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Zyzzogeton festival highlights student achievement

This week, Augsburg will celebrate the creativity and scholarship of students with the 3rd-annual Zyzzogeton academic festival. Events include presentations of student research, performances of “Top Girls,” a concert of the Riverside Singers, and an all-student juried art exhibition. This year will also feature the first “Agre Shootout” and the second “Lutefisk vs. Lefse” debate.

The festival falls at the end of each academic year and is a culmination of achievement featuring work across divisions and departments. A “Zyzzogeton” is a green leaf-hopper as well as the last word in the Webster Collegiate Dictionary, which is a fitting symbol to mark the end of the academic year. Augsburg’s is the oldest festival of its kind in the country. Continue reading “Zyzzogeton festival highlights student achievement”

Final MainStage production of the year

springplayThe Augsburg College Theatre Arts Department will present it’s final MainStage production of the 2007-08 season, “Top Girls,” at 7 p.m. on April 11, 12, 17, 18, and 19, and 2 p.m. on April 13 and 20 in Tjornhom-Nelson Theater. Darcey Engen ’88 is directing the production.

“Top Girls,” by British playwright Caryl Churchill in 1982, explores

feminist themes and encourages a deeper look at socialist ideals. Marlene, “Top Girls” main character, is a businesswoman who has recently achieved a promotion within the employment agency where she works. Her sister, Joyce, is a working-class cleaning woman who

adopted Marlene’s child at birth and has raised her as her own. While the sisters are joined in caring for their daughter’s welfare, the two are quite different in their political and class views. Marlene is presented as an individualist who does whatever it takes to move ahead. She values power and success for herself at the expense of others. Her sister Joyce represents a more socialist-collective perspective that sees achievements of women happening only when all women and other oppressed groups are included. Continue reading “Final MainStage production of the year”