twin Cities PBS.
The episode, which premiered September 17, explored the impact that Minnesota’s milling history had on the carbohydrates we consume every day worldwide.
Stream the full episode at the TPT – Twin Cities PBS website.
Earlier in September, Lansing was featured in “The Rise and Fall of the Nonpartisan League,” a documentary series from Prairie Public Television (North Dakota). In 2015, Lansing published his book Insurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North American Politics, then served as an advisor for the series.
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.
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 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.
Watch the full report at the WCCO website
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.”
Read the full article at the Pioneer Press
